Gonzalez 1

Delilah Gonzalez
Professor Lawson
H English 115
Final Draft: Research Paper
28 November 2016
Word count: 2000
Different, Not Less
When you hear the word disability, does BiPolar Disorder, Down Syndrome, Autism
Spectrum Disorder come to mind or does incapable, retard, freak do it more justice? Though
having acknowledged these disabilities, people arent exposed to them everyday and because of
this they lack the understanding of a person living with a disorder. Pop culture plays a
particularly big role within bringing awareness towards disabilities through movies and
television shows as they are starting to provide more content of Autistic people. There are great
films and series with characters who have Autism, some that are even the main character.
Despite that, there is still not a big enough representation for the community of Autism. In these
films/series the autistic characters arent actually Autistic, theyre just played by regular actors.
The problem with these films and shows is that they go about portraying Autism all the same
way, creating a stereotype towards autism. People with Autism need to be given a chance for
their voice to be heard and their story to be listened to. Films and Television shows portray
Autism Spectrum Disorder in a manner that creates a stereotype among the autistic community,
while neglecting important factors such as gender and diversity.

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According to Autism Speaks.org, Autism Spectrum Disorder is the disorders of brain

development... which are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction,
verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors(Autism Speaks). Having these
obstacles that the regular person would never encounter, it makes the lives of Autistic people
harder. In the eyes of society, without knowing a child had Autism, they would assume that they
are just a mischievous child. Though through the childs eyes, they are trying anything they can
to express their feelings about something whether it be anger, excitement, or sadness, they
perform unnecessary actions for the simplest feelings. Each individual with Autism is different
and unique, just like the rest of the people of this world. Those on the Autism Spectrum have
abilities in visual skills, music and academic skills...Others with autism have significant
disability and are unable to live independently( Autism Speaks). On the website The Mighty,
is shown a comic explaining how levels of Autism Spectrum can be identified and how they are
unique in traits, it is called, Understanding the Spectrum.. Most people would think the level of
being on the spectrum would look like a straight line from one end being not Autistic to the other
end of being very Autistic. This is where most people fail to realize that this is an incorrect way
of identifying Autism Spectrum. In fact the spectrum is more of a pie chart, gets rid of the linear
autism spectrum image (i.e. youre either not autistic, very autistic or somewhere in between)
and replaces it with a round spectrum full of several traits or ways the brain processes
information (The Mighty). The concept of an Autistic persons brain is difficult to process, but
know that someone who is Autistic has as much normality in their brain as anyone. There are
some parts of their mind that do not function the same as others do, but overall it doesn't mean
they are incapable of having average traits.

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From the recent expansion of Autism Spectrum Disorder within children and adults, the
creation of TV shows and movies conveying the disability have been more common.
Parenthood, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, are some of many that illustrate the
life of an Autistic person through a show or film. These films and shows are not simply for those
with Autism, but also for the families that go through hardships and new discoveries everyday
because of a disability. The Tv show Parenthood was one of the first TV series to feature a
character with Autism, and there is an episode in where the wife informs the husband of their
son's diagnosis. In disbelief, the husband states "Asperger's? Like Autism? Max is not Autistic!
I've seen Autistic kids(Patch 47)! This statement already exposes how Autism can be perceived
in a negative way. Parenthood also shows how Max, the Autistic boy, reacts to unpleasant
situations such as being in social events, bullying, and not understanding why they arent
normal. Though there are content that do portray much truth towards Autism, there are many
that don't. Blogger crippledscholar, wrote a mindful review about the film The Accountant,
which was released in October 2016. He stated that the whole portrayal of Autism within Ben
Afflecks character , Christian Wolf, was a stereotype. It wasn't anything new that he hasnt seen
before in an Autistic character. The character was a white male, who had amazing skills with
numbers, and he does not get the girl at the end of the movie. The thing that is really supposed
to make Christian Wolff different is the fact that hes an assassin (cripplesscholar). For this
blogger this is a personal issue to him because he is Autistic, and to see how films continue to
show the same version of Autism is tiring. They need to convey every side of what is the real
Autism disorder, because not every Autistic person is going to have amazing math skills or not
have romantic relationship. If the pop culture continued to show just one factor of being Autism,

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then the rest of society will know nothing else, but that factor. They will claim they know about
Autism because thats what they are only exposed to, and what they understand. He also
discusses the lack of diversity within Autistic characters and how only white males play those
characters. This causes other ethnic groups to be forgotten, thus having the mindset of, I guess
the only Autistic people are white. Not only are they stereotyping the autistic community, they
are limiting it down to only having male of white descent be autistic. Though more males have
autism than females do, An estimated 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with
autism in the United States(Autism Speaks). This isn't to state that there arent any females in
the world living with autism. Females can already be seen lower compared to men, and now to
disabilities they are even non-existed.
With all this controversy of Autism being presented in a certain manner in films and Tv
series, it is so important that Autism gets put out into pop culture the right way. Why? This type
of pop culture is very influential towards all types of children and adults, it is the source of daily
knowledge, of an new inspiration, of a new perception towards life. For those with Autism
Spectrum, most common trait that is shared is the lack of emotional and social communication
(Autism Speaks). It can be hard to share how they feel about something and when they do most
people arent quite sure how to perceive their actions. In most cases they are attracted to what
they see on the screen, the colorful images, the loud sounds, and the lovable characters. Owen
Suskind was a child with autism, as he couldn't speak it was extremely difficult to communicate
to his family. Through observing Owen, his family noticed his love for Disney films. These films
influenced Owen to actually say his first word, thus causing a breakthrough for the barrier
between him and his family. His whole family started to speak in Disney dialect to communicate

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better with Owen, and he as well communicate through the films. Owen's dad mimicked the
voice of the parrot, Iago, and used a puppet of the character to talk to his son. And he soon found
he could communicate with his son through the movie's dialogue (Kenyon). Owens story is
now a new documentary called "Life, Animated". This supports how powerful films can be. This
also shows how families can help their loved one with Autism through different and unique
ways. Since each Autism person is different, each family must find their manner to help their
person adapt to the world better. Family is an important factor, no matter what struggle comes.
Imagine if there were more films and shows with real diverse Autistic characters of both genders,
how influenced the whole world would be. Series and movies who carry those qualities would
dominated the Autistic community, and bring the uplifting awareness. Spreading positivity of
those who are different, that can be looked at by those of normal traits as an equal. It has to be
shown, the obstacles they face that are far greater than one can imagine, the countless times
they've been bullied for being the stupid kid or a freak, and the joy in their eyes when they
have achieved something great.

Even through a disability, there is already an expectation of how an Autistic person

should be. An Autistic person should be fragile and unstable because of the lack of traits in their
mind. If someone is considered low level of Autism it means that they arent really Autism at all,
they can handle all this conversation and the noise. All Autistic people have special skills such as
being brilliant in math or science, or having incredible memory. The community is filled with
stereotypes that repeat itself over and over again. The right way to raise the awareness this
disorder deserves, is to show the unfiltered part of every kind of autistic man or woman, adult or

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child. That is a performance that cannot be scripted. An Autism based film, show, or character
shouldnt be illustrated as to feel pity because of their disability, it should be to feel empowered
that they are people with dreams, hopes, and desires, they just go through a harder process to
achieve them than the usual person does. Personally, I don't want my brother to have to live in a
world where he can never feel normal. He is his own little person trying to figure out his ways
of living, speaking, and feeling everyday. He does have episodes when he gets mad or sad, he
can't communicate as well as other children, and his attention span is limited. His hardships
become our familys hardship, his sorrows become our sorrows, when people disrespect him,
they disrespect our community. Though family can only do so much to influence an Autistic
child, many can grow up with a role model or an idol who gave values that will forever be
remember. This being said, I want my brother to see an Autistic who is public figure and to
admire his actions for becoming who they are now. I want him to strive for the best, to know he
has a good a chance as anyone, and to know he is loved for being him. He needs to see the
influences on the world in where Autism is the normal, not the unusual, it is different, but does
not make them less.

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Works Cited:
Autism Speaks.Autism Speaks Inc. Mar. 2005. Web. 15.Nov. 2016.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S Department of Health and Human
Services. 21 Oct. 2016. Web. 18 Nov. 2016
Crippledscholar. The Accountant Tries To Be a Unique & Authentic Portrayal of
Autism Using By the Numbers Stereotypes and No Actual Autistic People.
Crippledscholar.wordpress.com. N.p. 10 Oct. 2016. Web. 11 Nov. 2016
Hammesfahr, Lexie.How Pop Culture Is Helping Destigmatize Autism. Newsy.Media
Convergence Group, Inc. 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
Kenyon, Sandy.Boy With Autism Uses Disney Films to Communicate with Parents.
Abc7NY. ABC Inc., WABC-TV New York. 29 June 2016. Web.10 Nov. 2016.
Patch, Nick.Autism In Pop Culture: Characters On Autism Spectrum On TV, But Do
They Get It Right?. Huffpost Living. The Canadian Press. 27 Dec. 2012. Nov. 2016
The Mighty Staff. Comic Redesigns the Autism Spectrum to Crush Stereotypes. The
Mighty. The Mighty Staff. Mighty Proud Media, Inc.23 May 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.