Attitudes towards autism
Our attitude towards autism and disability in general can have tremendous impact on the quality of the life of autistic people and their family.
The most commonly encountered attitudes seen are discomfort and rejection, making it invisible. The reasons for this may be very diverse, but are likely entrenched in our deepest evolutionary make-up; our primeval chance for survival in the early environments in which our species evolved was to socialise which implies a rejection of people who could compromise the chances of social survival, i.e. the disabled, the sick, the elderly, the outsiders. This rejection is unlikely to result from our education, because it can be seen even in very young neuro-typical children, it can be changed through culture and education. This rejection translates into various forms of discrimination. This can cause distress to people who are different and their family, and may be resulting in further isolation and a sense of powerlessness.
Attitudes can be modulated
The knowledge we have gained in recent years of autism, thanks particularly to growing numbers of reports made by individuals with autism, their families and advocates, have helped the general population to understand this condition better. Behaviours, which were incomprehensible, such as sudden bursts of distress, various forms of repetitive behaviour, misunderstanding of people’s intentions, or alternative learning processes, are now becoming understandable.
There is no unique way of learning, seeing the world, interacting with the environment and people. Whether autism comes with positive attributes or with challenging features is not the issue. What matter is instead that people presenting with differences in behavior get a better chance to form successful relationships with their community. A supportive community will have incredible powerful benefits to everyone involved, not just to the autistic people and their family but also the community itself. Changing attitude is possible with a better understanding of people and a better appreciation that assisting each others within a community will bring strength and greater unity to the group.
Looking forward
Being sincerely positive about autism helps reducing stress and likeliness of depression, helps communication, helps inclusion. A sincere attitude of acceptance could take any form, from being accepting and respectful of the person with autism, treating him or her with equal rights as anyone else, to proactively assisting individuals and their family, or to promoting a better inclusion.
Video Autism Acceptance Project
If you are a parent or a friend of someone with autism, please do assist us in our aims to record and share your own experiences of how autism is perceived in your community, how the response of others will impact on your life, both negatively and positively. Ideally, we would seek to receive a range of video material that would illustrate the situations you have been in, or that would explain situations that have occurred in your community. We would encourage anyone from any country to contribute, no matter how short or technically simple your project is, we want to hear about your stories. Cultural differences towards disability are huge; please share your own perceptive on this issue, as everyone's experience will be valuable. If you need assistance with your project, please contact us for support and suggestions. We feel this type of reporting will be valuable to Autism and autistic people.
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