Dialectical Notebook

1.      “Each [of us] is a rhetorical creation. Out of an inventive world (a past, a set of capacities, a way of thinking) […we are] always creating structures of meaning and generating a style, a way of being in the world” (263)

2.      “A rhetorical perspective on autism allows me to see how something
Eli may be blocked into a portion of his invention so private, so secret, so truly original with him, that it will give rise only to private forms of structure and style that will no sustain communication with others.” (263)

3.      “When he recites long strings of stock discourse – reciting the entire script of the movie Toy Story, as he did once on a long vacation car ride – I understand that he is choosing to repeat – to inhabit for a short time, in a world that is endlessly in flux – a very familiar and comforting structure.” (263)

4.      “…rhetoric listening, a practice that urges us to fundamentally alter how we hear and respond to the discourse of others. Defined generally as a trope for interpretive invention, she says, rhetorical listening signifies a stance of openness that a person may choose to assume in relation to any person, text, or culture.” (265)

5.      “In my estimation, the missing piece from the so-called autism puzzle seems quite obvious – autistic people.” (268)

6.      “Conceiving of autism as a rhetoric, as a way of being in the world through language, allows us to reconstrue what we have historically seen as language deficits as, instead, language differences.” (269)

1.      This quote really struck out at me, not because I disagree with it but because I really agree with it. It was almost powerful and moving in my opinion. Instead of labeling as humans, they say we are “rhetorical creation” which is a way I never thought to look at things. We are each a set of beliefs and ways of thinking. I believe when they say that we are constantly looking for ways the structure or meaning of something it is very true. We are always looking, exploring new things, and trying to find a meaning in them and something that we share with it in our own lives.

2.      This is really cool to see how Heiker really speaks from personal experience. He has had to opportunity to watch and study his son to try and understand the rhetorical of autism. This helps me to also understand it just because I do not have much knowledge of it. It helps me see that just because a child or person has autism does not mean they are crazy. It helps me see that they have a language and discourse all their own. Like Heiker says a private and secret world that no one else can tap into.

 3.  This also gave me an interesting way to look into autism. It almost makes me feel like I have been misjudging the disorder from the moment I have known about it. This shows me that kids with autism are still willing to learn and they are very smart. The   interesting thing about it is that they like to learn and be around things they are familiar with and that comfort them. So rather than give a speech, Eli could memorize all the words to Toy Story.

4.      This a quote that not only can be put into conversation about autism but really anything in your life. This will be a very big thing in doing my project, so really get into a discourse you have to be able to listen. Rhetoric listening is so important so that you can really let all the previous built up walls and thoughts you had about a particular discourse and really listen to what is going on.

5.      Although I would not know much more than what I have learned really this article about the autism discourse, this quote seemed strange to me. You would never guess that somebody in the community of autism would feel this way. So misrepresented that she feels the autism puzzle piece is completely wrong and it almost offends her. It just makes you realize that things aren’t always what they seem and even big corporations sometimes seem to mask the small things underneath them.

6.      This quote has proved my wrong about what I thought autism was about and I am glad that it did. I am very glad I read this article. It showed me that autism does not make you different from anybody else. It is simply a difference in how you speak and learn.