The History of Autistic People

Description

The History of Autistic People
with Alexis & MAQQI
The ‘History of Autism’ is well documented. What remains untold except in scattered fragments is the History of Autistic People. This groundbreaking webinar will attempt to tell that history as a coherent narrative from our distant ‘prehistory’ through the pathologisation of neurodivergence and the beginnings of Autistic community in the 1990s, into the creativity, conflicts, and diversity of the 2000s right up to today.
This is going to raise more questions than it answers, and we are including space for attendees to share their thoughts.

Alexis Pagdin is a 24 year old non-binary Autistic fiction writer and blogger with a fascination for the pre-modern history of Autistic people, and the intersectionality between Autistic people and transgender/non-binary identities. Alexis first discovered they enjoyed speaking and presenting five years ago while co-presenting with their mum, Sarah, at a local charity for Autistic people. Alexis has worked since then as a regular presenter at 2diverse’s training programmes for parents of young Autistic people, where their contributions are highly valued.
MAQQI is an AUsome Trainer as well as being our Subject Matter Expert at AUSome Training. MAQQI is an Autistic theorist, trainer and campaigner with decades of experience supporting neurodivergent students. Self-identified as Autistic at 12, they gained clinical confirmation at 30. MAQQIhas worked on developing a comprehensive Autistic-oriented theory of Autistic living for over a decade, publishing, presenting and training on this work internationally via conferences, Autistic Union, and most recently through their Infinite Diversity blog and Ausome Training.