I will admit, it is getting better. Back in the late 2000-early 2010’s I dreaded going to the doctor, because they’d see I was autistic on my chart. Once that happened they’d start using simple words and start talking like they’re Dora The Explorer trying to get the audience to say “Map”
Nowadays they see that and instead they just ask me questions about whether or not I have a good support network, if everything at home is okay, and how my mental health is doing in general.
Thankfully these days people no longer think of Rain Man when they hear autism, they think of Sonichu instead, which is sadly an improvement.
“No I’m not a child, I just like Sonic The Hedgehog comic books despite being way past the intended age group.”
Rain Man is interesting to me, not because of the movie itself (I actually despite it and blame it for a lot of the mistreatment I suffered at the hands of everyone who got their idea of an autistic person from that), but because it shows the passage of time.
Today it’s an incredibly offensive and inaccurate portrayal of an autistic individual that is remembered for its cliches and is mocked more than beloved. When it was released, it was incredibly bold and progressive.
I imagine there’s probably a similar movie for LGBTQ+ persons where now it’s insanely offensive, but back then it was considered incredibly Pro-LGBT, but I can’t think of anything right now.
I just wanted to add, that it was SO MUCH WORSE if I had family visiting me during an extended stay in the hospital or if I was chaperoned by someone else (Even if it was obvious they were just my ride and nothing more)
Because doctors would laugh at anything I said, praise me for being “so smart”, and tell whoever was with me what they found in testing and how they were going to treat it instead of me… With the obvious intent being for them to “dumb it down” for me.
The end result was just me glaring angrily at the doctor as if to say “I’m sitting right here and I understand everything you’re saying, you’re just being rude!”
If I actually said that though they’d ask if I “got that from TV”
EVERYTHING INTELLIGENT said by an autistic person back then was assumed by my peers to be just someone copying something they heard on TV.
The idea that there was a distinction between low functioning and high functioning autistic persons didn’t seem to click. It’s gotten a lot better thankfully, there seems to be more education about these things.
That said Hollywood and TV still hasn’t learned anything, as now Autistic people are shown as being a flanderization of Data from Star Trek, all smart, no personality. Though Hollywood and TV still doesn’t understand neuro divergence in general, as we’re still seeing the “Obviously someone with other personalities means that there are only two, and one of them is evil.”
That said credit to Jojo and The Simpsons for doing the subversion of “The main person is evil, the other personality is good”, as that’s as close as I’ve seen to that happening in real life. Even then it’s usually “One is cynical and jaded, and the other is innocent and childlike.”
I will admit, it is getting better. Back in the late 2000-early 2010’s I dreaded going to the doctor, because they’d see I was autistic on my chart. Once that happened they’d start using simple words and start talking like they’re Dora The Explorer trying to get the audience to say “Map”
Nowadays they see that and instead they just ask me questions about whether or not I have a good support network, if everything at home is okay, and how my mental health is doing in general.
Thankfully these days people no longer think of Rain Man when they hear autism, they think of Sonichu instead, which is sadly an improvement.
“No I’m not a child, I just like Sonic The Hedgehog comic books despite being way past the intended age group.”
Rain Man is interesting to me, not because of the movie itself (I actually despite it and blame it for a lot of the mistreatment I suffered at the hands of everyone who got their idea of an autistic person from that), but because it shows the passage of time.
Today it’s an incredibly offensive and inaccurate portrayal of an autistic individual that is remembered for its cliches and is mocked more than beloved. When it was released, it was incredibly bold and progressive.
I imagine there’s probably a similar movie for LGBTQ+ persons where now it’s insanely offensive, but back then it was considered incredibly Pro-LGBT, but I can’t think of anything right now.
I just wanted to add, that it was SO MUCH WORSE if I had family visiting me during an extended stay in the hospital or if I was chaperoned by someone else (Even if it was obvious they were just my ride and nothing more)
Because doctors would laugh at anything I said, praise me for being “so smart”, and tell whoever was with me what they found in testing and how they were going to treat it instead of me… With the obvious intent being for them to “dumb it down” for me.
The end result was just me glaring angrily at the doctor as if to say “I’m sitting right here and I understand everything you’re saying, you’re just being rude!”
If I actually said that though they’d ask if I “got that from TV”
EVERYTHING INTELLIGENT said by an autistic person back then was assumed by my peers to be just someone copying something they heard on TV.
The idea that there was a distinction between low functioning and high functioning autistic persons didn’t seem to click. It’s gotten a lot better thankfully, there seems to be more education about these things.
That said Hollywood and TV still hasn’t learned anything, as now Autistic people are shown as being a flanderization of Data from Star Trek, all smart, no personality. Though Hollywood and TV still doesn’t understand neuro divergence in general, as we’re still seeing the “Obviously someone with other personalities means that there are only two, and one of them is evil.”
That said credit to Jojo and The Simpsons for doing the subversion of “The main person is evil, the other personality is good”, as that’s as close as I’ve seen to that happening in real life. Even then it’s usually “One is cynical and jaded, and the other is innocent and childlike.”