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\n\t\t\t\tBUY ON BOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/article> \n\n\t<\/center><\/div>Voice is about word choice, sentence flow, what authors do or don\u2019t tell. Sometimes authors include other devices, which range from breaking grammar rules to tweaking the presentation on the page.<\/p>\nThere is nothing inherently wrong with such devices, but it’s noteworthy that they’re so commonly used for autistic narrators. Authors will use a range of approaches to convey their autistic characters\u2019 different manner of thinking. Let\u2019s look at some examples.<\/p>\n
In yesterday’s review of Rain Reign<\/em>\u00a0by Ann M. Martin<\/a>, Marieke Nijkamp discusses several elements of Rose\u2019s voice, including the artificial way Rose narrates the story and the frequent additions of homophones and\u00a0numbers to the narrative. Some examples from the sample on Amazon:<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to tell you a story. It\u2019s a true story, which makes it a piece of nonfiction.<\/p>\n This is how you tell a story: First you introduce the main character. I\u2019m writing this story about me, so I am the main character.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve stayed back for two semesters, which is a total of one year. (1\/2 + 1\/2 = 1.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The historical moment in time in which this story begins is October of my year in fifth grade.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When Rain and I are at home alone together, we sit inside or on the front porch and Rain puts one (won) of her front feet (feat) in (inn) my lap. I rub her toes (tows), and she gazes into my blue (blew) eyes with her eyes, which are the color of a chocolate bar.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In Jacqueline Houtman’s The Reinvention of Edison Thomas<\/a><\/em>, the narrative contains regular interjections of facts from Edison\u2019s \u201crandom access memory,\u201d and is peppered with Latin names for animals and plants (which particularly stood out because\u00a0Edison is never shown being particularly interested in biology, but instead in engineering).<\/p>\n Eddy\u2019s breakfast, as usual, consisted of cornflakes, a banana (Musa balbisiana)<\/em>, milk (1 percent), and orange juice (calcium-fortified). His mom emerged from her studio, a pencil behind her ear and ink smudges on her face. She refilled her oversized coffee cup shaped like a squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis<\/em>), with the tail for a handle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Eddy had his usual,\u00a0Arachis hypogaea<\/em>\u00a0butter and\u00a0Apis mellifera\u00a0<\/em>vomit on whole\u00a0Triticum aestivum<\/em>\u00a0bread. Justin had Thunnus alalunga <\/em>again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Eddy didn\u2019t forget his lunch. He did, however, forget to put his schedule back in his pocket.<\/p>\n Fact Number 9,192,631,770 from the Random Access Memory\u00a0of Edison Thomas:<\/strong>\u00a0In the past, time was measured based on Earth\u2019s rotation. Modern atomic clocks are so accurate that, in 1967, scientists redefined the second based on the vibrations of a cesium-133 atom.<\/p>\n On the walk to school, Eddy brooded about the science fair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Had he made things worse? He was developing a painful egg-sized bruise on his elbow. Yes, things were definitely worse.<\/p>\n Fact Number 24 from the Random Access Memory of Edison\u00a0Thomas:<\/strong>The egg of the ostrich (Struthio camelus<\/em>) contains the largest single cell on Earth.<\/p>\n Eddy got to lunch in time to get a table to himself in the corner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mockingbird<\/em>\u00a0by Kathryn Erskine also contains a number of interesting narrative quirks: long words have the emphasized syllable capitalized, all dialogue takes the form of italics, and phrases referring to concepts Caitlin has had to learn via therapy are capitalized.<\/p>\n My Dictionary says CAVernous means filled with cavities or hollow areas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Her face squishes up like she\u2019s trying to Get It.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mark Haddon\u2019s\u00a0The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>is written as a diary, and includes many illustrations and schematics of\u00a0maps<\/a>, maths problems, schedules, elements Christopher encounters (such as company logos<\/a>, patterns, train announcements, ATM screens<\/a>, and more) and Christopher\u2019s line of thinking<\/a>.<\/p>\n These are all fairly obvious deviations from a standard narrative. It can also take subtler forms, such as a curiously distant, clinical narrative voice, which is present in most of the above books \u2014 as well as Marcelo in the Real World<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Francisco X. Stork, which does not otherwise use any narrative devices:<\/p>\n \u201cMarcelo, are you ready?\u201d The train slows down and I hear the screeching sound of metal rubbing against metal. I instinctively put my hands over my ears. Harsh noises are painful to me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A woman is standing in front of a huge copying machine. I know it\u2019s a copying machine because I can see a line of light move back and forth, just like the machine they have at Paterson.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are two desks, each facing a wall so that when people sit at them, they will have their backs to each other. I decide I like that arrangement, assuming that I will sit at one of the desks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I know from Paterson that \u201cfuck\u201d is an inappropriate word that means sexual intercourse, but is more often than not used to convey anger and even hatred.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cExcuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n Someone is speaking to me. I turn around and there is the secretary who sits in space number eighteen. I search for her name. Space eighteen. Beth. The lawyer she works for is Harvey Marcus. I stand there not knowing exactly what to say to her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is Jasmine?\u201d<\/p>\n I like those kinds of questions. \u201cShe went to the post office.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShit!\u201d<\/p>\n This is an unexpected response.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The smell of fish reaches me and I take a deep breath. I like strong smells.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m interested in voice from both a writer\u2019s and reader\u2019s standpoint, and a good, unique voice can convey so <\/em>much about a character that it\u00a0would be ridiculous to write off these kind of devices entirely; I also want to acknowledge that\u00a0none of these devices are unique to autistic narrators.\u00a0They may be used for any character meant to be quirky or different.<\/p>\n That said, these deviations in narration are so disproportionally common with autistic narrators that I\u2019ve grown skeptical\u00a0of them.\u00a0The voice quirks often aren\u2019t particularly related to the character\u2019s situation or personality, but instead very much about the character\u2019s autism. It sets the character\u00a0apart in an attempt to convey \u201cthe autistic mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Autistics often recite and focus on facts, so let\u2019s add footnotes and interjections.<\/p>\n Autistics\u00a0may\u00a0struggle with emotions, so let\u2019s indicate those with a different font.<\/p>\n Autistics obsess over their special interests, so let\u2019s pepper the narrative with homophones or Latin names to convey this all-consuming obsession.<\/p>\n Autistics can sound stiff and official, so let\u2019s mimic this\u00a0with a detached\u00a0narrative voice.<\/p>\n And it works, in the sense that the devices paint a clear picture of the character \u2014 but not in a way that necessarily flatters the character or the author\u2019s view of autism. Instead, it continually paints the character as other. <\/em>These devices and distant \u201cautism voice\u201d\u00a0continually redirect the reader\u2019s attention away from the story\u00a0and toward the characters\u2019 oddities, latching onto ways autistic people may differ and blowing up those differences so there\u2019s barely room for anything else. Narrative affectations become the characters\u2019 defining elements, rather than their actual actions or personality. In addition, this disproportionate focus on quirks and differences can make it feel as though the character is being gawked at.<\/p>\n The distant voice in particular feels like an outside-in approach, and not an inside-out approach: it comes across as though authors focus on the way autistics present externally and extrapolate what they must feel and think like on the inside. Except … whose insides and outsides line up that neatly? Especially for autistic people, given that a common symptom is difficulty expressing emotions in ways that are recognizable (let alone acceptable) to neurotypicals? If an autistic person comes across as stilted, even robotic, it\u2019s often because they\u2019ve had to consciously learn how to express their thoughts and feelings. It doesn\u2019t mean those thoughts and feelings themselves are robotic.<\/p>\n But that is<\/em> how it comes across in many books. Even in books from their own perspective, autistic characters are rarely\u00a0given the same emotional depth or descriptive inner life as neurotypical characters. Their emotions are simplified and superficial, with no capacity for skepticism, self-reflection, self-consciousness, or self-awareness. Preferences and thoughts are often depicted in the form of rational observations or helpless\u00a0reactions, rather than, well, feelings<\/em>. \u00a0This says telling things about how\u00a0people view autism; we’re often thought to either lack emotions entirely or only have a narrow\u00a0range.<\/p>\n Consider those quotes from Marcelo<\/em>: \u201cI like strong smells.\u201d \u201cThis is an unexpected response.\u201d \u201cHarsh noises are painful to me.\u201d Note that I loved many things about this book, and so did\u00a0other autistic people<\/a>. Yet, I\u2019m continually bothered by the clinical voice. Why don\u2019t we see<\/em> him reveling in that strong scent, being surprised by a response and wondering what it means, describing the way the painful\u00a0sound feels?\u00a0Given that a key element of autism is the tendency to feel things strongly, sometimes to the point of being overwhelmed, why is the narrative voice in many books so mechanical?<\/p>\n It’s hurtful when\u00a0autistic people\u00a0are so\u00a0often portrayed as\u00a0unworldly, hyper-rational blank slates defined by a series of\u00a0unusual behaviors<\/a>.\u00a0Authors should be careful not to feed into those stereotypes, even accidentally.<\/p>\n It’s particularly\u00a0notable that many of these books are praised exactly because<\/em> of their voice. The books are described as immersive, realistic, honest, and allowing neurotypical readers to understand autism.<\/p>\n And, sure, if the voice works for the character and the book, so be it. If an author has a certain detached, matter-of-fact style, so be it. I even like certain elements I highlighted above \u2014 I sometimes recognize aspects of myself and autistic friends, and have read reviews by autistic people who do relate to a certain way of thinking<\/a>. I also appreciate that our differences aren\u2019t completely glossed over in order to make the narrative more palatable. I\u00a0don’t mean\u00a0to pick on individual books.<\/p>\n What I’d love is for authors to consider whether they really need to rely on superficial narrative devices to convey an autistic narrator. Our autism is just part of us. Authors can include all the same elements and indicate all the same traits in a different, subtler fashion. For examples, just read books like Harmonic Feedback<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Tara Kelly, The Real Boy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Anne Ursu, or Rogue<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. <\/em>You can convey an authentic autistic character without flashiness, without distinguishing the character as \u201cother,\u201d without reinforcing stereotypes, without overshadowing the plot, without robbing the character of emotional agency, and without drowning out the character\u2019s actual experiences, rich internal life, and breadth of emotions \u2014<\/p>\n The same way authors would integrate a neurotypical character\u2019s personality traits and interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The “autism voice”\u2014characterized by narrative devices and a detached character voice\u2014tends to portray autistic characters as unworldly, hyper-rational blank slates defined purely by a series of unusual behaviors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[140,94,63,180,192,154,196,70],"genre":[],"age_category":[],"disability":[7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7040,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions\/7040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"age_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age_category?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"disability","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disability?post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/mockingbird-200x267.jpg\")
<\/a>\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\tBUY ON BOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/article> \n\n\t<\/center><\/div>Colin Fischer<\/a> <\/em>by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz\u00a0includes excerpts\u00a0from Colin\u2019s notebook, frequent\u00a0footnotes<\/a>, and puts every mention of an emotion in a different font to mimic Colin’s \u201cemotion cheat sheet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI lift up my thumb. It means that I am ready.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/marcelo-in-the-real-world-200x290.jpg\")
<\/a>\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\tBUY ON BOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/article> \n\n\t<\/center><\/div>I\u2019m certain there are more books I could use as examples, but this gives a good overview of approaches authors have taken in depicting their autistic narrators.<\/p>\n![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/the-real-boy-200x302.jpeg\")
<\/a>\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\tBUY ON BOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/article> \n\n\t<\/center><\/div>But … to me, such narrative voices are rapidly becoming a method of exoticizing the autistic character and spoonfeeding their quirky\/heartbreaking reactions to a neurotypical audience.<\/p>\n
![includes excerpts\u00a0from Colin\u2019s notebook, frequent\u00a0footnotes<\/a>, and](\"http:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/dikl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/colin-fischer-various-devices.jpg\"){kind=link}
![maps<\/a>, maths problems, schedules, elements Christopher encounters (such as](\"http:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/dikl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/curious-incident-zoo-map.jpg\"){kind=link}
![company logos<\/a>, patterns, train announcements,](\"http:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/dikl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/curious-incident-company-logo.jpg\"){kind=link}
![ATM screens<\/a>, and more) and](\"http:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/dikl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/curious-incident-atm.jpg\"){kind=link}