Fabric sensory strings knitted, crotched and woven in all the colours of the rainbow. Image and art credit Kat Singer.
Re•Storying Autism Collective
The Re•Storying Autism Collective is an online Autistic and Neurodivergent led collaborative leading participatory research, disability arts initiatives activism, and innovative approaches to access. Our goal is to transform deficit-based understandings of Autism and Neurodivergence and release new understandings and practices by centering the perspectives of Autistic and Neurodivergent makers.
The collective is a group of Autistic and Neurodivergent artists, activists, and students who share a passion for our goal: to co-create affirming understandings of Autism and Neurodiversity and reimagine practice. Founded in 2020 by the Re•Storying Autism in Education project, we have grown from a group of five individuals in Toronto to an international membership of 50+ individuals from across Canada, as well as Spain, England and the United States.
We meet on a bi-monthly basis to check in with each other, discuss creative research, share updates about events, and advise the Re•Storying project on research priorities. Our current project is called The Report Card Project, a participatory project that focuses on the experiences of Autistic individuals with educational assessments and/or report card comments. Contributors are being invited to recollect what was said about them and share creative expressions about their experiences through an online exhibit. We will be sharing results and recommendations with the Ontario government and local school boards based on what we learn.
You are welcome to join us! If you are interested in joining us, please contact us at info@restoryingautism.com.
Our goal is to transform problem-saturated understandings of autism and release new understandings and practices by centring the perspectives of autistic makers.
Members
Rebeca Bayeh
Rebeca Bayeh is a researcher, artist, disability activist, and doctoral candidate in clinical psychology. She is passionate about the Neurodiversity paradigm and community-based research, and is currently specializing in neurodiversity-affirming practice. Her research explores intersections between neurodiversity and cultural-clinical psychology, and her clinical approach is informed by Feminist theory, the Social Model of Disability, and Decolonial Psychology. Before becoming a psychologist trainee, Rebecaworked as a physicist, a science communicator, and a baladi dance instructor.
Besa Shemovski Thomas
I'm Besa, some call me Bess for short but usually those who really know me. I work as a graphic designer and illustrator specifically in logo creation. I also write thought-provoking speeches, practice improv, make voices and most definitely being me!
My role in this project is one of the storytellers expressing my learning experience as an autistic woman.
Bridget Liang
Bridget Liang is a mixed race, queer, transfeminine, autistic, disabled, fat fangirl. They're a PhD candidate in the
Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies Program at York University, a community researcher, workshop and group facilitator,
performance artist, and fiction writer. Much of their work revolves around intersectionality and arts-based research.
Sierra Hicks
Sierra Hicks (They/Them) is a Euro-American settler and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University, as well as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Their dissertation research, conducted in partnership with the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources (KDNR), investigates the Indigenous Knowledge & Data Sovereignty Policy development process, with the intent to inform other communities as well as developing local, state, and federal standards. Sierra is also a KDNR contract worker, coordinating collective learning opportunities and supporting the drafting of the aforementioned policy. They earned their M.S. in Human-Centered Engineering Design in 2022 and their B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2019, both from the Pennsylvania State University. Sierra is an autistic and chronically ill scholar passionate about organizing mutual support, advocacy, and education opportunities that benefit their community. Their identity both informs and is informed by their research, which is underway in dedication to equity and pluralism.
David Preyde
David Preyde spends his time alone in a room making up shit. He interacts with the world as infrequently as possible, but has managed to have 38 of his short plays performed, and two short stories published. He has had a novel rejected by 35 agents, and is trying mightily to finish his second novel in the midst of our current apocalypse. He does not appreciate small talk, eye contact, or handshaking, but will pretend to be friendly when approached.
Haley Clark
Haley Clark (she/her) is a neurodivergent PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. Her research focuses on inclusive education, well-being, mentorship, and critical disability studies. Her research explores how systemic barriers, stigma, and educational structures impact the well-being and self-determination of students with ADHD. She is involved with Autism Ontario, the Special Education Advisory Council, Add*ed Research Group, and is co-facilitating the collective!
Em Farquhar-Barrie
Em Farquhar-Barrie (they/them) is a trans, multiply disabled, queer, autistic person of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry. They are a multi-disciplinary artist, nature lover, and service dog handler. In their personal experience, art saved their life, providing them with creative outlets to express feelings, cope, and move forward. Em is a BFA graduate, holding a certificate in Cultural and Artistic Practices for Environmental and Social Justice. You can follow their arts practice on Instagram: @emfarbar.
Kat Singer
Kat Singer (they/them) is a Toronto-based multimedia artist, facilitator, and mental health professional. Their interests include neurodiversity, accessibility justice, and healing and self-advocacy through the arts.
Emily Gillespie
Emily Gillespie (they/them) is a mad and autistic millennial daydreamer, author, performance artist and disability activist. They have a MA in Critical Disability Studies and love dreaming about accessibility. They have one published novel, and several short stories and poems. They teach creative writing at mental health community organizations. They hope to continue their studies and examine how the emergency mental health system fails people with complex mental illnesses and autism. As a kid who wanted to quit school in grade 7 due to bullying, they are passionate about inclusive education.
Mandy Klein
Mandy Klein is a 50-year old multiply-disabled autistic advocate and activist. She lives with her autistic husband and autistic son, along with several pets in Central Ontario. She has an essay in the anthology, Typed Words, Loud Voices and a blog, Tales From an Autistic Family. Her writing has been quoted in Autism Ontario’s joint response (through OPAAA) to the Government of Ontario’s Select Committee on Developmental Services Interim Report released March 5, 2014.
Sherri Liska
Sherri is a Toronto-based neurodiversity activist, web assistant, and (most importantly) cat lady. Building on her knowledge of accessibility and her experience as an “unseen” disabled person, she works to cultivate equitable spaces and to help neurotypicals understand and connect with their neurodivergent loved ones.
Nancy Marshall
Nancy Marshall is a Child and Youth Worker who has supported teachers and autistic students in Special Education classrooms for ten years. She is currently doing Doctoral research in the Faculty of Education at York University. Her research aims to explore the impacts and outcomes of Applied Behavioural Analysis, which is currently the most recommended treatment approach for autistic young people in Ontario. She hopes to fill gaps in the existing academic literature with the voices of autistic people.
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