Be rihtre æwe: legislating and regulating marital morality in late Anglo-Saxon England

This thesis examines some projects of moral regulation, implemented by the agents of the church and king in the late Anglo-Saxon period, which sought to modify and govern marital conduct. Theories of moral regulation are analysed in the Introduction, which also examines Germanic marriage practices, as far as they can be recovered, and the Anglo-Saxon church’s inherited attitudes towards marriage. Manuscripts and texts are examined firstly as projects of moral regulation, and secondly as projects which attempted to alter marital behaviour. In Chapter 1, moral regulation is situated within the context of the Benedictine reform through the examination of one manuscript – Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201 – as a case-study in the cooperative efforts of the church and king to regulate society. In particular, the legislative and penitential texts which are compiled in MS 201 bear witness to the tendency in late Anglo-Saxon England for legislation to be moralised, and for morality to be legislated. MS 201 also includes the unique copy of the Old English translation of Apollonius of Tyre, and the marital morality inscribed therein perhaps accounts for its inclusion in this predominantly Wulfstanian manuscript. In Chapter 2 the riddles recorded in the Exeter Book are interpreted as literary exercises in regulation. This chapter establishes the possible moral and regulatory agenda of the Exeter Book riddles by offering a new interpretation of, and solution to, one riddle. It also analyses the marriages made manifest in some of the so-called ‘double entendre’ riddles, which regulate the moral relationship following Pauline exegesis: emphasis in these riddles is on the sanctity of marriage, wifely obedience, and the payment of the conjugal debt. Conversely, Ælfric, in his Lives of Saints, idealises marriage as characterised by the absence of all sexual relations. In his Life of St Agnes (examined in Chapter 3), and in his Lives of married saints (SS Julian and Basilissa, SS Cecilia and Valerian, and SS Chrysanthus and Daria, examined in Chapter 4), Ælfric makes non-sexual, companionable, and loving marriage morally paradigmatic. Whilst both marriage and morality have been studied by modern critics, neither topic has inspired extended, specific study (with a few, notable, exceptions), and the nexus between these two topics has been hitherto unacknowledged. Although new, and often profound, insight is gained into Anglo-Saxon texts by considering them in the context of moral regulation, the morality they propose, as well as the regulatory process used to impose that morality, varies across context, text, genre, and author. This conclusion is also true for marital morality, Anglo-Saxon perceptions of which differed in each of the texts chosen for evaluation. This thesis does not claim to be comprehensive; nor does it attempt to synthesise attitudes towards marriage and morality, since a synthesis does not do justice to the richness or complexity with which this topic was treated. It is hoped that this thesis will provide insight into not only individual Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards marriage but also processes of regulation and social control, and, indeed, into the intersection between attitudes and processes

The Foundations of Autistic Flourishing

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: All people-including Autistic people-deserve to live flourishing lives. But what does a flourishing life look like for Autistic people? We suggest that the hidden biases, methodological errors, and key assumptions of autism science have obscured answers to this question. Here, we seek to initiate a broader discussion about what the foundations for a good Autistic life might be and how this discussion might be framed. RECENT FINDINGS: We identify five ways in which autism science can help us all to secure those foundations, including by (1) giving Autistic well-being prominence in research, (2) amplifying Autistic autonomy, (3) attending better to everyday experiences, (4) acknowledging context, and (5) working in partnership with Autistic people and their families and allies to ensure that they are at the heart of research decision-making. Such an approach would direct the focus of autism research to help shape good Autistic lives

Perspective : Presuming autistic communication competence and reframing facilitated communication

Debate surrounding the validity of the method of supported typing known as facilitated communication (FC) has been continuous since its inception in the 1990s. Views are polarized on whether FC can be considered an authenticated method for use by people with complex communication needs (CCN) or significant challenges in speech, language, and communication. This perspective article presents an analysis of the research arguing for—and against—the use of FC, combined with the lived experience knowledge of autistic adults who utilize FC, to rehabilitate its current standing as discredited and unevidenced. By considering extant qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as personal accounts of the use of this particular Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) method, the authors argue that the current dismissal of FC is rooted in ableist and outdated approaches. FC research should be reconsidered and reconducted using current best practice autism research approaches, including coproduction and a presumption of autistic communication competence, to assess its validity as a potential AAC method for autistic individuals

“Peas in a pod”: Oral History Reflections on Autistic Identity in Family and Community by Late-Diagnosed Adults

In this paper, we report on a participatory oral history study documenting the lives of late-diagnosed autistic adults in Australia. We interviewed 26 autistic adults about their life history and the impact of late diagnosis. All were diagnosed after the age of 35, growing up in an era when autism was not well known. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we uncovered a rich body of reflections on shared Autistic identity and identified three major themes within that data set: 'conceptualising the Autistic family', 'creating Autistic community', and 'contesting Autistic identity'. Overall, the study provides insights into the active creation of shared Autistic identity and the importance of Autistic community to these late-diagnosed autistic adults

'Somali parents feel like they're on the outer': Somali mothers' experiences of parent-teacher relationships for their autistic children

Good relationships between parents and schools can improve autistic children's school success. There are many reasons why families from different cultural backgrounds find it harder to develop good relationships with schools, such as language barriers, discrimination and unfamiliarity with education systems. We know little about what 'good relationships' look like for these families. Here, we worked with a team of autistic and non-autistic researchers as well as an Advisory Group of Somali parents to conduct interviews with 15 Somali mothers of kindergarten and school-age autistic children. We asked mothers about their experiences of their child's education, communication with teachers and what a good relationship with schools would look like. We also asked how they felt the Somali community understood autism. We looked for common things that mothers said. We found that mothers were very proud of their children. They had high expectations, particularly about what children could do by themselves. Mothers found it frustrating that teachers had low expectations, that schools were not good at communicating with them and that autism-specific skills and experience were uncommon in schools. They also reported racist attitudes towards their children. Mothers experienced stigma and lacked resources, but support was gained from their daughters and their religion. Mothers themselves were proactively increasing community awareness and knowledge about autism in the hope that they and their autistic children would be valued and better supported. Our work has implications for how teachers and schools can work together with Somali parents to forge better futures for autistic children

“It just fits my needs better”: Autistic students and parents’ experiences of learning from home during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background and aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to people's lives, especially for families, whose children have been taken out of schools during lockdown restrictions and required to learn from home. Little is known, however, about the perceived impact of the lockdown restrictions on the educational experiences of autistic children and young people – a group whose conventional schooling experiences are already often challenging. In this study, we sought to (1) understand these experiences from the perspectives of autistic young people and their parents, and (2) identify the underlying sources of positive experiences at this challenging time, in order to inform the ways in which autistic children might flourish at school in more normal times. Methods: Ninety-one Australian participants, including 16 autistic young people aged 12–18 years, 32 autistic parents and 43 non-autistic parents of autistic young people aged 3–18 years, took part in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of life during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were subjected to reflexive, thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes for each research question. Results: Overall, our participants initially found the transition to learning from home extremely challenging, with parents reporting that the support received from schools was far from adequate. After that initial period of transition, however, many autistic children reported flourishing at home both educationally and personally. For these children and families, we identified three key ingredients essential to this flourishing, including: (i) the importance of connected, trusting relationships (‘people’); (ii) the sensory and social safety of home (‘place’); and (iii) the flexibility to pace and structure learning to suit the individual child (‘time’). Conclusions: While the initial COVID-19 lockdown presented many challenges to children learning at home, there were aspects of this otherwise-unsettling situation that enabled children to thrive and from which we can learn for the future. Implications: These findings have important implications for understanding how and when autistic children might thrive in institutional educational settings once the pandemic subsides, focusing on the relationships between teachers and students, the nature of the physical learning environment and the need for greater flexibility in planning the school day

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Autistic Adults: a Scoping Review

Purpose of Review: The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions have had a significant impact on people’s everyday lives, including the lives of Autistic adults. We aimed to (a) synthesise all papers currently published on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic adults and (b) identify lessons for the care and support of Autistic adults in pandemic and post-pandemic times. Recent Findings: Fifty-five papers met the inclusion criteria. Most studies focused on the pandemic’s impact on the wellbeing of Autistic adults. Several studies focused on the use of (telehealth) services or the risk of COVID-19 infection/hospitalisation. Summary: Autistic adults were significantly impacted by the pandemic, both directly as indicated by higher COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation rates, but also indirectly due to severe service disruptions and social restrictions. Even though there were large differences observed both between as well as within individuals in terms of the negative/positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, most studies reported a negative effect on Autistic adults’ mental health. We draw several lessons from this review for the future care and support of Autistic adults, all of which must be underpinned by participatory research methods, that is, where Autistic community members are actively involved in setting research questions, testing the acceptability of the methods and interpreting and disseminating the results

A capabilities approach to understanding and supporting autistic adulthood

There is little comprehensive research into autistic adulthood, and even less into the services and supports that are most likely to foster flourishing adult autistic lives. This limited research is partly because autism is largely conceived as a condition of childhood, but this focus of research has also resulted from the orthodox scientific approach to autism, which conceptualizes autistic experience almost entirely as a series of biologically derived functional deficits. Approaching autism in this way severely limits what is known about this neurodevelopmental difference, how research is conducted and the services and supports available. In this Review, we adopt an alternative research strategy: we apply Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach, which focuses on ten core elements of a thriving human life, to research on autistic adulthood. In doing so, we identify areas where autistic adults thrive and where they often struggle, and highlight issues to which researchers, clinicians and policymakers should respond. The resulting picture is far more complex than conventional accounts of autism imply. It also reveals the importance of engaging autistic adults directly in the research process to make progress towards genuinely knowing autism and supporting flourishing autistic lives