Embodying Tourette Syndrome in Young Adult Literature: Exploring Contemporary Portrayals and the Lingering Legacy of Freakery

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Disability Representation Through an Intersectional Lens (Table 19)

Abstract

This article foregrounds two White protagonists with Tourette Syndrome (TS) from contemporary Young Adult (YA) novels written by authors with TS, and a supporting African American character with TS in a third novel by an African American author without TS. Grounded in interdisciplinary Cultural Disability Studies in Education (CDSE), each character is analyzed for (1) physical manifestations of TS (external depiction), (2) emotional reactions about having TS (internal depiction), and (3) the response of parents, family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers (societal depiction). These depictions suggest empathetic understanding of TS, while simultaneously contemplating how the embodiment of TS informs us about our culture. Additionally, we discuss the need for intersectional representations of disability and race in the secondary school curriculum.

Authors

• David J. Connor, Hunter College - CUNY

• Melissa Schieble, Hunter College - CUNY