In popular culture, autism is frequently visualised as a maze. The maze represents confusion, detachment and fear, and there is often a monster within it. Sometimes the Minotaur in the maze is the autistic person, monstrously part-human, unable to communicate, cut off from family and community. Sometimes Autism itself is the monster, stalking its prey…
This paper uses a collection of highly unusual letters from the Elizabethan State Papers, whose authors are described as ‘crazy’, ‘distracted’, and ‘insane’, to explore the epistolary construction and expression of mental and emotional distress in late-sixteenth-century England. It begins by reflecting briefly on the tricky methodological problems inherent in such an enterprise: the uncertain…
This talk will be live-streamed globally, and archived on NLM's YouTube Channel and NIH VideoCasting. Join Dr. Rachael Gillibrand as she explores the connections between eye impairments and the creation of eyeglasses, using the collections of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The talk will highlight items from her 'ocular impairment' resource collection, accessible through…
