Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Kiss/Caress, Laurie Green

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Like many aspects of self, my sexuality remained under wraps for the first three decades of my life. I felt desexualised in my body, unaware of my autism but deeply aware of my alienation and social position. Unable to find a sexual reflection in popular culture and bombarded with tropes of toxic masculinity I turned my sexual desires inwards. Only with my closest confidant, my partner, did any semblance of sexuality emerge, mediated by images and symbols imbibed as a teenager. My deep desire for connection that extended into sexuality felt ossified and unaired—kept in an air-sealed wrapper, like a …

Everything’S Gonna Be Kinda Queer: Autistic Gender & Sexuality In Everything’S Gonna Be Okay, Jinx Mylo

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This paper analyzes the representations of autistic characters in the television show Everything’s Gonna Be Okay in relation to gender and sexuality. In contrast to previous screen representations, the four autistic characters provide a variety of gender expressions and sexual orientations, challenging the stereotypes that perpetuate the idea of autism being limited to heterosexual men. Issues explored include attitudes toward autistic sexual consent and agency, sexual experimentation, and the impacts of communication norms on romantic relationships.

Theorizing Autistic Sexualities As Collective Poetic Experiences, Anna Nygren, Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This article is a palimpsest emerging as part of a project of collective autoethnographic writing on the theme of sexuality. It draws on the intensification of friendly writing, friendly as in friends with benefits. We write as autistic and neuroqueer subjects, writing until our textualities becomes sexualities. We write until the text becomes a room – call it Earth or call it Body, call it Brain or call it Heart – in which one could crack meanings―but these are not the most important ones. Instead of meanings and positions, we want to write about movements in time. The time it …

The Sun Child And The Moon Child, Mateo Izan Luna

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

No abstract provided.

Don’T Be Like Me: A Letter To My Daughters, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

It is often stated that parenting is "the toughest job you'll ever love." And it certainly doesn't come with an instruction manual. However, though we will falter, because of our love for our children, most of us learn a lot on the journey. This growth helps us to develop the skills and understanding needed, as parents, to be able to effectively guide, support, and nurture our children. Such knowledge, though beneficial for all families, is critical within neurodiverse households.

So what do you do when you just don't have it? What do you do when you have as much (if …

It’S Not Autism. It’S Your Parenting. An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Relationships Between Professionals And Parents Of An Autistic Child In The Uk, Barbara Mitra Dr

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This paper is based on my own child who was diagnosed with Autism (aged 7 years and Autism and PDA aged 11). Using autoethnography, drawing on my own diaries, records and journals that I kept throughout this process, I document how our parenting was continually questioned and considered to be ineffective. This was the case even when our child had received his first diagnosis of autism. The extra stress and trauma that such continual questioning had impacted not only on us as parents, but also on our child with worsening behaviour. It seems that professionals continually questioned parenting styles, rather …

An Analysis Of Self-Published Novels By Autistic Authors As A Form Of Advocacy, Jennifer J. Nelson

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The Autistic Representation Database (ARD) indexes nearly 1,000 works of fiction, auto-biographical non-fiction, film, and television that feature autistic representations. Robert Rozema and I created the ARD with the purpose of compiling all works of art with autistic representation in one place. In my work on the ARD, I recognized a key pattern: a higher ratio of autistic authors are self-published in comparison to neurotypical authors writing about autism. Autistic authors may self-publish because of barriers in the traditional publishing industry; however, I assert it is because self-publishing allows them to portray autism how they desire. In this way, autistic …

My Learning Circles, Archana Kadam

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This poem is written from the perspective of an autistic child who loves mathematical concepts. The poem attempts to explain his or her understanding of rules of social thinking.