Beth A. Myers is an assistant professor and director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University.

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• Acknowledgments viiPreface ix1. “I swam too far in the sea and drowned”: A Different View of Autism 1The Prevailing Deficit Model of Autism 2An Alternate View: Critical Disability Theory 4Autobiography and Autism 5Creating a Space for Inquiry 82. “The walls of my room”: Representations of Home and Family 16Opening Up: An Introduction to Billy 17Making Connections 22Exploring Relationships 25Expectations: The Way Things Are Supposed to Be 28Taking Risks: Telling Versus Not Telling 31Locating Self 36Claiming Ownership 393. “I hope school starts to calm down so I can too”: Enduring, Resisting, and Reframing School Experiences 41Imaging and Imagining: Looking Out at Others Looking In 43Charlie: Enduring Oppression 45Elizabeth: Resisting Oppression 50Cody: Reframing Oppression 55Making Space for Inquiry 604. “Nobody’s normal in a way”: Writing Ourselves into the Story of Autism 62(De)Constructing Autism 62Interrogating “Normal” 66Exploring the Potential of Narrative Works 68Disrupting the Autism Narrative 69Managing a Stigmatized Identity 70Autobiography as a Counternarrative 725. “I can do more than people think I can do”: On Discovering What We Seek 75Autobiographical Lives 76Creating for Agency 77Autobiography as a Counter-Practice 78Practitioner Inquiry: Making Meaning from Our Work 79How We Move Forward 81Multimodality and Access 88Considering My Own Place 90Notes 93References 95Index 101About the Author 107

Beth A. Myers is an assistant professor and director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University.

Select Guide Rating

• Acknowledgments viiPreface ix1. “I swam too far in the sea and drowned”: A Different View of Autism 1The Prevailing Deficit Model of Autism 2An Alternate View: Critical Disability Theory 4Autobiography and Autism 5Creating a Space for Inquiry 82. “The walls of my room”: Representations of Home and Family 16Opening Up: An Introduction to Billy 17Making Connections 22Exploring Relationships 25Expectations: The Way Things Are Supposed to Be 28Taking Risks: Telling Versus Not Telling 31Locating Self 36Claiming Ownership 393. “I hope school starts to calm down so I can too”: Enduring, Resisting, and Reframing School Experiences 41Imaging and Imagining: Looking Out at Others Looking In 43Charlie: Enduring Oppression 45Elizabeth: Resisting Oppression 50Cody: Reframing Oppression 55Making Space for Inquiry 604. “Nobody’s normal in a way”: Writing Ourselves into the Story of Autism 62(De)Constructing Autism 62Interrogating “Normal” 66Exploring the Potential of Narrative Works 68Disrupting the Autism Narrative 69Managing a Stigmatized Identity 70Autobiography as a Counternarrative 725. “I can do more than people think I can do”: On Discovering What We Seek 75Autobiographical Lives 76Creating for Agency 77Autobiography as a Counter-Practice 78Practitioner Inquiry: Making Meaning from Our Work 79How We Move Forward 81Multimodality and Access 88Considering My Own Place 90Notes 93References 95Index 101About the Author 107

Beth A. Myers is an assistant professor and director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University.

Select Guide Rating

• Acknowledgments viiPreface ix1. “I swam too far in the sea and drowned”: A Different View of Autism 1The Prevailing Deficit Model of Autism 2An Alternate View: Critical Disability Theory 4Autobiography and Autism 5Creating a Space for Inquiry 82. “The walls of my room”: Representations of Home and Family 16Opening Up: An Introduction to Billy 17Making Connections 22Exploring Relationships 25Expectations: The Way Things Are Supposed to Be 28Taking Risks: Telling Versus Not Telling 31Locating Self 36Claiming Ownership 393. “I hope school starts to calm down so I can too”: Enduring, Resisting, and Reframing School Experiences 41Imaging and Imagining: Looking Out at Others Looking In 43Charlie: Enduring Oppression 45Elizabeth: Resisting Oppression 50Cody: Reframing Oppression 55Making Space for Inquiry 604. “Nobody’s normal in a way”: Writing Ourselves into the Story of Autism 62(De)Constructing Autism 62Interrogating “Normal” 66Exploring the Potential of Narrative Works 68Disrupting the Autism Narrative 69Managing a Stigmatized Identity 70Autobiography as a Counternarrative 725. “I can do more than people think I can do”: On Discovering What We Seek 75Autobiographical Lives 76Creating for Agency 77Autobiography as a Counter-Practice 78Practitioner Inquiry: Making Meaning from Our Work 79How We Move Forward 81Multimodality and Access 88Considering My Own Place 90Notes 93References 95Index 101About the Author 107