How to Diversify Autism Representation in the Media and Why Intersectionality Matters
HIGHLIGHTS
• Autism is a complex spectrum that includes a variety of symptoms, and no two autistic individuals exhibit the same ones.
• White children are 110% more likely to be identified with autism than Black children and 120% more likely than Hispanic children.
• Transgender and gender-diverse individuals experience higher rates of autism in comparison to their cisgender counterparts.
Growing up as an autistic individual has been difficult for many reasons, most of which stem from my interactions with other people. One memorable instance occurred during a speech therapy session I had in middle school. Although I was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the age of 2 and had numerous records indicating so, my then-speech therapist insisted that there was no way I could be autistic. Why? Because I did well in school. This was not an isolated incident though: to this day, I find that many people, including professionals, are surprisingly ignorant about autistic people who deviate from the typical white male savant. I, for instance, am a woman who isn’t a savant and was able to make friends and find love.
Unfortunately, autistic people like me are not represented often in the media, where many people develop their understanding of the autistic experience. While most autistic characters are portrayed as white male geniuses (like Rain Man and The Good Doctor), the fact is, autism is exponentially more complex and diverse than what we see on-screen.
In fact, a study done in 2018 on media portrayals of ASD found that around 46% of the autistic characters on-screen had savant abilities, yet only 10% of autistic people possess these skills in real life. In reality, autism is a complex spectrum that includes a variety of symptoms, and no two autistic individuals exhibit the same ones. Further, the autistic narrative excludes many important aspects of life, such as experiences with dating and romance. Perhaps most disappointing, though, is the sheer lack of intersectionality with media representations of ASD, especially with regard to gender and race.
Connections with Gender and Sexuality
Autism affects individuals of all genders and sexualities, yet most media portrayals reinforce the aforementioned stereotypes. In an article highlighting the experiences women have with ASD, it was noted that women are expected to act “normal” while living with ASD. For instance, young women are expected to complete their studies, behave like their neurotypical peers, and pick up social cues all without supplemental aid. This can lead them to camouflage behaviors (i.e., mimic neurotypical individuals to act “normal”), ultimately delaying the proper diagnosis and treatment they need. While their male counterparts quickly receive assistance and ASD identification, women feel out of place due to society providing cis men a space to “act out”, allowing neurodirvergence to be seen rather than ignored. Furthermore, one 2020 study found that transgender and gender-diverse individuals experience higher rates of autism in comparison to their cisgender counterparts. Although there are many women and LGBTQ+ individuals on the autistic spectrum, in the rare instances where autistic relationships appear on-screen, they are almost always shown from the male, heterosexual perspective.
Fortunately, there have been recent increases in shows and movies about autism’s intersection with gender and sexuality. Atypical explores an autistic boy’s difficulties with dating and coming of age, and Love on the Spectrum includes queer representation. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay includes one female character navigating her experiences with ASD and the dating world, a role played by an actor who actually has ASD, Kayla Cromer. However, these few stories cannot capture everyone’s experiences with ASD. While Atypical discusses how to navigate romance, it once again follows the narrative of a white, cisgender, male character. Similarly, Love on the Spectrum and Everything’s Gonna Be Okay mainly consisted of a white, cisgender cast. So, while the media continues to include more women and LGBTQ+ people with autism, there must also be a push for more nuanced representations with race.
Connections with Race
According to a 2018 community report on autism, white children are 110% more likely to be identified with autism than Black children and 120% more likely than Hispanic children. Many factors influence this occurrence, such as socioeconomic status and even cultural differences. To protect against discrimination, for example, African American families often emphasize independence and self-reliance in their children; if misinterpreted by family or health care providers, these characteristics could lead to a delayed diagnosis of autism. Furthermore, these diagnostic delays can often stem from healthcare provider bias, which could then lead to doctors misinterpreting symptoms and misdiagnosing patients from underrepresented groups. And due to stigma surrounding disability in some ethnic communities, some families may struggle to reach any diagnosis or may not even accept the presence of autism. As a result, many autistic children of color do not receive the proper treatment and support they need compared to white autistic children. Further, low-income communities of color tend to watch the most TV in the US, making it more likely that these individuals will encounter the redundant portrayal of white autistic characters.
Stories featuring autistic people of color may decrease late diagnosis in these communities by reducing stigma and depicting what autism truly looks like. One great example is Pixar’s short film “Loop,” whose main character is a nonverbal, autistic girl of color. The short has been praised by the ASD community and provides a great foundation for future representations of autistic people of color. Diversifying autism in the media can help eliminate misconceptions that prevent people of color from receiving the proper identification they need.
Conclusion
Increasing autism representation in the media would be invaluable for autistic viewers, especially autistic youth. As you may expect, autistic youth tend to experience more bullying than their neurotypical peers and may face additional bullying for other aspects of their identity such as race and sexuality. It doesn’t help that the media illustrates autistic characters as unappealing or unwanted. By including a wide array of autism representation in the media, autistic youth of all ages, races, genders, and sexualities may feel better represented and understood.
Actionable Insights
Show the diversity within the autistic community by including characters of varying race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexuality.
Directly involve more autistic people in content creation: cast more individuals on the spectrum, recruit more autistic people behind the scenes, and consult the autistic community often.
Highlight varying issues that different populations have while growing up and living with ASD, like an autistic woman’s struggle with diagnosis or person of color’s experience with cultural stigma around disability.
This article is written from the perspective of:
B.A. Psychology, Research Assistant at Developmental Transitions Laboratory
Co-authors:
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B.A. Psychology, Research Assistant at Developmental Transitions Laboratory
B.A. Psychology, Research Assistant at Developmental Transitions Laboratory
B.A. Psychology, Research Assistant at Developmental Transitions Laboratory
Don’t Just Listen! The Social Benefits of Active Music-Making for Children
I’m a professor, but I’m also a parent. So, the long months of the pandemic have found me spending every Thursday teaching nine children from Pre-K to 2nd grade in my home, with my spouse as my fearless co-teacher. We are both lifelong musicians – the guitar-toting, songwriting, traveling kind – and when we started our remote school co-op with four other families, we knew music would be a big part of our day. What we didn’t realize was that it would become so central to so many aspects of our teaching approach. We began by sourcing a handful of affordable ukuleles, adding a few extra tambourines to our bucket of percussion instruments, and off we went. At first, we scheduled dedicated music time around math and reading and science, but we quickly discovered that no subject was beyond the reach of our voices, our guitars, our bodies, and the children’s rapidly evolving rhyming capabilities! We have found ourselves co-creating silly songs about snails and trees, exploring the physics of sound using electric guitars and banjos, and practicing greetings in Spanish over two chords on the ukulele. Music has come to infuse almost everything we do with these kids, but here’s the key: they have to be actively making the music – not just listening. Singing, swaying, marching, making up words, beating a drum – these are all examples of what researchers call “active music-making.” And more and more research is confirming that using active music-making with young children in a group setting offers unique social benefits.
As a social scientist, I am interested in how making music with other people can help bring us together. A 2010 study conducted with preschool-age children showed that when kids participated in active music-making that involved singing and dancing together, they exhibited increased helping and cooperation with peers when compared to a group in a control condition without musical elements. I recently published a study extending this work to unfamiliar adults; preschool-age children who participated in a singing and movement activity were more helpful and willing to share with a new adult than children in a non-musical condition. Why would that be? Well, the children in the musical condition in our study spent more of their time looking at their partners. They also made more attempts to move together, and moving together in synchrony has been shown to increase sharing and cooperation in preschool-age children. Dr. Miriam Lense and Dr. Stephen Camarata from Vanderbilt University have proposed that active music-making offers a convergence of qualities that make it ideal for encouraging social interaction. It requires shared attention between participants, it is predictable, and it is easily and naturally integrated into play for many young children. Because it is fun for most kids, it is also naturally reinforcing. Dr. Lense and I recently collaborated on a study showing preliminary results of a parent-child music class involving children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder, and many participating parents emphasized that making music with their child over the course of the program strengthened their parent-child bond outside of the class. A picture begins to emerge: actively engaging with music through singing and movement connects us to one another.
So, the question becomes, how can we – as a community of scholars and storytellers creating content for preschool and elementary school children – make use of this information in meaningful ways? First, preschool and early elementary content with musical elements should be intentional about eliciting active musical engagement from children during and after viewing. One way to do this is to build on familiar and accessible melodies and rhythms; Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood has done this brilliantly, recycling melodies while tying lyrics to everyday contexts in which children can sing the tunes themselves. Research suggests that engaging deeply with music requires children to allocate their limited attention and processing ability to unfamiliar elements; thus, using familiar tunes and varying only the lyrics is a worthy approach if lyrical content is significant. Interactive apps with embedded recording features like OK Play offer a great blueprint for eliciting joint music-making from parents and children. Content creators can also incorporate opportunities for musical improvisation, a special category of active music-making. Children’s efforts at musical improvisation may sound messy to skilled adult musicians, but emerging work shows that musical improvisation may help consolidate memory following a learning activity. The take-home message is that even though active music-making may look like pure entertainment, there is measurable benefit to kids and families singing and moving together.
Actionable Insights
Don’t underestimate the value of musical segments in preschool and elementary children’s media! Musical bits that are memorable and relevant to children’s lives can be important building blocks for social interaction outside of viewing time.
When creating musical segments, consider using melodies repeatedly and pairing with new lyrical content, particularly if the lyrical content is intended to teach something.
Consider ways to elicit active musical engagement from the viewer both during and after viewing. Gross motor movements that are easy to follow – or even sign language elements – can engage children physically with the music-making experience.
Sara Beck, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology at Randolph College
Collaborator of The Center for Scholars and Storytellers
Additional References: