This session will engage STIM CINEMA by focusing on repetition—and visual representations of repetition—as a microcosm for contemporary Autism politics. In a collaborative, creative, and hands-on environment, we will incorporate multimedia texts to consider repetition as a site of resistance and liberation within Autistic self-advocacy moments. We will also analyze the negative appraisal of Autistic modes of repetition within clinical Autism intervention practices—namely, applied behavioural therapies— which work to eliminate repetition in Autistic subjects by paradoxically subjecting them to highly repetitive clinical programs. We will watch and discuss short clinical autism therapy videos to parse the contradictory nature of the clinical gaze in relation to the meaning and value of repetition.

Free and open to all.
Space is limited, register with Eventbrite.
Snacks and refreshsments will be provided.

The e|gallery has been transformed into a Co-Creation Studio for the STIM CINEMA exhibition. It is located on the ground floor of the CCT Building and is accessible to people who use mobility devices, with doorways measuring over 32” wide. All entrances at ground floor level are equipped with power-assisted doors. The e|gallery is accessible via the east entrance (adjacent to parking lot 9) at ground level, or by elevator from the main floor entrance and at parking garage levels 1, 3, and 5. Accessible multi-user gendered washrooms are located at ground level, and accessible multi-user all-gender washrooms are located on the third floor of the CCT Building.

Julia Gruson-Wood (she/her) is a social studies of health researcher. She is an Adjunct Faculty with the Social Practice and Transformational Change Doctoral Program at the University of Guelph, an Affiliate of Re·Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Change, and a Research Partnerships Officer at University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus. Her book, Autism and the Culture of Therapy (UBC Press, forthcoming 2025), is the first empirical study of the highly controversial field of applied behavioural therapies.