Unmothering Autism

Patty Douglas is an associate professor of disability studies, the inaugural chair in student success and wellness, and director of the Centre for Community Engagement and Social Change in the Faculty of Education at Queen's University. She leads Re•Storying Autism (www.restoryingautism.com), a multimedia storytelling project located in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Aotearoa (New Zealand), and is a sought-after international speaker. She is also a senior research affiliate at the Re•Vision Centre for Art and Social Justice at the University of Guelph. Patty identifies as neurodivergent and invisibly disabled and is the mother of two neurodivergent sons, one of whom identifies as autistic.

• Introduction: Toward Ethical Disruptions and Affirming CarePart 1: Disrupting Autism Mothers1 Disruption as a Place to BeginPart 2: Pursuing Autism Mothers2 Autism's Refrigerator Mothers: The Psychoanalytic Gaze3 Returning the Psychoanalytic Gaze4 Autism's Mother Therapists: Behaviourism's Gaze5 Retraining Behaviourism6 Autism's Warrior Mothers: The Genomic Gaze 7 Resisting Genomics and WarPart 3: Reimagining Mothering, Autism, and Care8 (M)others Speak Back: Affirming Autism and Care Conclusion: Is Neurodiversity's Mother Next?Notes; Works Cited; Index