Abstract
Background:
Stevenson et al. (2011) examined photographs and language used to represent autism on chapter websites for the Autism Society of America, autism charity websites, movies, television shows, fictional books, and U.S. new stories and found that they overwhelmingly used children to represent autism.
Methods:
Using Stevenson et al.'s methods, we tested the hypothesis that, a decade on, these same sources would now include more representations of autistic adults. We statistically compared our findings with theirs.
Results:
On the chapter websites of the Autism Society of America and in fictional books, the hypothesis was supported in that there were more representations of adults (19%–20%) than in the original study (5%–9%), but there were still far more representations of children than of adults. In movies, television shows, and U.S. news stories, there were equal numbers of representations of autistic adults and autistic children.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest a move away from infantilizing autism in some domains, but they rely on a narrow construal of “infantilizing”: the underrepresentation of autistic adults in media. However, even when autistic adults are represented, they may still be infantilized in various ways. Future research will need to examine the impact of infantilizing media on both autistic and non-autistic people, and other ways in which these representations are limited (e.g., gender and race/ethnicity).
Community brief
Why is this an important issue?
A prior study showed that most representations of autistic people in the United States portray children. It is important that the public not perceive autism as a disability that only affects children. If autistic adults are not adequately represented, they and their needs become invisible.
What was the purpose of this study?
We wanted to see if representations of autistic adults in the United States have increased in the decade since the original study was published.
What did the researchers do?
We counted the numbers of representations of autistic adults and autistic children on the chapter websites of the Autism Society of America, autism charity websites, in fictional books, movies, and television shows with autistic characters, and in U.S. news stories that mentioned autistic people. We then compared these numbers with the numbers from the original study.
What were the results of the study?
On the chapter websites of the Autism Society of America and in fictional books, there were more representations of adults than in the original study, but there were still far more representations of children than of adults. In movies and television shows, as well as U.S. news stories, the number of representations of autistic adults was equal to those of children.
What do these findings add to what was already known?
These findings show that there has been some progress in increased representations of autistic adults in the United States. Our study cannot tell us what exactly has contributed to this change, but we speculate that the rise of autistic self-advocacy is the most likely candidate, as it has trickle-down effects such as hiring of autism consultants for movies and television shows and journalists' increased use of autistic self-advocates as sources.
What are potential weaknesses in the study?
Our analyses, as in the original study, are limited to depictions of autism in the United States and examine only one aspect of representation (age). Gender, race/ethnicity, and other dimensions of autistic representations need to be examined in future research.
How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?
Knowing about representation of autistic adults is important because of the many potential benefits of accurate representation, such as access to accommodations and resources beyond childhood (e.g., jobs, healthcare). Positive media representations may also help reduce stigma and stereotypes.
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