Description
Book Synopsis
“We each have Skype accounts and use them to discuss [Moby-Dick] face to face. Once a week, we spread the worded whale out in front of us; we dissect its head, eyes, and bones, careful not to hurt or kill it. The Professor and I are not whale hunters. We are not letting the whale die. We are shaping it, letting it swim through the Web with a new and polished look.”—Tito Mukhopadhyay
Since the 1940s researchers have been repeating claims about autistic people''s limited ability to understand language, to partake in imaginative play, and to generate the complex theory of mind necessary to appreciate literature. In See It Feelingly Ralph James Savarese, an English professor whose son is one of the first nonspeaking autistics to graduate from college, challenges this view.
Discussing fictional works over a period of years with readers from across the autism spectrum, Savarese was stunned by the readers'' ability to expand
Trade Review
"Impassioned and persuasive. . . . A fresh and absorbing examination of autism." * Kirkus Reviews *
"This idealistic argument for the social value of literature and for the diversity of autism as a condition is a rewarding endeavor. . . ." * Publishers Weekly *
"This is a powerful book — one that really must be experienced. It is a book that unlocks doors to the many rooms of autism and is likely to surprise the thinking of anyone who steps into them. It carries within it the possibilities of new perspectives on literary work, a greater understanding of autistic neurology, and the chance to meet some remarkable individuals. Read it." -- Michael Northen * Wordgathering *
"Savarese has produced a masterpiece, simultaneously dense and accessible. His voice moves freely—alternating among lyrical, narrative, and instructive—never losing the flow, never dipping into pedantry, never soaring too far toward the abstract for the reader to follow. Not only is this collection of essays brimming with the most important information and ideas about autism, it is a collaboration of rare beauty." -- Maxfield Sparrow * Thinking Person's Guide to Autism *
"Savarese shows that literature—with its imagery, inclusivity, and rich detail—is a natural tent pole for a truly neurodiverse community, one populated by autists and neurotypicals alike. . . . The radical possibility this book ultimately offers is that the gap that has for so long existed between nonverbal autists and neurotypicals can be bridged through literature. Literature is, as Whitman said of himself, large, and contains multitudes." -- Ittai Orr * Synapsis *
"Readers will find this book to be a work of art as Ralph Savarese not only exhibits an understanding of the beauty of teaching but also of the language of the autistic mind. Savarese’s literary creation demystifies the limits of the autistic mind by following five autistic adults through their interpretation of and response to classic literature. . . . Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above; professionals and general readers." -- D. Pellegrino * Choice *
"The sense of critical self-reflection is crucial to this enterprise, and is evident throughout the book. Thankfully, this never veers into self-indulgence; as such, [Savarese's] ethnographic work in this area is an exemplar to all those who study ‘others,’ as outsiders with situated knowledge." -- Alison Wilde * Disability & Society *
"To imagine an autistic rhetoric or an autistic literature is to struggle, audaciously, against a legacy of neurotypical people failing to imagine autism as anything other than lack. That struggle is joined . . . by Ralph [James] Savarese, whose See It Feelingly gives us five extraordinary examples of autistic readers’ responses to literature. It’s like Norman Holland’s classic work of reader-response criticism, 5 Readers Reading . . . except with autism." -- Michael Bérubé * Public Books *
"Powered by his enthusiasm for connecting with autistics and for representing the fullness of their humanity, See It Feelingly is that rare book in English studies that succeeds as creative nonfiction: a memoir of teaching non-traditional learners that makes a provocative claim for the primacy of the senses in reading literature." -- Dawn Coleman * Leviathan *
"Savarese incorporates storytelling, memoir, and poetry into See It Feelingly, which you will read feelingly, from the opening line." -- Deborah Jenson * American Literature *
"... See it Feelingly is a wonderful addition to contemporary work being done in critical autism studies and accessible education." -- Jennifer Marchisotto * Disabilities Studies Quarterly *
Table of Contents
Foreword / Stephen Kuusisto xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Prologue: River of Words, Raft of Our Conjoined Neurologies 15
1. From a World as Fluid as the Sea 23
2. The Heavens of the Brain 57
3. Andys and Auties 86
4. Finding Her Feet 122
5. Take for Grandin 155
Epilogue 191
Notes 197
Bibliography 247
Index 261
