Table Of ContentAutism in a Decentered World
Autistic people are empirically and scientifi cally generalized as living in a
fragmented, alternate reality, without a coherent continuous self. In P art I ,
this book presents recent neuropsychological research and its implications
for existing theories of autism, selfhood, and identity, challenging com-
mon assumptions about the formation and structure of the autistic self and
autism’s relationship to neurotypicality. Through several case studies in
Part II, the book explores the ways in which artists diagnosed with autism
have constructed their identities through participation within art communi-
ties and cultures, and how the concept of self as ‘story’ can be utilized to
better understand the neurological differences between autism and typical
cognition. This book will be of particular interest to researchers and schol-
ars within the fi elds of Disability Studies, Art Education, and Art Therapy.
Alice Wexler is Professor Emeritus of Art Education at SUNY New Paltz, USA .
Routledge Advances in Disability Studies
New Titles Disability, Avoidance and the
Academy
Towards a Contextual Psychology
Challenging Resistance
of Disablism
Edited by David Bolt and
Brian Watermeyer
Claire Penketh
Disability, Hate Crime and
Autism in a Decentered World
Violence
Alice Wexler
Edited by Alan Roulstone and
Hannah Mason-Bish
Forthcoming Titles
Branding and Designing Disability
Intellectual Disability and Being
Reconceptualising Disability Studies
Human
Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson
A Care Ethics Model
Philosophical Debates
Crises, Confl ict and Disability
on Being Human
Ensuring Equality
Chrissie Rogers
Edited by David Mitchell and
Valerie Karr
Disabled Childhood s
Monitoring Differences and
Disability, Spaces and Places of
Emerging Identities
Policy Exclusion
Janice McLaughlin, Emma Clavering
Edited by Karen Soldatic, Hannah
and Edmund Coleman-Fountain
Morgan and Alan Roulstone
Changing Social Attitudes Toward
Disability
Perspectives from historical, cultural,
and educational studies
Edited by David Bolt
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Inner Limits: New Encounters Science Fiction Plan Alternative Guide to the Universe
of the Peace on Earth by William Scott
Autism in a Decentered World
Alice Wexler
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the aTylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Alice Wexler to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congerss Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wexler, Alice, 1942- author.
Title: Autism in a decentered world / by Alice Wexler.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge
advances in disability studies ; 8
Identifiers: LCCN 2015034061 | ISBN 9781138818576 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781315745152 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Autism.
Classification: LCC RC553.A88 W456 2016 | DDC 616.85/882—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015034061
ISBN: 978-1-138-81857-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74515-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To the Creative Growth Art Center and all the artists
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Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Foreword by R alph James Savarese xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
PART I
Theories of Selfhood
1 Beyond the Cognitive (Cartesian) “I” 21
2 Constructing Autism Narratives 42
3 On Language and Autism 66
4 Augmentative and Alternative Communication 90
5 Constructions of the Autism Label and the Autistic Identity 117
PART II
The Artist’s Identity
6 Emerging from Anonymity 149
7 Gerone Spruill 179
8 Dan Miller 201
9 William Scott 219
10 R. B., Gender, and Policy 243
Index 259
Plate
