This piece reshapes the DSM through the experiences of neurodivergent people. Autistic people’s descriptions of engaging in their interests and passions become the most legible source of knowledge, highlighting autistic joy and challenging the DSM’s authoritative status. The DSM is disordered through the autistic maker’s practice of knitting, which the DSM would identify as an example of "restrictive and repetitive behaviors." Through autistic techniques, the DSM itself is shown to be restrictive, twisted, and fragile. Using the DSM as creative material demonstrates how neurodivergent people craft forms of knowledge that might draw on diagnostic terms but do not leave neuronormative categories or descriptions intact.
For more information about this research project:
www.craftingautism.com
