I’m up in arms about our treatment in the media. At this point, society conceives of autistics as violent loons ready to subvert the system in terrorist fashion via mass shootings and mad ravings. While there are many who know this perception to be patently false, the media chooses to wield its power like a weapon against us by feeding ignorance to the masses as if it were some rare delicacy of insider knowledge.
I used to cringe when reading that such and such a killer was on the spectrum because it forever links autism with violence and acts of extreme madness. Turned out I’d somehow internalized the oppression that there is some twisted truth to this absurd idea. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to realize that this is just more of the same from society: we fear what we don’t understand, and so it is with autism.
My first response now is: You don’t know me.
I’m conceiving of a survey of media representation as an article, and perhaps a presentation for a conference at some point. Since I just got the idea due to being disgusted once again by the media’s lack of knowledge and subsequent distribution of ignorance to the public, I can’t really say what else I have in mind except I’m very disappointed at people’s unwillingness to research for themselves before spouting off disinformation.
See ya on Twitter at @AutisticAdjunct
Autistic Adjunct 