Part 1
By making this film I am trying to understand why autism is so hard to understand and why people give up on children with autism so easily. The obvious topic of my film is autism. But the less obvious topic is how autism effected me as a person and how it changed me for the better. I already know what autism is and how it can impact peoples live for the better and the worst. But I do not know exactly how I can show that in film. I have some ideas but they are all just jumbled.
Part 2
I used to think autism meant a child was really smart in certain subjects but just lacked the social aspects or that they were just in other words helpless. I know realize that autism has all different levels of severity. My film is going to focus on the sever autism. This means that a child is very aggressive, non-verbal and needs alot of help but it does not change that they are a child and deserves to be treated well and with respect. They need love and support. They need everything, every other child needs but more. I also learned that saying that child is autistic is politically incorrect. It is disrespectful and it is labeling that child. When speaking of a child who has a autism you say “he or she is a child with autism”. This means that they have autism but it is not the only thing about them.
This shift caused me to change my major at the college of St. Rose. I went from being an elementary ed major to a special ed and elementary ed major. I also know that i do not want to teach in a class room for general ed anymore. I feel like i know alot about disabilities and i would be usefull in a special education setting. Preferably and autistic room.
Part 3
I am a much stronger person because of this shift. I also am much more open minded. I participate in autism walks every year to help raise money for reasearch and I take every moment I get to raise awarness about autism. I am alot more considerate and patient. Working with children with autism teaches you to be patient and that it is ok when things do not work.
I want my audience to learn not to stare at a child with autism when they see them out in the commuity. Because that is all I used to see when I took some of the kids out and it was very frustrating. I also want my audience to learn that autism does not mean the childs life is over. It just means they need more help.
Katrina,
Your point about the linguistic difference between “an autistic child” versus “a child with autism” is profound. It fundamentally changes the dialogue about autism by refusing to accept defining and limiting labels. That’s incredibly powerful and shows how language can perpetuate misunderstandings but also that language is a powerful tool to revise socially accepted meanings. How might you get that across to your audience?
The other significant point I see is how working with autism has changed you. Not only has it been a fulfilling job, but it’s shaped the course of your studies and future career. How, specifically, do you think this kind of work (and the experiences you’ve had with these children) changed you?
Megan
Comment by fulwilem — May 16, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
Katrina—
A couple of thoughts here. I think you have way too many ideas for a single film! You have a ton of information about autism, and a number of things you want to get across to your audience, any one of which would make for a film in and of itself.
Because this is a personal essay film, you might well want to focus on the change that has occurred in you, and how that change happened. The linguistic shift that you mention (which I have never thought about, and which I’ve been guilty of using throughout our class—and thus you’re teaching people already!!) is one that is very rich with possibilities. I can imagine a scene where images (either moving or still) of a number of children. Perhaps you would have text slides that say something like “this is a child. And this is a child, etc.” At the end, you could have one that said “some of these children were also children with autism, but not one of them was just an autistic child.” You could go on to explain the difference between those two concepts (as you do above), and how you began to understand why that difference mattered, and the effect that that understanding had on your own career plans?
These are just suggestions, of course, but I think the next step is to get as specific as you can about what film you want to make; what shift occurs in it, and what your audience can learn from that shift.
Comment by kmiddleton — May 16, 2008 @ 2:22 pm