People here might be interested in this documentary.
I saw it mentioned in these interviews.
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If it is politically correct I don’t like it, because it is restricting itself from the purpose of a documentary in principle, that is documenting, to bias itself to the side of a status quo, and henceforth being unnatural; artificial. By the way, I would like to see a documentary that really would like to show the life of autists in school as it is and not displaying them victimizing themselves. I would like to see 4channerz there; I would like to see youngsters who watch adult videos in Japanese animated cartoons; I would like to see people who cannot get along with people of the opposite sex involuntarily… These people look so self contained…
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I’m not sure if I understand. What do you mean by “victimizing themselves”?
If I had to take a guess, I suspect that they are trying to depict a hopeful message about what is possible.
I mean victimizing, just as progressist activists do.
Sorry, I’m still not sure what you mean.
Let’s avoid politics here though, because that topic tends to not go well. If it can’t be explained without politics, then we don’t need to discuss it here.
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I hope they indeed show the real autism experience. Only a third of high school students on the spectrum makes it to college and from that slice less than 20% actually graduates in 5 years. These are real hard numbers I am expecting to see come back in this documentary through these students. I am not looking forward to a happy end documentary where every single one of them graduates or ends up well, that is not documentation of reality.
I’m confused. Why is it okay to make a reference like that?
You make it sound as if the rest of high school students all go to college. That’s not okay! Not everyone goes to college, irrespective of anything. Not everyone who enrolls finishes college. Why change something that was purely a statistic to make it sound as if there is some conspiracy going on. Just a thought here but don’t you think it might be more productive if everyone stopped looking for external reasons and started taking a little bit of responsibility themselves?
I am not talking about others and I don’t believe in a conspiracy. I have autism myself and I know how hard it can be. All I want is to see that back in the documentary. If all those autistic students in the documemtary graduate or end up in a good place then I won’t acknowledge this documentary because reality is that most autistic students DON’T graduate, most DON’T EVEN MAKE IT TO COLLEGE.
On the website of the documentary they say that “the transition to college often goes easily enough” and this is already WRONG. That sentence alone worries me about the documentary entirely. I want them to reflect reality a little bit by showing at least one student failing.
Most on the spectrum don’t make it and if they don’t dare to show this then what is the point of this documentary?
Does every documentary have to show the doom and gloom of the general population though?
Why cant we have a documentary about the people who did make it, so we can have some additional tool that can help people who are struggling?
If we would never make documentaries about the minority group in something, we would never have documentaries about a lot of diseases, electric cars, small religious groups or women, because those are all statistical minorities.
If you want a documentary about the doom of autistic college life and its problems, feel free to go out and make it. I prefer a more hopeful view at the problems AND their solutions.
If all those students graduate, that still is reality. Just not the part of reality that you like to see. Most autistic people dont graduate, fine, so what? If that is not the focus point of this documentary then so be it. No one forces you to accept the slice of reality where autistic people DO graduate.
Sometimes a documentary about a minority can be way more helpful, because the majority is the part who needs it.
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Yea, stop talking like I want doom because I don’t. We need both the good and the bad, I want them to show at least somewhat of the bad because in the case of autism, the majority is affected by the bad. If these students all graduate then that’s good for them but there is a whole group who cannot relate to this. It would be better if they showed for example one student failing or something else, to show how serious it can really be. I know a person who is also on the spectrum and on the path to fail and I am currently struggling myself to get to college, it’s tough. If only 5% of the documentary is about the bad then I am happy with that but as long as they show how serious it can be sometimes.
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Johnny,
I think I should clarify the sharpness of my comment a little.
The other day when I commented on this thread I just finished two consultations with students and their parents. The first one was when the student (grade 3) told me, “I can’t do this, I’m dyslexic.” The second was when the mother told me, “don’t expect too much from him, he’s on the spectrum.”
I ended up venting my emotions here in this thread, and that is not what I wanted to do.
The point that I’m trying to make, is that there are advantages and disadvantages to any approach. For example, by labeling a certain way a person reacts or how this person’s brain works (please take note that I abhor the term “disorder”), the advantages is that it is much easier to follow a proven process of helping that person. Unfortunately, the downside is and this is what makes me want to cry, is when people use that label to put the person in a box and resign to the fact that this is who they will be for the rest of their lives.
In my experience, the ONLY limiter people have is determination.
P.S. the movie might be a little old, but it made a positive impact on me and the way I think, so if you haven’t watched it, give it a go: Gattica
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I’ve begun to wonder if the folks here at Art of Memory are on the autism/savant spectrum (myself included).
“Heightened sensory sensitivity, obsessional behaviours, technical/spatial abilities, and systemising were all key aspects in defining the savant profile distinct from autism alone, along with a different approach to task learning.”
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I admire your willingness to view things that way and sorry it took me so long to reply.
However, autism is not something one can “overcome”. There are certain aspects that cannot be changed and the more severe the disorder, the harder it will be to “overcome” the things that can be changed, if it is at all possible.
It’s unfortunate but that is the truth. I myself have certain things I’ve tried to deal with for years but have now accepted that they won’t change and accepting it, embracing my inabilities allows me to thrive in the things I can do. Some people on the spectrum don’t even have that luxury if the disorder is severe enough.
We should encourage what works but acknowledge what doesn’t in order to figure things out.
The funny thing is that the same can be said for the neurotypical person.
Labeling and being put in a box is not necessarily a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with accepting who you are, the problem arises when you don’t.
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There are probably a few in here, myself included.
Most are probably splinter skill savants, the most common of the 3 types of savant syndrome. A characteristic of them is being obsessed with memorizing things, which is very fitting on this forum.
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If they learn memory techniques, most of them will go to university/college if they want. Same for the general population
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