Image Description: Aut Fest Logo, the words Aut Fest appear in white on a black clap board (like they use to differentiate takes on film shoots) Dear Autism Society and Organizers of Aut Fest I am writing to you as an actually autistic person who is very concerned about the fact that you have … Continue reading Open Letter to the Autism Society Regarding Your Decision to Honour Ben Affleck
On Jan. 6th Seriously.tv--a social justice focused video producer--put out a new instalment of their series "Shutting Down the Bullshit...". The series is characterised by host Dylan Marron confronting either a noted activist or a group of people who are linked by a shared experience (race, religion, sexual assault) with stereotypes that they encounter as … Continue reading When Social Justice Media “Allies” Get it Wrong
The Accountant (which stars Ben Affleck & Anna Kendrick) is a film about an Autistic forensic accountant who is also a highly skilled hit man. The people behind the film (which opens on October 14) were featured in a recent LA Times article regarding what they did to make sure that the portrayal of an … Continue reading “The Accountant” Tries To Be a Unique & Authentic Portrayal of Autism Using By the Numbers Stereotypes and No Actual Autistic People
It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I've just finished the first year of my PhD studies and was feeling burned out. Today however, David Perry wrote about a "news" story in which the reporter profiled the mother of a young autistic child. It is just another drop in the ocean of horrible … Continue reading Disability as Sensationalist Narrative
Every so often in Canada (and other countries but I'm focusing on Canada here) a sad story will appear in the papers. It's one that we've seen before and will unfortunately see again. A family has been denied permanent residency because a family member (usually a minor child) is disabled. The most recent … Continue reading What Canada’s Immigration Policies Say about the Status of Disability in Canada
This post contains spoilers for the CBS show Elementary, you have been duly warned. When an autistic character shows up in film or television, they are far to often carbon copies of the same tired stereotypes. Monotone, savant level intelligence at math or math related field and of course the complete lack of social skills. … Continue reading The Sky is Green: On Autism Misrepresentation in the Media
When I was in my early and mid teens, I was really excited about learning to drive. When I finally got old enough to start drivers ed at 15, I anxiously waited for my mother to sign the permission form. These were the days before my autism diagnosis. They were hard years for me because … Continue reading Why Don’t You Just Drive?: The Difficulty of Publicly Legitimizing the Needs of an Invisible Disability
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