ABSTRACT
In the Rosie trilogy, Graeme Simsion articulates the complex interactive relationship between Aspergic difference, cultural representations and the rhetorics of neurodivergence and disability. Although written by a neurotypical mind, his debut novel and its two sequels, which have become global bestsellers, have certainly helped raise international awareness of neurodivergence, and more specifically of high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Rosie Project (2013) and its sequels therefore fall within an emerging genre, that of high-functioning ASD fiction, which came into prominence in the last two decades.
The main point of this chapter is not merely to define Australian high-functioning ASD fiction through its most noticeable traits. Rather, it is to demonstrate how the espousing of a neurodivergent mind style can give rise to a unique literary style. Weaving the neurocognitive frame with this sensitive neurological issue will open up a discussion about the Rosie trilogy in the light of the neurodiversity paradigm and of the rhetoric of disability.
