#elizabeth bartmess

[awn-network]

Ada Hoffmann interviews Elizabeth Bartmess, editor of the new anthology by late-diagnosed autistic people.

[autisticadvocacy]

Autism news and resources: from autistic people, professionals, and parents

Elizabeth Bartmess of #autchat gets interviewed by TPGA

[disabilityinkidlit]

As part of our Autism on the Page event, Elizabeth Bartmess reviews the award-winning and controversial The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon:

Mark Haddon wrote [this book] after (in his own words) doing no research other than reading an essay and a few popular articles about and by autistic people, and over the years, both Haddon and his publisher(s) have retreated from describing the protagonist as having Asperger’s, possibly in response to criticisms of its accuracy. A quick survey of reviews on Amazon indicates that readers often believe it to be a convincing portrayal, although many do not appear to have any exposure to autism other than Curious Incident. The book is told from Christopher’s viewpoint, with Christopher as the ostensible author of the book we are reading, with writing help from his mentor and teacher Siobhan. Christopher’s narration didn’t resonate with my own experience of autism, and most autistic people I’ve spoken to didn’t relate to him either (though some do). However, my purpose here isn’t to discuss whether Christopher is really autistic, or to give an overall critique of the book. My specific point is that this book portrays its autistic protagonist in ways that will give readers negative, incorrect, and in some cases abusive ideas about autistic people.

[read the full review!]