After personal experiences with the topic, I was inspired to write a literature review examining research on ASD and music therapy in my English 125 class. Throughout my investigation, it became apparent that many studies were based upon ableist assumptions that these individuals must be brought to what is considered to be a “normal” level of functioning. Music therapy is supposed to be a humanizing way to foster creative instincts, but when they are based upon the assumption that these alternative forms of medicine are simply a means to “fix” the social, behavioral or cognitive variation in a person, the humanistic intent is lost. As a result, these studies often end up being based in apathetic science, leaving out the ways in which this new field of research in music could help mental well-being, rather than just physical barriers. 

 

These new insights sparked my interest in the field of disability studies, propeling my writing pieces. However, similar to the dry, scientific writing present in ASD research, my literature review was very medicalized and uninteresting to the general public. The inaccessibility of such scientific writing limited my audience. Thus, when I picked this piece up again, I wanted to engage a larger group through a different medium. 

 

The assignment given to us in Writing 220 was to repurpose an old piece of writing. Originally, I turned my literature review into an infographic, but the style still felt too scientific and dry. So, for my final project I created erasure poems. Erasure, or blackout, is a genre of poetry that highlights specific words or phrases to make a point, while blocking out the rest of the text. 

 

My main mentor poet was Isabel O’Hare who created erasure poetry on sexual misconduct apology letters to make commentary on the disingenuity of their statements. I also used the book “Her Read: A Graphic Poem” by Jennifer Steinorth for stylistic inspiration. Motivated by the powerful art used to make points in these texts, I decided to use puzzle pieces in some of my poems to make a similar controversial statement. Puzzle pieces are considered to be problematic in the Autism community because they make the condition seem like a mystery or puzzle, putting the disability in a negative light. Since both of my mentor texts used art as a form of argumentation, I decided to put the puzzle pieces in my work to make a statement about ableism, drawing attention to the pervasive problematic perspectives in ASD research. 
 

For my final poems, I decided to create erasure poetry on problematic studies regarding ASD and music therapy. Using this method, I was able to point out specific problematic aspects, allowing the text to speak for itself. The specific words I chose to include in my blackout poetry encapsulated the ableist mentality focused on changing communication levels to match those of abled people, as well as the medicalization of ASD present in much of the literature. 

 

As a whole, erasure poetry is an artistic medium that allows artists and writers alike to express a certain perspective in an aesthetically-pleasing, engaging format. Please take a look at my section “Erasure Poetry” for my final product, as well as the “About the Author” section for more information about my journey with this topic.