Fabric sensory strings knitted, crotched and woven in all the colours of the rainbow. Image and art credit Kat Singer.
Re•Storying Autism Collective
The ReStorying Autism Collective is an online Autistic and neurodivergent arts, activism, and research collective with members across Canada innovating in neurodivergent arts, and Autistic and neurodivergent led online accessibility. We are an affiliate of the Re•Storying Autism project. We meet online once a month to plan Autistic/ND led creative research and events and advise on research directions. The group recently exhibited zines from our Autistic, Surviving and Thriving workshop series at Tangled Art + Disability Gallery in Toronto (Sept 13-October 21, 2022). View the event here. If you are interested in joining us, contact us at info@restoryingautism.com.
Our goal is to transform problem-saturated understandings of autism and release new understandings and practices by centring the perspectives of autistic makers.
Resources
Autistic, Surviving and Thriving Under COVID-19: Imagining Inclusive Autistic Futures is a zine produced by the Re•Storying Autism Collective through a series of online workshops that took place during COVID-19 in the Fall of 2020. The Collective met regularly to talk about access to online space as a priority for the workshop series. This Guide to Accessible Online Space is a result of the Collective’s creative labour, and is grounded in our lived experience as well as ideas adapted from Relaxed Performance. A text-based version of this document can be found here.
Members
Besa Shemovski Thomas
I'm Besa, some call me Bess for short but usually those who really know me. I work as a graphic designer and illustrator specifically in logo creation. I also write thought-provoking speeches, practice improv, make voices and most definitely being me!
My role in this project is one of the storytellers expressing my learning experience as an autistic woman.
Bridget Liang
Bridget Liang is a mixed race, queer, transfeminine, autistic, disabled, fat fangirl. They're a PhD candidate in the
Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies Program at York University, a community researcher, workshop and group facilitator,
performance artist, and fiction writer. Much of their work revolves around intersectionality and arts-based research.
David Preyde
David Preyde spends his time alone in a room making up shit. He interacts with the world as infrequently as possible, but has managed to have 38 of his short plays performed, and two short stories published. He has had a novel rejected by 35 agents, and is trying mightily to finish his second novel in the midst of our current apocalypse. He does not appreciate small talk, eye contact, or handshaking, but will pretend to be friendly when approached.
Em Farquhar-Barrie
Em Farquhar-Barrie (they/them) is a trans, multiply disabled, queer, autistic person of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry. They are a multi-disciplinary artist, nature lover, and service dog handler. In their personal experience, art saved their life, providing them with creative outlets to express feelings, cope, and move forward. Em is a BFA graduate, holding a certificate in Cultural and Artistic Practices for Environmental and Social Justice. You can follow their arts practice on Instagram: @emfarbar.
Kat Singer
Kat Singer (they/them) is a Toronto-based multimedia artist, facilitator, and mental health professional. Their interests include neurodiversity, accessibility justice, and healing and self-advocacy through the arts.
Emily Gillespie
Emily Gillespie (they/them) is a mad and autistic millennial daydreamer, author, performance artist and disability activist. They have a MA in Critical Disability Studies and love dreaming about accessibility. They have one published novel, and several short stories and poems. They teach creative writing at mental health community organizations. They hope to continue their studies and examine how the emergency mental health system fails people with complex mental illnesses and autism. As a kid who wanted to quit school in grade 7 due to bullying, they are passionate about inclusive education.
Mandy Klein
Mandy Klein is a 50-year old multiply-disabled autistic advocate and activist. She lives with her autistic husband and autistic son, along with several pets in Central Ontario. She has an essay in the anthology, Typed Words, Loud Voices and a blog, Tales From an Autistic Family. Her writing has been quoted in Autism Ontario’s joint response (through OPAAA) to the Government of Ontario’s Select Committee on Developmental Services Interim Report released March 5, 2014.
Sherri Liska
Sherri is a Toronto-based neurodiversity activist, web assistant, and (most importantly) cat lady. Building on her knowledge of accessibility and her experience as an “unseen” disabled person, she works to cultivate equitable spaces and to help neurotypicals understand and connect with their neurodivergent loved ones.
Nancy Marshall
Nancy Marshall is a Child and Youth Worker who has supported teachers and autistic students in Special Education classrooms for ten years. She is currently doing Doctoral research in the Faculty of Education at York University. Her research aims to explore the impacts and outcomes of Applied Behavioural Analysis, which is currently the most recommended treatment approach for autistic young people in Ontario. She hopes to fill gaps in the existing academic literature with the voices of autistic people.
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