Autism did not exist at the beginning of the world. Who we would now recognize as autistic people existed, yes. But autism itself is undoubtedly new, born in the 20th century clinic and doggedly taken up in popular discourse ever since. Autism did not exist at the beginning of the world, but now, it's hard to imagine a world without it. Despite, or perhaps because of this, autistic characters frequently feature in speculative and post-apocalyptic media—stories which take place at the end of the world but are often based on or extend from of our own reality.

In this proposed panel for the 2027 virtual Society for Disability Studies confernece, we seek to examine how autistic characters are represented in speculative and post-apocalyptic media, and to what effect. From this, we aim to explore how autism and neurodivergence’s relationship to our notions of modernity and futurity, to see how it is (or is not) embedded within our world such that it inevitably features in the endings of it. We currently possess panelists analyzing the work of Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed With Us (2022), and Corinne Duyvis’ On the Edge of Gone (2016).

We are specifically interested in further investigations of autistic embodiment in speculative and dystopian works, and how such post-world accounts reflect and mirror how we view neurodivergence in the here and now. Ultimately, we hope to investigate how embodiminded difference is foundational to the modern world, and how other worlds, ones which continue on from our own, reflect, challenge, or intensify that fundamentality.

Submit an abstract of 100-250 words and a short bio to ryan.nock@gwu.edu by August 10th, 2026 for best consideration. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions--we look forward to hearing from you soon.