How the Media Shapes the Narrative on Autism
Why Autistic representation matters and why it’s also crucial
Think about this for a second: You go through life thinking you're somewhat normal (whatever that actually means to you). At some point, you come across Autism and you start thinking you might be Autistic yourself. You look back and realize that so many moments from your childhood, teenage years, and adulthood have Autism written all over them.
In the meantime, you have accumulated opinions and preconceptions on what Autism is. You’ve never met anyone who’s Autistic. You think it’s rare (not that rare actually, but hey, that depends on one’s perspective). You think only children can be diagnosed with Autism (not true and has been debunked and disproven many times from life). You think Autism and Aspergers are not the same things (they are because they’re all part of the same infinite spectrum).
You start realizing that apart from understanding yourself (your Autistic self) and learning to live with this new knowledge of you you are, there’s also work/effort to be done in what comes to changing what you think Autism is.
