Does media coverage of ASDs make you uncomfortable?

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Yeah, I find it peculiar that Raymond Babbit is described in Rainman as a High Functioning Autistic, when he's clearly not high functioning in any sense, other than that he can bathe, toilet and dress himself. I'd place that at about a four or five on a ten scale.

I didn't get the Math Genius symptom from my AS, either, dammit - I sure as hell got all the rest.

Am not bothered much by the media with asd related stuff because the amount of ignorance that is shown by them is so every day it;s expected-it's always been the same,now though- they will often get information off people who work for autism charities such as the NAS or look for it themselves but can tell who those who havent done their research well are [eg,calling people sufferers when the only one who can judge that is the person they are calling the sufferer].

Am do not like it how they show ASDs-on all levels as one set severity,eg,people cant have mixed abilities.with severe autism-they're always showing it only with severe mental retardation and almost completely non functioning people,am severely autistic but can work a computer better than sister or dad [who are both aspies and useless with computers,which goes against that other stereotype the media like to put out a lot-the 'aspies are computer geeks' one].

No, no! We're much prettier!

I've joined the enemy for a week. Hope no one gets too upset. Thread here:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt95647.html

I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable when the emphasis is put on children,as if autism is
something that is supposed to be outgrown by the time you're an adult !

I do however think the media is gradually getting better informed,especially as it's been
Autism Awareness this week.I read a good,balanced article in a newspaper which explained all the basic differences that autism can manifest including difficulty with 'social imagination'.

He is (the movie depiction that is), according to Lorna Wing (you know, the person who defined what AS is today). He's just like me (well, some bits are different, but the level of severity is the same), and I was described as "high-functioning" by my psychiatrist, who so happens to see several individuals with Autism, all of which are "lower-functioning" than I am. He also sees people with AS, but he sees them as different.

He's more severe than most with AS, but people with AS don't have his type of HFA.

Yeah, that's the other thing that bothers me. Unless it's a savant (and a lot of times if it's a savant, it'll be some child prodigy type of savant) a commercial or article will feature a kid about 90% of the time. It's really frustrating. ASDs are still seen as childhood "afflictions" (that they're seen as afflictions at all is unnerving, but that's a different story).

So much for awareness.

Any discussion of it makes me uncomfortable unless I'm in a situation that's "safe" for it (with other people who have ASDs, or certain situations). It's not just media coverage; I don't like when it comes up in conversation with people who don't know I have it, either (which includes literally my entire family - my parents, especially my mother, sort-of know but don't really make any connection between me and "autism," and the rest of my family has no idea at all).

Constantly being assaulted by discussion of it in the media that focuses on the "disease" and the "victims" (the victims being the families of people who are so unfortunate as to have to deal with people who have the "disease") is unpleasant. So is hearing people discuss it in real life in the sort of tone reserved for horrible diseases or things that are repugnant. I know for the most part I am not the kind of autistic person they're talking about, but that doesn't make it any better - I don't think people who are the kind of person they're talking about deserve to be talked about that way either. What is virtually always absent from the discussion is any kind of compassion or empathy for autistic people - really ironic since we're the ones who are supposed to be lacking in it!

I don't like being a cause célèbre. I feel like I'm being picked on. If we take it as a disability, nobody talks about it in the same way as, say, deafness (which, and I mean no offense to deaf people, is much more obviously a "disability" than autism - it is literally the inability to do something). If it's a mental disorder, well, similarly, nobody talks about, I don't know, bipolar disorder the same way - not that the public perception of bipolar people is good, but you don't see it in the spotlight all the time, or people driving around with "bipolar awareness" ribbons, and such. What it is portrayed most like is cancer, except there's no stigma attached to having cancer. People empathize with people who have cancer, because they might get it someday. There's no chance that a neurotypical person is suddenly going to get autism. (Their child or grandchild might, but that's why they have empathy for the relatives of the autistic.)

The tactics used by organizations like Autism Speaks go back to the campaign to eradicate polio - but that was a virus, not an inherent neurological difference! They're based on fear - but it's purely the fear that you might have to deal with someone born with autism, since it's not something you can develop.

So yes, I feel, especially as someone living in the US, where the autism panic seems to be most virulent, very uncomfortable about the way it is discussed, both in the media and just in day-to-day life by people I know. It feels like being attacked over and over again, and nobody of any prominence is trying to counter it.

It depends, some times the media are contacted by people who do want to make a difference and help us. While other times it makes me feel like they are looking at the autist & aspie like an animal in the zoo.

The latter I do not like, one thing I fear is someone giving out a how to spot 'em guide which does work. I would rather do without a aspie witch hunt.

I agree.

It's these attitudes portrayed in the media that actually make people too afraid to ask for help or even stop any help, because they fear stigmatisation. This has been the case with me.

Certainly such media portrayals and regarding AS traits as defects rather than differences, has driven a wedge between myself and the people I care about. It's painful having some of my best characteristics (such as detail focus) being portrayed in such a negative way.

The word "disease" strikes fear into employers, schools and people in the helping profession. These people may start treating those diagnosed with AS as sets of negative criteria of stereotypes rather than whole human beings. This can even lead to real life bullying (I've experienced this).

There's also the attitude that if you don't match the media stereotype, you can't be AS. So any issues you have may go unchecked. There should be the realisation that different people have different issues to contend with of differing severities.

There needs to be a more balanced representation of AS and better constructive help for those that require help. Also, this help should enhance, not damage people's future prospects.

Last edited by AmberEyes on 04 Apr 2009, 6:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good points. I never thought of these groups as relevant comparison groups. Of course, that's because the media generally doesn't, either.

Although I do think schizophrenia gets some of the same nonsense we get.

O, and to answer the question; I don't watch TV, so I don't notice it.

(Unless my mother tells me there's an autism or astronomy documentary on or something.)

Everything I've seen this week has been from the POV of the PARENTS of someone with it, rather than someone on the spectrum actually being a guest on the show. It was f*****g insulting. I felt like calling in to Larry King and telling him where to stick it.

On his show, they were talking about why people shouldn't get Gardisil.

Let me tell you something. My sister in law has cervical cancer.

f**k THEM! Anyone who compares autism to cancer has never had cancer and really ought to try it sometime.

From what I've seen, it's no wonder the public mistakenly believe that most AS people can't string more than two sentences together and are incapable of speaking for themselves.

Heck, I've seen kids in wheel-chairs talk about themselves on tv without their parents having to speak for them.

I was told by a counselor to find a website forum for AS individuals. I told her that most of them were by parents for parents. That's what prompted me to join this site.

It's kind of frightening how people, expect all of life's answers and services to be available on the web: some aren't.

Some people overestimate what appropriate help is available in our on demand culture and just expect it to be "there".

Hopefully with the advent of new web 2 media, attitudes will begin to change.

I've seen this happening pretty often. From what I can tell, it isn't because AS people aren't capable of running their own organizations or groups. It's simply that most of them don't CARE.

Most of them simply want to be left alone. If nobody knew what AS was, they would be perfectly happy. They occasionally go to AS groups, because they want to be able to socialize without the risk of getting their head bit off by an overly-sensitive NT.

It's their parents who care about shoving it down other people's throats, and "informing" the world about their kid's disorder. And a lot of them, that I've met, actually resent their parents for this.

I saw on the news last night about a local autistic boy wandering off from school. They didn't say much about the kid. I didn't feel uncomfortable because my bf knows I have AS and sees it all the time in me but doesn't count how often the symptoms appear in me and how long they last or even keep track of them. Everything I do is normal because it's me.

My mum, and teachers, are the same. Once I was invited to some careers event for "special needs" people, I only went to spend an hour or so out of school. Any way on this stall we were asking this woman about some course thing, and my mum mentioned my bloody diagnosis to someone I don't even know! So I said "fine broadcast it then" sarcasticly, just because the woman has a job in working with special need people doesn't mean she needs to know, ggr. And also teachers at shool tend to go on about it to eachother in hearing distance of my class mates so they all probably know.