On Butterfly Logic

An invisible disability is a health condition that may easily go unnoticed by others, yet still has a significant impact on a person’s well-being and ability to cope. Such conditions may include, for example, visual or hearing impairments, chronic pain or illness, as well as neurological disorders. Living in a world that does not accommodate these needs entails numerous difficulties, along with daily encounters with misunderstanding, discrimination, and violence.

Inari Sandell’s video and photo installation On Butterfly Logic depicts butterflies beating against the glass in the Copenhagen Botanical Garden. Speaking from an autistic position, the work draws a parallel between the flight patterns of butterflies and the thought patterns of neurodivergent minds. Autism has long been associated with deficits in areas such as intellect, speech, and social skills. Autistic people have been subjected to discipline and violence in attempts to “cure” them of these so-called deficiencies. Non-speaking autistics are still silenced with sedatives today. New research has expanded the definition of autism, confirming among other things its link to heightened sensitivity. Can we imagine an experience so intense that words lose their meaning? And what if every moment of life were like that? Could this help us understand a person’s decision not to speak?

According to the idea of neurological diversity, all brains are part of the natural diversity of humankind. Neurotypicality refers to a brain that adapts easily to the prevailing norms, but it is above all a social construct that changes over time. The autistic brain processes information differently from the neurotypical brain, but not wrongly. With greater social inclusion, where symptoms are reframed as traits and deficits as characteristics, would there then remain any disability at all?