Re•Storying Autism
About the Project
Re•Storying Autism in Education is a multimedia story making project directed by Patty Douglas that brings together Autistic people, family members, educators, practitioners and artists to rethink inclusion in ways that desire the difference of Autism. The overall aim of the Re•Storying Autism project is to transform deficit understandings of Autism in education and create new approaches that centre the perspectives of Autistic people and their/our supporters. The project holds in-person and online storytelling workshops and events in Ontario, Manitoba, Canada, Aotearoa and England. The Collective, made up of Autistic people and critical allies, is an arts and research collective that meets monthly to plan initiatives and events. Re•Storying Autism was funded in part by the SSHRC Insight Grant 435-2019-0129 (2019-2025). Also see our News page for more information.
“We lean into interference and the tangle of research and relationality, power, and possibility for more innovative, just, and critically hopeful knowledge and practice”
(Re•Storying Autism Writing Collective, 2022, 15).
Selected Publications
Douglas, P. (2025). Unmothering autism: Ethical disruptions and affirming care. UBC Press.
The Re•Storying Autism Collective (Douglas, P., Singer, K., Gillespe, E., Liska, S., & Peters, S.). (2023) Autistic, surviving and thriving under COVID-19: Imagining Inclusive autistic futures. Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association.
The Re•Storying Autism Collective (Shields, R., Easton, S., Gruson-Wood, J., Gibson, M. F., Douglas, P. & Rice, C.). (2022). Storytelling methods on the move. Special Issue, Critical Autism Studies: Methodological Incursions (Eds. A. Broderick and R. Roscigno). International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2061625
Douglas, P., Rice, C., Runswick-Cole, K., Easton, S., Gibson, M. F., Gruson-Wood, J., Klar, E., & Shields, R. (2021). Re-storying autism: A body becoming disability studies in education approach. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 25(5), 605-622. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1563835
Douglas, P., & Klar, E. (2019). Beyond disordered brains and mother blame: Critical issues in autism and mothering. In Lynn O. Hallstein, Andrea O’Reilly, and Melinda Vandenbeld Giles (Eds.). Routledge Motherhood Companion. Routledge.
“People keep telling me it’s so important for me to share my story. I think this is a good way to help start that process.” - Michael moon, storyteller participant
Our Goals
Goal 1
To create new knowledge about inclusion by centring the experiences and knowledge of autistic people and their/our supporters
Goal 2
To decolonize our research process and centre the perspectives and leadership of autistic women, trans autistic people, Black, Indigenous and other autistic people of colour previously excluded in autism research
Goal 3
To innovate accessible multimedia storytelling approaches in order to advance practices of inclusion
Goal 4
To transform deficit understandings of autism in education and intervene in practice.
Goal 5
To provide research training and arts opportunities for autistic and other students, artists and interested community members