Autism is a condition of neurological development that is characterized by confined, repetitive activities as well as impaired social interaction and communication. While there are more and more autistic characters appearing in the media every year, the general public’s perception of autism appears to be misguided by the media.
At all levels, including the general public, parents, health professionals, the research community, and more lately, the parliamentary level, knowledge and awareness of the illness have increased tremendously. The world has started to understand the severity of this issue and has taken worldwide and local action to better the lives of the increasing number of people and families impacted by this terrible disorder.
Impact of Autism on Mental Health
Every element of a person’s background in life interacts to create a great, singular person. The process of diagnosis and accommodation can be influenced by aspects of a person’s identity that interact with their autism, such as gender and race. This may add another level of trauma to handle.
For example, when you are a person of colour and/or assigned female at birth, it is far more difficult to receive an autism diagnosis. Despite media representation leaning in that way, young male white youngsters are not the only ones that receive the “autism” diagnosis.
Many autistic people’s lives have been unnecessarily traumatized by this unfair image since they can’t receive the proper diagnosis and care because they don’t meet the “right” stereotypes.
The way in which peers, caregivers, and loved ones view autism directly affects mental health. Traumatic situations include when our demands are unmet or when we are denied the adjustments that a diagnosis would entail.
Autism prejudices, barriers to diagnosis, and underrepresentation
Marginalized populations, like POC, women, and trans individuals, have a far harder difficulty getting diagnosed and getting the care they need without diverse and positive representation.
Unfortunately, for a long time, clinicians genuinely had the incorrect belief that autism could exclusively affect white individuals or cis males. The media’s portrayal of autistic persons as unable to build relationships, able to operate exclusively in specific environments, and unable to “properly” communicate has also had an impact on diagnosis rates.
Autism isn’t a curse
Autism is not a disease. It is a disorder of neurodevelopment. Even though it sometimes makes things difficult for those affected by it, we have no right to stop them from enjoying who they are in their truest sense.
People with autism are not made of stone
People with autism can marry, work, and engage in whatever other activities they can. They aren’t mindless beasts, either! They are all people!
Not all autistic individuals will choose to accomplish those activities, however,, no two autistic people are exactly alike.
There is no anger issue with autism
Autism does not have a tantrum or anger control issues. When overloaded, autistic people experience uncontrollable meltdowns. Instead of reprimanding or getting angry, it’s crucial to identify what is triggering the meltdown.
Not everyone is “on the autism spectrum” or is even “a little bit autistic.”
Well, isn’t a small part of everyone autistic?
No! Being human allows us to share comparable experiences and characteristics. By implying that everyone is autistic, this eliminates the necessity for the modifications that autistic persons require.
Autism At Workplace
High-functioning autistic persons have an abundance of technical aptitude, but it frequently goes untapped due to a lack of adjustments that may improve any workplace, whether or not it includes people on the autism spectrum.
Organizations are already concentrating on initiatives to draw in exceptional people with a range of competencies in order to support innovation, promote a culture of diversity, and alter the company. Together with new technology, we can transform people’s perspectives and preconceived notions about the autism community and encourage greater empathy and respect among all people.
Conclusion
We are living in a day and age where we need to stop counting our differences and start acknowledging our togetherness. Mental health care has of late gained a lot of attention and rightly so. However, our media never attempts to portray the difficulties faced by those who have been impacted by autism.
On top of that, being insensitive towards them and not recognising how wonderfully they can contribute towards making this planet a better place is going to hit us worse than we expect. We must relearn everything there is to know about autism.
Allowing autistic people to express their experiences directly via their artistic work is the best method to battle autism misconceptions. Promote their work and strive for autism diversity in the media’s portrayal of our community since autistic creatives have so much to offer the media industry.
