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Disability and Masculinities pp 45–63Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A Pedagogy of Movement and Affect: A Young Man with Autism Spectrum and Intersubjective Possibilities

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Abstract

The pedagogical relationship for boys in school has largely been territorialised by the hegemonic order with dominant boys positioned above subordinated. This chapter explores one young man with autism spectrum (AS) affective movements when entering into relations with other boys having attended school in Nova Scotia, Canada. His story shows how his masculine subjectivity is highly situated, complex and filled with affect. Conceptual tools from Deleuze and Guattari are drawn on as a form of analysis to show how mobilising movement and affect can unsettle essentialised notions of masculinity. It suggests movement and affect as a form of pedagogy is a space filled with possibilities that increasingly considers the transient nature of young men with AS masculine subjectivities in schools.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, identifies a person with autism spectrum as having impairments in social communication and social interaction as well as repetitive and restricted patterns of interest (American Psychiatric Association 2013).

  2. 2.

    Lynch and Irvine’s (2009) research provides an overview of the social skill approaches taken in North American schools when creating social programming for students with AS. The social strategies employed are based on teaching students with AS normative social cues when engaging with typical peers.

  3. 3.

    See Gough (2006), Gould (2011), MacNaughton (2004), Munday (2012), Smitka (2012), and Usher (2010).

  4. 4.

    Shy Violet was a female animated figure on the mid 1980s television program Rainbow Brite.

  5. 5.

    The Nutty Professor was a movie produced in 1963 and remade in 1996 by director Tom Shadyac. The plot of this comedic movie is an overweight professor named Julius Kelp (acted by Jerry Lewis), who was desperate to lose weight and takes a chemical formula that transitions his body into ‘slim, obnoxious Buddy Love’. As Buddy Love, the chemistry professor becomes successful in love by acting in hegemonic masculine ways.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Sarah Reddington

Authors
  1. Sarah Reddington
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Teaching Innovation Unit, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Cassandra Loeser

  2. Communication, Information Studies and Languages, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Vicki Crowley

  3. School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Barbara Pini

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Reddington, S. (2017). A Pedagogy of Movement and Affect: A Young Man with Autism Spectrum and Intersubjective Possibilities. In: Loeser, C., Crowley, V., Pini, B. (eds) Disability and Masculinities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53477-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53477-4_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53476-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53477-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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