Autism in the Media Essay

Before completing the assignment of reading “Thinking in Pictures,” by Temple Grandin, I did not have much knowledge about autism. My only understanding was autism was some sort of neurological disorder that is seen similar to mentally handicapped individuals to someone with little understanding, like myself. I am very thankful to have been given an assignment like this one that gives me more knowledge of something I should already have in my line of work (though I am sure that was the whole purpose of the assignment, to educate the ignorant). I now have a better understanding of the cause, learning process and functioning of different levels of this defect.

I chose this audience, because it the most appropriate for my argument about autism assuming that a child’s biggest advocate will be their parents. I hope this infographic teaches all parents of young children to identify the early signs and symptoms of autism and if they spot any of the signs and symptom outlined that they feel comfortable enough to seek out a pediatrician for evaluation. My argument offers comfort for a very real epidemic that we currently have no cause or cure for. I hope that my infographic offers hope that there are options and to embrace autism. The last section of my project places emphasis on this also the picture of the girl that looks like a puzzle piece was a great

since the year 2006 were 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with autism every year, autism is much

Despite general agreements among experts who believe biological factors cause autism, experts have not identified cures or causes (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

Baker (2017) investigated the portrayal of autism in the media, particularly in newspapers. The analysis of the data revealed predominantly negative imagery when discussing autism and as a results, this negative representation of autism indeed affects the perception that the society holds. The research investigated the language used and topics discussed when mentioning autism. The results showed that more than 25 terms were negative when describing the situations the people with autism and the people that surrounds them experience. The examples include the words such as struggle, burden, problem, mental, etc. The results also showed that the topic of ‘Quality of life’ is in the special interest of the media. The majority of the articles were

Autism Speaks. (2012). The Federal Response to Autism. Retrieved June 17, 2012, from HYPERLINK "http://www.autismspeaks.org" http://www.autismspeaks.org.

A: In an article written by Autism Speaks the CDC states that 1 in every 68 children in the United States have Autism. (Autism speaks p.1)

The study displayed a higher risk for children developing autism if a family member was already affected by the disorder and ten times more likely if a sibling was affected. This study concluded that genetics and environmental factors work together to play a role in the development of autism. Genetics was estimated at 83 percent and environmental influence was estimated at 17 percent. Even though genetics still plays a larger part in the development of autism, environmental factors play a role as well (Large Study Suggests, 2012; Staff, X.S, 2013).

“Autism is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, deviance in communication, and patterns of behavior and interests that are restricted,

Autism Spectrum Disorder. ASD. Autism. When people hear any of these, it’s either “avoid that person at all costs”, “be super sympathetic”, “pretend to be their friend” or “I have no idea what that is”. My best friend and illustrator of my second book, has no idea what autism is. I tried explaining it to her. It’s very hard to explain how you feel, first of all. To put the fact that you are autistic makes it even more difficult. It doesn’t bother me too much that she doesn’t know. As long as she knows that I truly am a good person, we’re good.

According to Shangraw (2012), there is no concrete etiology of autism because it is not diagnosed by its cause but on observed behaviors. The Autism-Society (n.d.) stated that a possibility for the cause of autism is the abnormalities in the brain structure or function. In an MRI research study by Piven et al. (1995), they found that an individual with autism spectrum disorder had a higher total brain volume and tissue compared to a person who is not on the autism spectrum disorder. Genetic problems and environmental factors can be a cause of autism spectrum disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic (2014). In genetic problems such as fragile X syndrome or Rett Syndrome, it can be associated with autism spectrum disorder. There is ongoing research regarding environmental factors and exploring ideas such as viral infections, pregnancy complications, and / or air pollutants to determine if they are active factors of autism spectrum disorder.

Does Hollywood have it right? Do the big budget films and television companies really know what they are doing when it comes to portraying a character with autism. Now there is a question that few really seem to care about. but for the communities that do this is a varying issue. whilst some portraits are fairly accurate others are not and that is what will be the main focus here.

In 2011, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that on average, 1 in 10 children each year are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 304). However, the number of children diagnosed with autism in recent years is

Autism is on the rise. Many researchers feel the reasons isn’t because there are more kids being afflicted with it, but the increased public awareness has allowed this disorder to be more easily recognized and diagnosed at a earlier age.

Tens of millions of people have been diagnosed with Autism worldwide, effecting both genders, all races, ethnicities and people from all socioeconomic classes. In 2010 a Surveillance Summary was conducted in the United States, where it identified that one in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). It has been recognised