Attitude TV

Attitude TV is a New Zealand-based television series that can also be watched on the internet. Attitude TV is very much in line with the “nothing about us without us” movement, with outspoken “presenters” or reporters who have disabilities. All three reporters use wheelchairs, but pointedly do not let it stop them from using traditional journalistic shots, for example, establishing scenes that show the reporter entering a building. These kinds of scenes necessarily make the wheelchairs obvious, yet this TV series is all about attitude – and the attitude is just not centered on the wheelchairs themselves, but the fact that these reporters can do the same things as other reporters.

Attitude TV is made up of short episodes featuring individuals in New Zealand with disabilities. Individuals and their families typically discuss their lives in New Zealand – whether their ordinary daily activities or their individual and unique feats. Sometimes the episodes are themed, like several on athletics or the transition from high school to university for adults with disabilities. These episodes are very news-oriented in style, which streamlines the series and denotes it a sense of credibility.

Much of Attitude TV speaks for itself, with the clear intention of giving the representations of disability a make-over. In their own words:

“We want to show all our viewers that people with disabilities:

• Are movers and shakers.
• Are elite athletes.
• Are entrepreneurs.
• Have a social conscience.
• Have a political voice.
• Make a vital contribution to society.
• Love, laugh and lead amazing lives. "

Link - http://www.disabilitytv.com/

"Talk"

“Talk” is a short film that shows two days in the life of a young executive businessman, and the events that cause him to change his views on people with disabilities. At the opening of the film, he dismissed individuals with disabilities as a social and financial drain, but when he wakes up the next day, he quickly learns what it is like to be stigmatized. The young man has entered a world in which disability is the norm, and because of his able-bodiedness, he is treated callously and not taken seriously. Later, he feels romantic rejection as a beautiful young woman in a wheel chair explains, “It’s not that I don’t like you…”

Only when the young man wins his date over does this episode end, and he ‘wakes up’ in the business meeting from the beginning of the film. When the new disability bill comes up again, the young executive pauses before saying he doesn’t want to discuss it.

For a ten-minute film, “Talk” says a lot! It illustrates the difficulty of living in an often hostile world that is not always tailored to one’s needs. The film is unique in its method of showing the viewer these things; the viewer is not told these things through dialogue or narrative. Witty and succinct, “Talk” doesn’t try to show an audience how it feels to have a disability, but rather changes what it means to have the stigma of a label.

The title “Talk” has quite a bit of weight. The film opens with a lot of jabbering in a business meeting. Everyone is talking at once about a new disability bill that has been passed, and they are not pleased about it. It is interesting how this is portrayed in an instant as babble. Furthermore, throughout the film, the young man is spoken to frequently, and always like an unfortunate thing. Even phrases like, “How brave of you,” are really just babble, impeding true communication; no one listens to what the young man says in the second reality.

At the end of the film, back in this reality, the young executive has changed his mind. When asked his opinion on the bill, he says he doesn’t want to talk about it. This is an odd move by the film makers. It almost seems like a warning against babbling about or to individuals with disabilities. Or perhaps the scene, along with the title, is supposed to encourage the counterpart of ‘talk,’ which is to ‘listen.’

Nightline: “'Underdiagnosed' Girls With Autism Struggle to Fit In”

Kaeda Sakai is an eight year-old girl with autism. Through her story, ABC’s Nightline program explores the issue of under diagnosed girls with autism. These girls face difficulties unknown to the average child and misunderstood by the average adult. Unlike their male peers, their symptoms are often explained away as simply being a part of what makes them female. They are “drama queens” or just socially inept when really they show signs of a much greater problem. By remaining undiagnosed, they miss the opportunity to receive the assistance that could help make their lives both easier and more enjoyable. This story tries to understand what makes “girl autism” so different, and how this affects the diagnosis of the girls and young women who live with it every day.

As a young woman, it is not hard for me to relate to difficulties that come with trying to decode the social workings of young girls. They are a group that can be both welcoming and off-putting at the same time, and they require acute attention to social cues and interactions. For a girl with autism not wired to interpret these cues, the effects must be socially devastating. For a young man to be anti-social might be seen as atypical but acceptable; for a young woman, it is unheard of. These young girls with autism are automatically at such a disadvantage with their peers that it must be devastating. A diagnosis could lead to some treatment and an understanding that could only help. On the other side, would the stigma of being a girl with autism only cause more trouble or other issues?

This video discusses the idea that many girls go undiagnosed because they are taught the social skills necessary to pass the diagnostic examinations. They are so developed in this area that only highly trained professionals can really recognize the signs of autism. Is this a form of passing even in young children? Are they taught at such a young age what is acceptable and not that they can hide their disability long enough to remain undiagnosed?

While it is not plausible to think that an eight year-old girl would purposefully try to fool anyone so that she could avoid being diagnosed, it is plausible to think that she has been trained to please adults and so she would try her hardest to do so. Kaeda’s case is special because her parents already had two autistic sons and were therefore better prepared to look for signs of autism in her; the average parent does not have the background knowledge needed to recognize the signs of such higher-functioning forms of autism.

Overall, I believe this article served its purpose. It managed to explain through one benchmark case just why young girls are underdiagnosed with autism. It did not try to understand why girls and boys behave differently with autism or the nature of autism at all. It even acknowledged that it did not answer the question of the difference between “girl autism” and “boy autism.” By doing so, the story was able to focus on what it really wanted to explain, and to tell the story well. The human aspect of this story was what counted, not the science behind it or anything else.