Autist...
Auteur !
Fieldlab 2, March 17, 2025
by Anna Lina Litz
One poet, one professor, and twelve autistic artists walk into a room to test writing exercises for special education.
How do they begin?
I’d like it to be quiet (exercise 123)
They begin by searching for silence, a precious and elusive phenomenon in a classroom (and anywhere, really).
When we intentionally stop talking and start listening, what do we notice? Make lists, from loudest to softest, least annoying to most annoying errant noise.
Some find it difficult to connect sounds to words, find the “correct” descriptions. Listening reminds some of their irritation by sounds, others that they aren’t bothered by auditory stimuli as much as they used to be. Many make distinctions between avoidable and unavoidable, necessary and unnecessary noises: Necessary noise like people breathing or a cat meowing is less irritating than unnecessary, avoidable noise like whispering, printing, and walking around.
One possible list/refusal to list:
Whispering, footsteps, typing, opening a bottle, pouring water, footsteps, whispering, printing a document, footsteps, whispering, cough, car, whispering, printer noises, typing.
There seems to be a kind of loop or a pattern of noise.
whispering, footsteps,
typing, opening a bottle, pouring
water, footsteps, whispering,
printing a document, foot
steps, whispering, cough,
car, whispering,
printer, footsteps
typing.
I don’t want to formulate a complaint, I want the silence to grow wider and wider.
whispering, footsteps,
typing, opening
a bottle, pouring
water, footsteps, whispering,
printing a document, foot
steps, whispering, cough,
car, whispering,
printer, footsteps
typing.
Showing yourself through language (exercise 124)
After our encounter with silence, we were invited back into social space. The premise of exercise 124: You know everything about yourself, and have to curate how to narrate parts of that complete experience to other people. Not everybody gets the same story. So who hears what & when & why?
Somebody remarked: This exercise is more interesting than the first, because it lets us examine the social contract. Back in school, this would have helped me understand things better.
But are we learning to write, or to understand social situations? Would it be helpful to state the exercises’ intentions clearly and outright? In the form of a learning goal, or a theme? How can an exercise offer both guidance and freedom? No consensus. A smile is a smile is a smile — (exercise 126)
Make a list, once again: A smile can mean a lot of things. Write down 4.
We collected our findings. A smile can be
overwinning, irritatie, opluchting, liefde, verwondering, extase, ongemak, schoonheid, tevredenheid, grappig, plezier, onbewust, meelevend, maskerend, blijheid, ego/manipulatie, bemoedigend, trots, dapper, verbergen van onbegrip, ontwapening, excuserend, verlegen.
It can be a default, a greeting, brief politeness or a signal of friendly intentions. It can be affirmation, affection, amusement, mockery, fondness, self-defence. It can be that something crosses your mind that is not legible to all the world, and you enjoy that little privacy.
Is this an autism-exercise for recognising facial expressions?, somebody wanted to know upfront.
There’s no specific goal, but it can be a way to categorise through language and make your reality more comfortable that way, the professor responded.
Participants agreed that it was interesting to hear others’ impressions and make them available for group discussion. But, again, not really an exercise that allows you to write. However, on second thought: an exercise that lets you give the character in your sci-fi saga a nuanced smile when a nuanced smile is warranted. Human needs (exercise 6)
After the soup break, we reconvened to write & speak about human needs. What’s your personal primary need?
It was easy, someone said in the feedback round, and somebody else: It was uninspiring. And: It was confusing, are we talking about food and water, or are we talking about love and understanding?
And what is the difference, in this case, between writing and speaking about these things? And why are we always speaking about ourselves? This is starting to feel a bit like a therapy session.
It’s because you never get the chance to reflect on yourself and your position as a human within society, as a citizen, the poet and the professor explained. Usually you’re asked to write opinion pieces, constructing arguments out of other peoples’ quotes. Here, it’s all you.
It might be easier, a few participants advised from experience, to invite self-reflection via the detour of other perspectives. Make it absurd, even. You are a stone in the lining of your jackets, what are your needs? That way, you can be creative, play, and reflect without the familiar and tiring routine of analysing and explaining yourself and your needs.
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https://www.michahamel.com/
https://schrijflab.nl/
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One poet, one professor, and twelve autistic artists walk into a room to test writing exercises for special education.
How do they begin?
I’d like it to be quiet (exercise 123)
They begin by searching for silence, a precious and elusive phenomenon in a classroom (and anywhere, really).
When we intentionally stop talking and start listening, what do we notice? Make lists, from loudest to softest, least annoying to most annoying errant noise.
Some find it difficult to connect sounds to words, find the “correct” descriptions. Listening reminds some of their irritation by sounds, others that they aren’t bothered by auditory stimuli as much as they used to be. Many make distinctions between avoidable and unavoidable, necessary and unnecessary noises: Necessary noise like people breathing or a cat meowing is less irritating than unnecessary, avoidable noise like whispering, printing, and walking around.
One possible list/refusal to list:
Whispering, footsteps, typing, opening a bottle, pouring water, footsteps, whispering, printing a document, footsteps, whispering, cough, car, whispering, printer noises, typing.
There seems to be a kind of loop or a pattern of noise.
whispering, footsteps,
typing, opening a bottle, pouring
water, footsteps, whispering,
printing a document, foot
steps, whispering, cough,
car, whispering,
printer, footsteps
typing.
I don’t want to formulate a complaint, I want the silence to grow wider and wider.
whispering, footsteps,
typing, opening
a bottle, pouring
water, footsteps, whispering,
printing a document, foot
steps, whispering, cough,
car, whispering,
printer, footsteps
typing.
Showing yourself through language (exercise 124)
After our encounter with silence, we were invited back into social space. The premise of exercise 124: You know everything about yourself, and have to curate how to narrate parts of that complete experience to other people. Not everybody gets the same story. So who hears what & when & why?
Somebody remarked: This exercise is more interesting than the first, because it lets us examine the social contract. Back in school, this would have helped me understand things better.
But are we learning to write, or to understand social situations? Would it be helpful to state the exercises’ intentions clearly and outright? In the form of a learning goal, or a theme? How can an exercise offer both guidance and freedom? No consensus. A smile is a smile is a smile — (exercise 126)
Make a list, once again: A smile can mean a lot of things. Write down 4.
We collected our findings. A smile can be
overwinning, irritatie, opluchting, liefde, verwondering, extase, ongemak, schoonheid, tevredenheid, grappig, plezier, onbewust, meelevend, maskerend, blijheid, ego/manipulatie, bemoedigend, trots, dapper, verbergen van onbegrip, ontwapening, excuserend, verlegen.
It can be a default, a greeting, brief politeness or a signal of friendly intentions. It can be affirmation, affection, amusement, mockery, fondness, self-defence. It can be that something crosses your mind that is not legible to all the world, and you enjoy that little privacy.
Is this an autism-exercise for recognising facial expressions?, somebody wanted to know upfront.
There’s no specific goal, but it can be a way to categorise through language and make your reality more comfortable that way, the professor responded.
Participants agreed that it was interesting to hear others’ impressions and make them available for group discussion. But, again, not really an exercise that allows you to write. However, on second thought: an exercise that lets you give the character in your sci-fi saga a nuanced smile when a nuanced smile is warranted. Human needs (exercise 6)
After the soup break, we reconvened to write & speak about human needs. What’s your personal primary need?
It was easy, someone said in the feedback round, and somebody else: It was uninspiring. And: It was confusing, are we talking about food and water, or are we talking about love and understanding?
And what is the difference, in this case, between writing and speaking about these things? And why are we always speaking about ourselves? This is starting to feel a bit like a therapy session.
It’s because you never get the chance to reflect on yourself and your position as a human within society, as a citizen, the poet and the professor explained. Usually you’re asked to write opinion pieces, constructing arguments out of other peoples’ quotes. Here, it’s all you.
It might be easier, a few participants advised from experience, to invite self-reflection via the detour of other perspectives. Make it absurd, even. You are a stone in the lining of your jackets, what are your needs? That way, you can be creative, play, and reflect without the familiar and tiring routine of analysing and explaining yourself and your needs.
https://www.michahamel.com/
https://schrijflab.nl/