Call for papers: Critical Autism Seminar Day, 18th January 2011, Sheffield

Real posts coming soon. Yes, really. In the meantime, i thought this worth sharing:

Call for Papers - * Critical Autism Seminar Day * Tuesday, 18th January 2011

A free seminar day co-hosted by Sheffield Hallam University, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Disability Research Forum.

Date: Tuesday, 18th January 2011
Time: 9.45am - 4.30pm

Venue: Arundel Room 10301, Sheffield Hallam University, 122 Charles Street, Sheffield, S1 2NE

This seminar day brings together an international group of researchers and calls for papers that will address diverse issues including:

- deconstructing pathologies and 'abnormalities'
- concepts of fear and fascination
- exploring neurodiversity
- autism as/and celebrity
- 'autism industries' and the commodification of impairment

Keynote speaker: Anne McGuire* (Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Canada). Anne’s doctoral research analyses the social significance and productive effects of cultural representations of autism produced and circulated by individuals and collectives engaged in autism advocacy in the contemporary West.

Our aim is for this conference to be as inclusive as possible. We welcome activists, undergraduate and postgraduate students, practitioners and academics to join us.

In the spirit of an eco-friendly day, registered delegates will be sent an e-pack.

As the conference is free, lunch and refreshments will be available for purchase at the University, if you wish. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements so we can make catering outlets aware of delegate requirements.

Deadline for paper abstracts: 1st December 2010
Deadline for attendance: 6th January 2011

For more information/to submit abstracts, please contact: k.runswick-Cole@mmu.ac.uk

*not to be confused with this Anne McGuire

I met Anne McGuire at this awesome conference back in May (holy shit... that was a whole 6 months ago?!?! that shows the extent of my inertia and lack of time-perception - i have something like 30 pages of notes from that conference that i am still intending to make several blog posts about... and, as an indirect result of that conference, there has been one very major and unprecedented positive change in my life, which i may also eventually write about...), and can vouch that she is one of a very small number of non-autistic academics/professionals in the "autism field" who are proudly and thoroughly on "our" side. Her presentation at that conference was a deconstruction of a "warning" poster issued in Canada about "red flags" for autism in children, and based partly on the experiences of her autistic brother. Mitzi Waltz, who is another of that small number (and also has an autistic family member, as well as being a much valued friend and ally to very many of us in the UK autistic self-advocacy movement, such as it is) is also going to be presenting there (and i hope she doesn't mind me saying so here). I believe Larry may be going too?

Despite being unemployed, i am somehow still far too busy these days...