Christopher Robin Was My Friend: Reading Winnie-the-Pooh Through an Autistic Lens
Title and/or Affiliation
Author
Presenter Bio
Michelle Worthington is an award-winning autistic Australian children’s author, screenwriter, and speaker whose work champions diversity, inclusion, and emotionally authentic storytelling. She writes across picture books, film, and educational media, and is passionate about exploring how children’s literature creates connection, belonging, and safe imaginative spaces for neurodivergent readers.
Session
Neurodivergence in the 100 Aker Woods
Start Date
11-7-2026 3:15 PM
End Date
11-7-2026 4:30 PM
Abstract
This online workshop explores the world of A. A. Milne through the perspective of autistic readership and lived experience. Combining literary discussion, personal reflection, and audience engagement, award-winning autistic children’s author Michelle Worthington examines how the Hundred Acre Wood can be read not simply as nostalgic fantasy, but as an emotionally safe and structured social environment that resonates deeply with neurodivergent readers.
As an undiagnosed autistic child, Michelle found friendship and connection in books when those connections were difficult to access in real life. Christopher Robin became more than a literary character—he became a companion. Through discussion of Now We Are Six, imaginative play, repetition, predictability, and the emotional dynamics of Pooh’s world, participants will be invited to reconsider assumptions about childhood, belonging, and who classic children’s literature is truly written for.
This interactive Zoom workshop offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on Pooh scholarship while opening broader conversations about neurodiversity, storytelling, and the lifelong impact of literary connection.
Christopher Robin Was My Friend: Reading Winnie-the-Pooh Through an Autistic Lens
This online workshop explores the world of A. A. Milne through the perspective of autistic readership and lived experience. Combining literary discussion, personal reflection, and audience engagement, award-winning autistic children’s author Michelle Worthington examines how the Hundred Acre Wood can be read not simply as nostalgic fantasy, but as an emotionally safe and structured social environment that resonates deeply with neurodivergent readers.
As an undiagnosed autistic child, Michelle found friendship and connection in books when those connections were difficult to access in real life. Christopher Robin became more than a literary character—he became a companion. Through discussion of Now We Are Six, imaginative play, repetition, predictability, and the emotional dynamics of Pooh’s world, participants will be invited to reconsider assumptions about childhood, belonging, and who classic children’s literature is truly written for.
This interactive Zoom workshop offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on Pooh scholarship while opening broader conversations about neurodiversity, storytelling, and the lifelong impact of literary connection.