This week I focused on pulling together the different frameworks I have explored over the past weeks. Initially, I wanted to focus on the following questions: What would happen if you could look into someone’s brain and understand what is happening? Planning this piece, I was specifically interested in depicting the multiple perspectives that might change the way in which someone might “see a brain”. In my digital sketch (which incorporates artwork from Bryan Christie overlaid across an image of my brother with additional drawing) I began constructing a portrayal of how autism care frameworks impact the experiences of autistic children. In the initial sketch, themes embodied in the final piece such as framing, overlaid bodies, and exposed brain take shape.
I began drawing with these ideas in mind. As time when on, I realized I wanted to humanize the frameworks used to inform autism care decisions. I began drawing sillohuettes above the child to represent three different frameworks. The piece depicts autistic self-advocates (the head closest to the child), the neuroscience discipline (the white head attached to the large rectangular box), and the parent/caretaker perspective (the topmost head). On the right side of the piece, I plan to draw multiple brain scans with words describing the neurophysiological conditions associated with autism. This will represent a medicalization of autism. Moving forward I want to create speech bubbles coming from the medicalized persona. These speech bubbles will include text quoting scientific literature relating to autism findings and correct ASA citations. I want to include a sentence below the quote that simplifies the language used by the scientific literature. This will simplify the scientific material incorporated into this project and act as a critique of inaccessible language used in the natural and social sciences. The autism self-advocate persona is positioned closest to the child to represent their unique bond of experience. While the other two silhouettes exist within some sort of box, the autism self-advocate persona is free from such framing. This artistic choice represents the idea of neurodiversity. Neurodiversity specifically defies the concepts of developmental and behavioral deviancy associated with autism and instead embraces individual differences in neurobiology and behavior. Finally, the parent/caretaker persona is depicted in the top left. Parents of autistic children face significant life changes. While each parent approaches such changes differently, their approach is crucial in determining their child’s developmental and social path. While much of what I know about parent experiences stems from my time as a therapist. My research last week highlighted how cultural tradition, socioeconomic statice, and other structural factors might influence parents of a child with autism. I hope to continue my research in this area and depict this research artistically.