Funny ads about autism

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These ads are funny but I don't think they're portraying reality for someone with HFA too inaccurately.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6nNcW2M73E[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbHef74zMM[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Paf82OiEoqg[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jkpqUHOPiQ[/youtube]
The first video there I can relate to well, they ask you to join them in their conversation or whatever and you do but its not long before you end up saying something that they find offensive or something and everyone suddenly shuts puts on weird facial expressions. They think I'm doing it on purpose, I never tell anyone that I've HFA, that would probably clear up some of the misconceptions.

I thought that was a joke but it appears to be an actual ad campaign in the UK.

I can relate to all of these to a greater or lesser degree. I'm pretty much OK with buses by now, although I put my bag on my seat next to me unless it's the absolute last seat left and there are people standing, in which case I suck it up, but there are moments in class when every little noise is like nails on a blackboard and I have to put my fingers in my ears or even leave the room for a minute to calm down.

Those first two videos both feature NTs being very rude. That woman in the first one was grinning away at her friend's misfortune, yet only the aspie gets blamed. Typical, eh?

I haven't seen these before. What channels are they on?

I don't know where these are from but I think it is from the NAS (national autistic society) in the yookay. I didn't find them overly helpful... They only portray very 'typical' autistic reacitons to certain situations. Oh well. I might just be being a pessimist.

Is it just me or does that guy look like Strapples (the WP poster)?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbHef74zMM[/youtube]



Strapples, how much did they pay you? Where's our cut?

Ugh, in primary school, listening to the noise of people writing with pencils all day was torture. It was so much worse than nails on a blackboard. Like being tasered in the neck or something.

Last edited by Invader on 23 Sep 2010, 1:40 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I like them except for the weird slow-mo thing they do to portray the confusion. It's not really portraying that we see things in the weird blurred slow-mo, is it?

The only whole video I didn't really care for was the first "you're ugly" one. I don't think most of us would make a mistake like that by adulthood (although I have as a young teenager.)

I discussed these with my wife, and yes, I do things exactly like the "ugly" one - the character does not say "perhaps it is because you are ugly" (which would be rude) but "perhaps it is because he thinks you are ugly", which is a valid possibility for why the man dumped her, and answers the crying woman's question.

I did not connect with the accident advertisement, because I tend to lock my emotions and become extremely calm in emergencies - I would be the one doing rescuscitation and phoning the ambulance, and stopping good Samaritans from harming the injured.



I think some bits - like where the character is following the uncooperative receptionist, trying to get her name, reflect the sense of disconnect, visual disturbance and distorted hearing etc that I get when I panic. A situation like going to a strange building and being treated badly would have that effect on me.

I do thing that there is a strongly English characterization in the adverts, so they seem odd outside of an English context.

The symptoms of the people in these ads are probably more than what's experienced by the majority of WP members, but I think they're good. Any attempt to get the public to understand what things are really like for us is a good thing IMO.

If only there were a way to portray just how varied the reactions are. Autistic people don't react in the same way to the same situation; there are just so many possibilities. While the ones shown are possible and relatively common, they're not my "style"; I tend to be much more passive than that, simply growing quiet and confused, standing there without responding, rather than frustrated and noisy.

Although lots of posters will look at these ads and say, "WHAT? I don't do that" the ads still perform a valuable public service. They give NTs a benign category in which to file atypical behaviour. It doesn't matter that the things you do don't really match up with the ads. What matters is that a new category has been created in General Public's mind- a new place to put behaviour they aren't familiar with instead of putting it in the "scary, possibly a threat" category or "jerk, he's being rude on purpose just to be a jerk" category.

I think overall they are a positive asset for autistics.

I quite liked how they obtusely show normal NT's reacting inappropriately, to be the problem, and not the autistic innocent going about his day.

The first two seem benign enough to me. I can really, really relate to the receptionist one. Just minding my own business doing something perfectly reasonable and... *sigh*

I actually have found myself in that position, trying to comfort a teenage girl whose boyfriend broke up with her. And yes, she asked why. Luckily, the most likely reason was not that she was ugly, as it was clear that he considered her attractive. She even came out of that conversation thinking I was wise, which I mostly credit to the fact that I didn't react in the normal way (by going "oh, he sucks, get over him") and rather gave an educated guess as to what was going on, phrasing it in such a way that my friend's self-esteem was not harmed.

The only thing is that PR for the "glamorous" stuff is really easy. Now can you please give them, as Janissy suggests, a new and benign category in which to file someone who hasn't bathed in five days? Can we get to forming a benign category for stims that harm the skin on my hands and face and the marks I leave?

Why is it that the Brits always think of the best advertising?

I can definitely relate to the first one and, especially, the bus one. But in the first one, it seemed to me that the NTs were being rude as well. Their friend is upset and they just go on laughing and ignoring her question completely. Is this standard procedure in such a situation?

Janissy makes a good point. If these ads do help to create a new, benign category for people to place unusual behavior into, that would clearly be very beneficial for people with autism in the UK. Of course, they might still just stick such people into the "what a freak--what's wrong with him?" category. Still, the ads certainly can't hurt.

In the examples above I think it's a combination of culture and socialism. We have a freedom of expression here that seems to be lacking in, for example, the US. Throw in a health system that isn't governed by profit-making corporations with their own political agenda and our public information 'adverts' tend to be more about challenging perceptions and educating people.

Why did you think these ads were a joke?