Autism Every Day will be featured at the Sundance Film Festival on beginning on January 21, 2007 with further screenings on January 22 and 27. The film presents the struggles of families raising autistic children. The special screening at the Sundance Film Festival should help raise autism awareness from the perspective of family life and family members who are both blessed - and challenged - by their autistic child or sibling. Recently an article appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch which focussed on the pressures and stresses on families resulting from raising a severely autistic child. Very recently Kim Stagliano posted a commentary on the Huffington Post about the challenges of raising three autistic children. Her attempts to prevent the very real, and serious challenges of feces smearing of three autistic children, in a humorous light met a firestorm of criticism from high functioning autistic persons on the internet who felt offended by Ms. Stagliano's comments not about them but about her own children.
Hopefully the efforts of the producers of Autism Every Day, the Richmond family, Ms. Stagliano and others like them will continue. People should know the truth. Autism is not just about savants or those capable of posting complex sophisticated monologues on the internet. It also includes those with severe communication, intellectual and behavioral challenges. The realities of these autistic persons - and those who actually care for them in their daily lives - should also be known to the world. Autism Every Day and its highlighting at the Sundance Film Festival should help ensure that those realities are not hidden out of public view.
Details of "Autism Every Day" and the Sundance Film Festival can be found atthe Autism Speaks web site:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php
I don't know how you [one] get the balance right. Kim's piece has created a storm, but I think this video is going to produce a tornado.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Why will it produce a tornado? Because it presents some of the unpleasant realities of autism?
ReplyDeleteI have advocated for effective evidence based health and education interventions for several years in New Brunswick Canada. Government fiscal constraints are always a major obstacle. So too has been the tendency of some to not want to deal with the realities of autism, to pretend that if we just hug our kids a little bit more (like we don't already hug them as it is) that everything will be fine.
There is a disturbing tendency to want to hide from the realities of autism. That is exactly why I chose my blogger ID name and the name of this blog site. Storm or tornado I am happy to see more parents speaking the truth about the realities of autism, particularly severe autism. After we are gone there will be no one to speak those truths on behalf of our children.
Best wishes and here is hoping for a storm free day for all. But hey, it the storm comes ... I say let it rage.
My daughters have beautiful eyes, much like your son Conor. Thank you for your kind words. I'm willing to take a licking and keep on ticking if it means raising awareness that will help my kids, your son and the kids of those who find me offensive. I can fend for myself. The kids can't.
ReplyDeleteYours in peace.
KS