The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

I conducted a study on the portrayal of autism for part of my senior independent thesis this year. I was able to choose any topic relating to the field of communication. I chose this original topic because even though I have a brother with autism, I still did not really know much about the disorder, let alone how it was being depicted in the mass media where millions of people obtain information about it. Although people are generally more understanding of people with disabilities, the media still perpetuate certain negative biases. This study discusses current and key issues that have affected the portrayal of autism in the media based on interviews with parents of autistic children, special education teachers, and clinicians.  Each person interviewed watched four media clips (a selection from Rain Man, Mercury Rising, and Autism Everyday, and a news report from CNN. Their comments during the interviews were crucial in generating four media guidelines that should improve the portrayal of autism in the future. The specific guidelines that were created are as follows: 1. Portray autism as a spectrum disorder, 2. Provide a context for the viewer, 3. Portray autism in a positive light, and 4. Target specific interests groups. By depicting autism as a spectrum disorder, the media could help better inform the public that autism is not one thing but consists of a multitude of people with different abilities and disabilities. Providing a context for each viewer could help the media create a more understandable perspective based on the viewer’s own background. Maintaining a positive light would avoid emphasizing the negative aspects of raising a child with autism and perpetuating the falsehood that all autistic children and their families live in a world of misery and despair. Keeping a positive orientation could also help people view autistic individuals as individuals, not as disabled beings. Finally, making media clips that are targeted to certain specific backgrounds and interests (i.e., parents that have children with autism, special education teachers, and clinicians) could help create a depth of knowledge and understanding about autism and at the same time better inform the people who have special backgrounds and interests in autism. Although each population segment (i.e., parent, teacher, clinician) might have their own take on autism, this study helps highlight that each perspective still shares some common ground on the issue which provided the basis for developing these media guidelines. However, no one perspective should have privileged status when discussing autism as all three contributed significant suggestions throughout the interview process. Hopefully my presentation would help people recognize the current status of media depictions of autism and possible solutions to improve its portrayal. If the media follows these guidelines, there could be some significant progress in portraying autism in a more complete and, thus, more accurate way.