Title: The Re•Storying Autism in Education Project
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Patricia Douglas – Queen’s University (PI)
• [Contact: douglas.patricia@queensu.ca]
Funding and Support: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). MITACS Special Indigenous Funding. Queen’s University Research Initiation Grant.
Start Date: 2016 (ongoing)
Research Sites:
• Southwestern Ontario, Canada
• Southwestern Manitoba, Canada
• Yorkshire, England, UK
• Auckland and Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand
Project Summary / Abstract:
The Re•Storying Autism Project is a multimedia storytelling research initiative that brings together diverse Autistic and neurodivergent people, family members, educators, practitioners and artists in Canada, England and Aotearoa New Zealand to rethink education in ways that desire the difference of Autism and neurodivergence. Autistic and other neurodivergent students often experience misunderstanding, stigma and violence at school, especially those at the multiple margins including non-binary, trans, Black, Indigenous, racialized and other marginalized groups. Through collaborative, participatory storytelling, this critical and creative research project centres previously excluded stories of neurodivergence in education and explores new practices that (re)value and affirm difference.
Read more about the project: https://www.restoryingautism.com/the-project
Key Publications
Douglas, P. (2024). Unmothering autism: Ethical disruptions and affirming care. Disability, Culture and Politics Series. University of British Columbia Press.
The Re•Storying Autism Writing Collective (*Shields, R., *Easton, S., Gruson-Wood, J., Gibson, M. F., Douglas, P. & Rice, C.). (2025). Storytelling methods on the move. Special Issue, Critical Autism Studies: Methodological Incursions (Eds. A. Broderick and R. Roscigno). International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 38(5). https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2061625
Douglas, P., & *Klar, E. (2024). Beyond disordered brains and mother blame: Critical issues in autism and mothering. In B. Lewis, A. Ali, and J. Russell (Eds.). Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health. Routledge.
Hodge, N. & Douglas, P. (2023). Developing the right(s) approach for autism. In A. Beckett and A. Callus (Eds.). Routledge Handbook on Children's Rights & Disability (pp. 113-128) Routledge.
Hodge, N., Douglas, P., *Kruth, M., Connolly, S., Martin, N., *Gowler, K. & *Smith, C. (2022). Contemplating teacher talk through a critical autism studies lens. In D. Milton & S. Ryan (Eds.). The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies (pp. 242-254). Routledge.
Runswick-Cole, K., Douglas, P., Fogg, P., *Alexander, S., Erhat, S., *Eves, J., *Shapely-King, B., & *Wood, I. (2024). When father Christmas is the gaslighter: How special education systems make (m)others mad. Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, 18 (1).
Re•Storying Autism Collective (Douglas, P., *Singer, K., *Gillespe, E., *Liska, S., & Peters, S.). (2022). Autistic, surviving and thriving under COVID-19: Imagining Inclusive autistic futures. Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association, 11(2).
Douglas, P., Runswick-Cole, K., Fogg, P. & Ryan, S. (2022). Making memories, making madness: Mad (m)others of disabled children write back through digital storytelling. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 27(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6502811
Douglas, P., Rice, C., Runswick-Cole, K., *Easton, S. (A.), Gibson, M. F., *Gruson-Wood, J., *Klar, E. & *Shields, R. (2021). Re-storying autism: A body becoming disability studies in education approach. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 25(5), 605-622. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1563835
Douglas, P., Runswick-Cole, K., Ryan, S. & Fogg, P. (2021). Mad mothering: Learning from the intersections of madness, mothering and disability. Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, 15(1), 39-56. https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2021.3
Gibson, M. F. & Douglas, P. (2018). Disturbing behaviours: O Ivar Lovaas and the queer history of autism science. Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v4i2.29579