Possible Anti-Autistic propaganda guised as a news story?

Post Reply New Topic

I can't remember what the story was about, as I was getting ready to go out and wasn't really paying attention. But on the television, an Autistic child had pulled a tantrum on the bus, and for some reason this made it as a news story.

All I heard was "...after their Autistic daughter pulled a tantrum on the bus..."

I find this name calling entirely unnecessary, as it had nothing to do with why the child pulled a tantrum. ALL children chuck tantrums. If that had been replaced with: "...after their Black daughter pulled a tantrum on the bus..." There would be outrage.

All I can see is that these brief but negative stories are being designed to portray Autistic people as a negative, a hindrance. Indicating that prenatal testing must not be far behind.

It could be that the kid had a full-on meltdown, rather than a whiny tantrum of the sort that every kid has.

Maybe somebody made more of a fuss out of it than they should've--like, thought the child was hurt, or called an ambulance or the police. Maybe the mom lost hold of the girl and she ran into traffic. An autistic kid on a bus might well be desperate enough to bolt like that.

I wouldn't judge without having heard the full story. Reporters often simplify things because they think their viewers don't know a lot. Using the term "tantrum" may have been something they did because they didn't think people would know what an autistic meltdown was.

It's autism awareness month. Expect autism related stories to pop up all over the mainstream news. For example I was checking my e-mail on Nine MSN Hotmail and I chanced across an article that was basically about a father telling his child to not gawp at an autistic boy but to say hi.

Helpful to people but not really news worthy.