Sociological and Cultural Aspects of Autism - Media Portrayals

Media Portrayals

See also: Autism spectrum disorders in the media

Much of the public perception of autism is based on its portrayals in novels, biographies, movies, and TV series. Many of these portrayals have been inaccurate, and have contributed to a harmful divergence between public perception and the clinical reality of autism. For example, in the movie Mozart and the Whale (2005), the opening scene gives four clues that a leading character has Asperger syndrome, and two of these clues are extraordinary savant skills. The savant skills are not needed in the film, but in the movies savant skills have become a stereotype for the autism spectrum, regardless of the fact that most autistic people are not savants.

Some works from the 1970s have autistic characters, who are rarely labeled.

Read more about this topic:  Sociological And Cultural Aspects Of Autism

Famous quotes containing the words media and/or portrayals:

    “The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message.”
    —Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)

    “We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
    —Richard Louv (20th century)