Wrong Planet No More: Rhetorical Sensing for the Neurodiverse College Composition Classroom Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Hill, Denise Yvonne Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 01:31:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/338684 1 WRONG PLANET NO MORE: RHETORICAL SENSING FOR THE NEURODIVERSE COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM by Denise Y. Hill __________________________ Copyright © Denise Y. Hill 2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN RHETORIC, COMPOSITION & THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2014 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Denise Y. Hill, titled Wrong Planet No More: Rhetorical Sensing for the Neurodiverse College Composition Classroom, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/23/2014 Amy Kimme-Hea _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/23/2014 Anne-Marie Hall _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/23/2014 Adela Licona Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: (10/23/2014) Dissertation Director: Amy Kimme-Hea 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Denise Y. Hill 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation committee for supporting me through this process. Dr. Anne-Marie Hall is one of the most thorough readers I have ever had the privilege to work with, and without her insights the final chapter of this dissertation would not exist. Dr. Adela Licona challenged me to see my work from different perspectives. I am especially thankful to my chair, Dr. Amy Kimme-Hea, a thoughtful mentor and friend. Amy’s supportive spirit made the road to this dissertation much easier to travel. I would also like to thank my doctors and nurses at Allergy Partners of Arizona, Arizona Allergy Associates, and Arizona Allergy and Asthma Specialists. The thirty minutes twice a week I had to wait in your offices after allergy shots turned out to be prime writing time. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Joe. You are, and always have been, my home. 5 DEDICATION To Noah and Nicholas, who daily teach me the beauty of difference and give me strength I never knew I could muster. To Liam, who teaches me the power of new beginnings and reminds me that neurotypicality is sometimes stranger than autism. I am humbled that I get to call you my sons. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………8 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….9 PROLOGUE/INTRODUCTION WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER…………………………...…………………...10 CHAPTER ONE RHETORICAL SENSING: MAKING “WRONG PLANET” OUR PLANET…………17 Defining Autism………………………………………………………………….18 Educational Impact of the Definitions of Autism………………………………..29 This All Sounds Great: Why Do We Need This Dissertation, Again?..................36 Rhetorical Sensing: An Opportunity……………………………………………..42 Overview of Upcoming Chapters………………………………………………..48 CHAPTER TWO SENSING NEUROTYPICALS: A PROGRAMMATIC APPROACH TO READING THE WRONG PLANET………………………………………...………………………52 Living with Asperger’s is Hard, Being Married to It Even Harder……………...52 Defining Mindblindness…………………………………………………………56 Therapeutic Applications Based upon Mindblindness Theory………………….58 Empathy…………………………………………………………….……………66 Challenging the Mindblindness Model…………………………………………..68 CHAPTER THREE CHANGE BEGINS IN THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM: RHETORICAL SENSING AS TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICE……………………..…...………….82 7 Putting the Key in the Lock……………………………………………………...82 Diverse Modes of Language Expression………………………………………...87 Rhetorical Sensing in the Composition Classroom……………………………...96 Practical Accommodations of Rhetorical Sensing in Neurodiverse Pedagogy...101 CHAPTER FOUR SENSING ACADEMIC AUTISM MOTHERS: REWRITING THE DISCOURSE OF DOUBLE MARTYRDOM…….……………………………………………………….111 Mothering and the Academy Don’t Mix (?)……………………………………111 The Work Horses in the Basement Stall: Women in Rhetoric and Composition…………………………………………………………………….120 Struggling to Shut the Refrigerator Door: Mothers of Children with Autism….126 Ed White and Potty Training Don’t Mix: Struggling to Stay Alive in the Face of Double-Martyrdom ..…………………………………………………………...134 Towards Having a Life: Gynocentric Mothering and Professionalism………...143 CHAPTER FIVE SENSING A NEW WRITING PROGRAM: CREATING AN ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE FOR OUR PLANET……………………………………………………156 Supporting Inclusivity through Teacher Development…………………………161 Take Advantage of Digital Learning Environments…………………………....166 Vive la Différence: Celebrating Neurodiversity………………………………..173 Conclusion: A New Heaven and a New Earth………………………………….177 EPILOGUE: SENSING MY WORLD……..………………………………………..…180 APPENDIX A: LESSON PLAN……………………………………………...………..184 APPENDIX B: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS………………………………...……………188 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………..192 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1, The Wrong Planet Logo………………………………………………...……..41 Figure 2, The Solar System…………………………….……………………….…..50, 178 Figure 3, The Earth…………………………………………………………………..….51 Figure 4, The Rhetorical Triangle…………………………………………………….....82 Figure 5, Summary Table of Inclusive Teaching Strategies…………………………....108 Figure 6, Pedagogical Strategies and UID Principles…………………………………172 Figure 7, Earth at Sunrise……………………………………………………………...179 9 ABSTRACT A predominant metaphor in the autism community is that the neurotypical world is a “wrong planet” in which people with autism do not belong, and I assert that the university is one such wrong planet. I examine the rhetorical history of autism and argue that the construction and reconstruction of autism have led to learning spaces in higher education that Other students on the autism spectrum. I draw upon Krista Ratcliffe’s rhetorical listening as a way to address the inequities that persist in college writing classrooms. However, to avoid a bias toward neurotypicality, I recast rhetorical listening as rhetorical sensing, a term that encompasses the multiple ways of experiencing the world rather than privileging one modality. I apply the rhetorical sensing model to four aspects of higher education. First, I look at the ways in which students with autism are already programmed to rhetorically sense neurotypicals through therapy models such as Social Thinking and argue that while such training is beneficial, it is not true rhetorical sensing because, as Ratcliffe asserts, both parties must be equal participants in the listening. Placing the burden of understanding on people with ASDs alone serves to reify existing power structures, further marginalizing those who are not neurotypical. Next, I turn my attention to the college composition classroom and present ways for instructors to rhetorically sense their students with autism. I describe the ways in which students with ASDs tend to approach writing and explore the ways in which these approaches may differ from the neurotypical approaches to which writing teachers may be more accustomed. I provide strategies based on universal design that can help all students, regardless of neurodifference, thrive. I then turn my attention to composition instructors who parent children with autism. Drawing upon a rich body of research on working conditions for women in rhetoric and composition, I describe the ways in which adjunctification has left caregivers over- worked, under-paid, and under-insured as they try to provide for their children with autism. Using the concepts of Aimee Carrillo Rowe’s power lines and Andrea O’Reilly’s gynocentric mothering, I propose ways to improve conditions for teachers who parent children with autism. Finally, I focus on ways in which writing program administrators can make programmatic changes in order to foster inclusive learning practices. I propose training and partnership models that are low-cost and can create an inclusive planet that supports neurodiverse students, faculty, and writing programs. 10 PROLOGUE/INTRODUCTION WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER This isn’t the dissertation I was going to write. I had already decided who I was as an academic: I was the nineteenth-century