Authentic representation matters and when creators, writers and the TV networks get these stories wrong, it distorts how society views people with a disability.
The Netflix series Atypical, which focuses on the life of 18-year-old Sam Gardner who is on the autism spectrum, is in my mind a clear example of misrepresentation. The lead actor Keir Gilchrist isn’t autistic, he’s merely pretending to be autistic for the purposes of the show.
But they’ve got it wrong; autistic people don’t talk like that, they don’t think like that and they don’t behave like that.
I know this because I have autism. And like countless times before this TV show, I’m being confronted by an autistic story without an autistic person in sight.
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- Topics:
- Inclusion and access
- Author:
- Nick McAllister
- Source:
- ABC News
- Date published:
- Tue 21st Jan, 2020