Review/ Conclusions

Autism Spectrum Disorders have fascinated me for several years and since I have started working with children with ASD, I have seen how people react to their differences. I was interested in this project after one parent I worked with asked me what I thought of "Parenthood". I had never seen it consistently, but when home and started watching it on Netflix (Yes, the entire series is there).

This project has really opened my eyes to the media's portray of minorities in general. Writers tend to focus on the easiest and most identifiable characteristics, which usually tend to be stereotypes. As with all minority groups, people need to understand that one representation does not define the entire group. Before taking the media's representation seriously, you should do some research on the group. These shows and movies are made for entertainment and are not documentaries. Becoming informed about differences is extremely necessary in this world, since everyone is unique. We should embrace our individuality and respect the characteristics of others. More specifically, understanding those who are not neuro-typical is important because accommodating for their differences is not only mandated by law, but vital to their quality of life.

As I expected, patterns have emerged in the portrayals, commonly seeing impairments with eye contact, understanding of metaphors and an inability to spontaneously enjoy other's company. It was less common to see repetitive motor movements including hand-flapping. As I discussed in the Grey's Anatomy post, I would like to see very strong representation of the stereotypical behaviors become less black and white,  and for writers to show the grey aspects of ASD. Symptoms are extremely varied and not all individuals are "clearly" Autistic. I know many children who are so high-functioinng that someone may never be able to tell the were atypical. Many of these characters experience unrealistic storylines that are easily remedied and do not express the true and ongoing problems.  Although these portrayals can begin conversations and spark interest to learn more, I believe the lack of variations in the spectrum disorder are negatively influencing people’s ideas of ASD.

I hope that you have become more informed of these characters and learn to not rely on what they see on the screen for correct portrayals. Please don't take everything you see in television or movies for granted. Producers and directors are more often more interested in the entertainment purposes than an accurate portrayals.