Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture is an open-access journal that has been published twice a year since 2019. Ought’s editorial board positions it as “a small part of the larger neurodiversity movement — the campaign to recognize neurological differences as normal and necessary to human development” (Loftis, cited by Rozema & Bass, 2019, p. 4).

My first exposure to this journal came from one of my professors and, being autistic myself, I was immediately interested. For several years, I’ve examined the place of autistic adults in society and I’ve read and responded to books that feature autistic characters. Through my writings, I’ve effectively engaged in “critical autism studies” (CAS), before knowing that such a discipline existed.

CAS challenges “medical and social deficit-based models” of autism (Elmadagli, 2023, p. 66), and is a field of study that is led by autistic people themselves (Woods & Waldock, 2021; Loftis, 2023). CAS allows autistic people to be “heard in academic spaces” (Loftis, 2023, p. 10), and fulfills needs that are not fully met in “larger and more inclusive fields, such as disability studies and neurodiversity studies” (Loftis, 2023, p. 11).

I’m especially partial to this evolving discipline because it embraces popular culture (Rozema, 2023). Most of my own expressions in CAS have been outside academia — primarily through blogging and video — and much of my interest stems from my existence as an autistic adult in a society not designed for me. As part of my own efforts to disrupt a “medical” view of autism, I recently re-cataloged books about autism in my personal library. I moved them from the “medical” Dewey classification for autism and, instead, I shelved them in the social sciences: under 305.9085, for people with developmental disabilities.

Ought’s editorial board positions it as occupying a “very small niche” (Rozema, 2023, p. 4) in critical autism studies. I know that such an emphasis might limit a publication’s audience and I’m recommending Ought because it blends “scholarly and creative works” (Rozema & Bass, 2019, p. 5). This combination makes it suitable for a general readership as well as an academic audience.

References:
Elmadagli, C. (2023). The future of critical autism studies (CAS): Thinking through critical discourse studies and postcolonial feminism. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2833-1508.1143

Loftis, S.F. (2023). Critical autism studies: The state of the field. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2833-1508.1147

Rozema, R. (2023). Critical autism studies. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2833-1508.1151

Rozema, R. & Bass, C. (2019). Note from the editors: This moment of arrival. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2833-1508.1016

Woods, R. & Waldock, K.E. (2021). Critical autism studies. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91280-6_102297