Paper Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Typing Back: Centering the Experience and Expertise of Nonspeaking Autistic Bloggers

Sat, April 26, 11:40am to 1:10pm MDT (11:40am to 1:10pm MDT), The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 201

Abstract

Online platforms have created space for autistic individuals who type to communicate to participate in the discourse community to share perspectives, comment on schooling experiences, and provide guidance -- narrating their own experience of autism. This discourse analysis analyzes the blogs written by 15 nonspeaking autistic individuals who type to communicate, asking the overarching questions: What can analyzing online materials by autistic typers teach us about their experiences? How do nonspeaking autistic bloggers construct and make sense of their experiences? We identify two major discourses: trapped body discourse and discourses of intelligence. Using sociolinguistic discourse analysis (Stubbs, 1983), we describe how the bloggers use language strategically to construct their identities while speaking back to popular understandings of autism and intelligence.

Authors