5 Must-see Videos for #AutismAwarenessMonth
By: Bee Martinez
April 2nd is #WordAutismAwarenessDay. Let’s hear what people living on the autistic spectrum have to say.
If you’re interested in writing for us, pitch us at join.ifme@gmail.com! We welcome anonymous submissions too.
It’s always a a good time to start turning our attention to those who live on the autistic spectrum as much as we do for those who love them. However, April is #WorldAutismAwarenessMonth, hence it’s simply necessary to do it now.
We don’t mean to diminish the vital importance of allies and advocates, but we need to make sure the voice that is heard first is that of the autistic people around us.
For starters, we have rounded up 5 videos that explain some key concepts about autism, including some coming from autistic people.
1. From The Mighty, here’s the video version of Rebecca Burgess explaining the spectrum part in Autism Spectrum:
In the original article, Rebecca explained:
“I want people to understand that autistic people don’t all fit a stereotype, and show people the consequences of stereotyping,” “[Stereotyping leads to] underestimating the skills of autistic people or not believing someone [who is on the spectrum].”
2. The Amazing Autism Project, a community you can join in facebook, created this video.
The video, which has subtitles available in multiple languages, does a great job explaining stereotypical behaviors and sensory overload, for example. Simply put, the objective of this video is to:
“…Raise awareness among young non-autistic audiences, to stimulate understanding and acceptance in future generations.”
3. Dylan Marron assembled a diverse panel to Shut Down Bullsh*t about Autism for Seriously.tv
It’s fair to say that this was done after a first video about autism got a lot of constructive feedback. We are all learners, and this is a great example of how to actually give a platform to autistic people.
4. Part of TED Talks playlist about Autism, here’s this jewel by the amazing Dr Temple Grandin.
Hear it from her, why…
“We’ve got to think about all these different kinds of minds, and we’ve got to absolutely work with these kind of minds, because we absolutely are going to need these kinds of people in the future.”
5. Asperger Experts is an very complete resource. A good example of their content is The AE Process:
They offer “Guidance, Best Practices, Insight & Communities, Created By People With Asperger’s”. Check out Asperger Expert’s youtube channel and series for a variety of lengthy discussions on various related topics.
