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Article
Neuroqueering interpersonal communication theory: listening to autistic object-orientations
Review of Communication
  • Kristen L. Cole, San Jose State University
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.1080/15358593.2021.1961849
Abstract

Employing rhetorical listening, I attend to the ways autistic authors narrate their relationships with objects in blogs/vlogs. These authors implore readers to engage with autistic object-orientations, unsettling the dominant assumptions undergirding some of our discipline’s foundational interpersonal communication theories, including theories of symbolic interaction, uncertainty management, and self-disclosure. These narratives reveal possibilities for cultivating theoretical orientations and disciplinary practices that are inclusive of neurodivergence. They also highlight the unjust power relations pervading interpersonal communication theory, provide insight into possibilities for transforming these systemic constraints, and reveal critical intersections and innovations among interpersonal communication, rhetoric, and interdisciplinary object-oriented studies.

Keywords
  • autism,
  • interpersonal communication,
  • neuroqueer,
  • objects,
  • rhetorical listening
Citation Information
Kristen L. Cole. "Neuroqueering interpersonal communication theory: listening to autistic object-orientations" Review of Communication Vol. 21 Iss. 3 (2021) p. 187 - 205
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kristen-cole/52/