a monthly newsletter for the neurodiverse, brought to you by www.arianneswork.com
October is here! This year has flown by! I've been working behind-the-scenes for the last couple of months, maintaining a low profile and writing for other publications. I've included my last couple of pieces at the bottom :)
In this month's newsletter I wanted to talk about media presentation of autism.
With characters like Julia from Sesame Street, shows like Atypical and The Good Doctor, more and more characters with autism are showing themselves in TV.
As great as it is that pop culture is finally starting to represent autistics on television, there needs to be more. Autistic actors and actresses should be cast in those roles and autistic adults need to be consulted about realistic reactions to society and the environment.
I want to see a show about someone diagnosed in adulthood who doesn't realize they're different. I want to see a show about an autistic person of color navigating through every social interaction, wondering if that possibly racist thing they just said was actually a racist comment or if it was a joke. I want to see a show about an autistic woman who never knows when she's being hit on.
I want more diverse media representation for autistics like myself.
The media has a responsibility to the people to portray autistic people as realistic as possible, to allow the real autistic people a chance to socially engage with someone who acknowledges that they have different social needs.
Acceptance is a basic human need, and when autistic people are treated like animals, children or second class citizens, we are being repressed.
The media should be portraying us as people with needs and feelings different than the standard, not less.
This will allow the public to realize the dire need autistic adults have for services and assistance.
