And it looks like it's gonna be another sleepless night...............gotta love Chrystal Gayle (and Martine McCutcheon) who I hear you cry..........lol never mind.
I watched this video yesterday and was appalled at the way Autism Speaks portray Autism. The over dramatic scary voice at the start telling the world be scared of Autism or it might get you and destroy your marriage and your life! No wonder no one understands when the people who think they are helping have no idea either.
When they first said they were making a video and wanted people to send in clips of their children I was excited and thought cool at last someone is going to show what daily life is like ............ how wrong I was. When they said they wanted a clip of my child on his/her own in a white tee shirt at their favourite place I thought oh here we go some artsy fartsy glimpse at a photoshopped life with Autism. To be honest I would have preferred that to what they actually did produce.
What they came up with in the end is in perfect time for Halloween and scary stories. Autism is portrayed as some dark demon force that ruins your life, great first impression for newly diagnosed families looking for answers. They are raising money for research so one comment said, research for what? A cure?? How insensitive is that to the millions of happy autistic's out there going about their normal life?
Autism isn't all doom and gloom unless you are Barbie in a perfect world and want the blonde haired blue eyed "perfect" child to show off along with your big house and car. Autism isn't a barrel of laughs either, what it is is LIFE and we all get dealt a different one, deal with it.
It is a little dramatic but I don't fault them for trying to make an impact.
If we did not show children battling leukemia could we expect the public to believe there is suffering in a pediatric cancer ward?. If we did not show starving children would we expect people to be moved to donate money to feed them? We can not deny that there are children suffering to the extreme and their families suffer right along with them. It may have been a poor choice of words to say "deal with it" unless of coarse you meant our duty to provide the best possible care and education to facilitate our children's growth and potential.
I have a beautiful blond haired blue eyed boy who does suffer with classic autism. I am not a barbie doll and I do not own a beautiful house with a mercedes in the garage. I do not wish for these material things but I do hope for a cure for autism in my son's lifetime. Yeah, they could have done it a little differently but I would not fault the effort or the message.. For some people, many people, autism sucks.
Holy crud. I'm glad that they went back and "fixed" all the pictures by putting the whole family in. And it is, in the end, a positive "screw it, let's do this" kind of a message. But even then it freaked me out. I'd bet anything that they got this from that classic rock song where he speaks as satan. Not that I can remember it right at this moment. "I was there when..." blahblahblah. Anyway, you're supposed to be mad at the first voice, and then want to join forces with the families. It's just... intense the first couple times you watch it.
I love it. I'm an Asperger mom, with 1 diagnosed child and one more possibly on the spectrum. Alfonso Cuaron is a talented director (HP and The Prisoner of Azkaban, A Little Princess, Pan's Labyrinth and more) and I am amazed and pleased that he took the time to do this "small" project.
The first voice is supposed to be scary, full of myths and lies to discourage and deceive those who don't know. Hearing the voices representing parents, families, teachers and doctors who say that our strongest force is the love for our children may sound sappy but it brought tears to my eyes - because it's true. I wish someone felt that way when I was growing up with Asperger's, undiagnosed and treated like I was "bad" or an embarrassment. Now I am the one who is willing to "knock down walls with my bare hands" if I have to, to reach my daughter and help her to grow up to be independent and know her self-worth. Maybe I AM sappy, but that's okay.
About Me: I am Jools 43, born and raised in London and now living in South Yorkshire. I am a type 2 diabetic and have Fibromyalgia and all its merry add ons lol. My hubby is Ged and he is 38, we have been married for 14 years we met and married within 9 weeks and everyone said we wouldn't last, Ha we showed them! Ged had a terrible accident at work (due to no health and safety proceedures) and has had one back operation and due another and has been told he will never work again. My son Travis is 13 and has Aspergers syndrome and dyspraxia, and my daughter Ceili (pronounced Kayleigh) is 6 and has an Autistic spectrum disorder and hypermobile joints. There is never a dull moment as you can well imagine and this is to show that although we have a lot of disabilities amongst us we still smile and love life. xxxJoolsxxx :0)
Read more about me at my blog at:
Http://xxxjoolsxxx.blogspot.com
Recommend
Comments (3)
It is a little dramatic but I don't fault them for trying to make an impact.
If we did not show children battling leukemia could we expect the public to believe there is suffering in a pediatric cancer ward?. If we did not show starving children would we expect people to be moved to donate money to feed them? We can not deny that there are children suffering to the extreme and their families suffer right along with them. It may have been a poor choice of words to say "deal with it" unless of coarse you meant our duty to provide the best possible care and education to facilitate our children's growth and potential.
I have a beautiful blond haired blue eyed boy who does suffer with classic autism. I am not a barbie doll and I do not own a beautiful house with a mercedes in the garage. I do not wish for these material things but I do hope for a cure for autism in my son's lifetime. Yeah, they could have done it a little differently but I would not fault the effort or the message.. For some people, many people, autism sucks.
Holy crud. I'm glad that they went back and "fixed" all the pictures by putting the whole family in. And it is, in the end, a positive "screw it, let's do this" kind of a message. But even then it freaked me out. I'd bet anything that they got this from that classic rock song where he speaks as satan. Not that I can remember it right at this moment. "I was there when..." blahblahblah. Anyway, you're supposed to be mad at the first voice, and then want to join forces with the families. It's just... intense the first couple times you watch it.
I love it. I'm an Asperger mom, with 1 diagnosed child and one more possibly on the spectrum. Alfonso Cuaron is a talented director (HP and The Prisoner of Azkaban, A Little Princess, Pan's Labyrinth and more) and I am amazed and pleased that he took the time to do this "small" project.
The first voice is supposed to be scary, full of myths and lies to discourage and deceive those who don't know. Hearing the voices representing parents, families, teachers and doctors who say that our strongest force is the love for our children may sound sappy but it brought tears to my eyes - because it's true. I wish someone felt that way when I was growing up with Asperger's, undiagnosed and treated like I was "bad" or an embarrassment. Now I am the one who is willing to "knock down walls with my bare hands" if I have to, to reach my daughter and help her to grow up to be independent and know her self-worth. Maybe I AM sappy, but that's okay.
Kudos, Sr. Orozco and kudos to Autism Speaks.