Thesis
SHATTERED BIRDS: AN AUTISTIC RESPONSE TO SANDRA MCPHERSON S THE SPACES BETWEEN BIRDS, DONNA WILLIAMS NOBODY NOWHERE, AND ANAND PRAHLAD S THE SECRET LIFE OF A BLACK ASPIE
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005462
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/118972
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of the most controversial behavioral disorders in America, and I have it. Diagnosed at a young age with Asperger’s Syndrome, a now defunct diagnosis, I have been marked as different, weird, a freak. In this thesis I will reflect on the autistic existence and the precarity of the autistic voice, while using personal anecdotes about my life on the spectrum along with Sandra McPherson’s The Spaces Between Birds, which is centered around raising her daughter, Phoebe, who is on the autism spectrum, two first-hand accounts: Donna Williams’ memoir Nobody Nowhere, and Anand Prahlad’s The Secret Life of a Black Aspie: A Memoir. Through the methodology of the fragment, I weave research, analysis of these texts, and personal stories about being autistic, to demonstrate the shattered existence of living on the autism spectrum. These narratives are contextualized by my own research into the history of the diagnosis and autistic rhetoric. Through the fragment, as well as autotheory, I represent what it’s like living on the autism spectrum.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- SHATTERED BIRDS: AN AUTISTIC RESPONSE TO SANDRA MCPHERSON S THE SPACES BETWEEN BIRDS, DONNA WILLIAMS NOBODY NOWHERE, AND ANAND PRAHLAD S THE SECRET LIFE OF A BLACK ASPIE
- Creators
- Caitlin Dakota Flaws
- Contributors
- Debbie Lee (Advisor)Melissa Nicolas (Committee Member)Ashley Boyd (Committee Member)Donna Potts (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of English
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 52
- Identifiers
- 99900592058001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis