Wendy Lawson to appear on ABCTV tomorrow night

The ABC television show Compass is going to run a story about some Australian high-functioning adult autistics on Sunday May 2nd 2010 at 10pm. On the plus side, Wendy Lawson will be one of those people. On the negative side, the blurb in the promo of this story presents a negative view of autism, and I can only assume that this represents the editorial direction of this documentary.

"What if you were highly intelligent, but remained trapped within a disorder that made others see you as inarticulate, odd or disabled?"

The old neurotypical person trapped within autism cliche. If I only had a dollar for every time I've seen that one. I'd like to point out that I don't just appear odd, I am odd! And you can like it!

"James, Jeanette, Akash and Wendy tell us about their individual struggles to fit into a world they're not made for."

Or maybe a world that is not accommodating?

"Their stories include moving perspectives from their parents, siblings and children, and sobering revelations about how vulnerable they are."

Oh yes, it's all about vulnerability, nothing to do with neurotypical people behaving badly.

So, I guess we have to be grateful that the Australian media in the year 2010 has woken up to the possibility that not all autistics are poignant little boys, but we still have to listen to those ancient cliches and negative language like the word "disorder", a term which British autism clinicians rejected years ago in favour of the value-neutral term "condition". This is only Australia.

Alone in a Crowded Room
Compass
ABCTV
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/

Wendy's Web Page
http://www.mugsy.org/wendy/