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EEarlier this year, the Southwark Playhouse in London announced the distribution of a new play, "All in a Row". It was immediately clear that it would not be a typical family drama. The play takes place the night before the social services separate a boy named Laurence from his family. Unlike the other three characters, Laurence, an 11-year-old autistic and sometimes aggressive girl, would be depicted in the portrait of a child-sized puppet.
When the play opened, a critic of The Guardian The newspaper awarded him four stars, saying that he had "warmth and truth". On Twitter and beyond, theater lovers have also proposed praise.
"It was quite believable. Gross. Honest, "wrote Sarah Ziegel, mother of four boys with autism and author of" A Guide for Parents to Address Autism, "on her blog. Ziegel wrote that puppetry was an effective substitute for a role that would have been too difficult for any child actor. She applauded the playwright, Alex Oates, for her severe autism treatment: "It's not pretty and it's certainly not fashionable in these times of neurodiversity where everyone is supposed to accept autism." as a difference and not a handicap.
Elsewhere, however, people have been outraged. Even before the opening night, more than 12,000 people signed a petition calling the theater to cancel the show. They explain that using a puppet to portray Laurence "dehumanizes children with autism" and promotes "widespread misconceptions that we lack feelings and empathy." They also criticized the play for emphasizing the parents' experience rather than Laurence's.
These critics have adopted the hashtag "#puppetgate"To spread the word on Twitter; many included another hashtag, #ActuellementAutistique, widely used by the people of the spectrum. For several weeks, the barbed tweets flew backwards. One side rejected #puppetgate, insisting that autistic people be confronted with more than urgent concerns, such as one shortage of programs and services for adults and potentially life-threatening encounters with law enforcement; the other said that this view perpetuates the false notion of autism as a tragedy that destroys families.
The reaction took Oates by surprise. He wrote the script based on his years of experience as a social worker for a child with severe autism. He had also solicited the participation of people from all walks of life and the parents of the child who had inspired the story. In his opinion, supporting parents and encouraging conversations is the best way to support children with severe autism. As for the puppet, it seemed to him more sensitive to use a "creative medium" than to ask an actor to mimic the situation. "I am really sorry for the harm that someone has felt," he said. Spectrum. "I am particularly sorry if this piece adds to a cleavage between autistics and neurotypics with children with severe autism."
Oates' play, despite all the controversy it has provoked, is just one example of this deep fracture within the autism community: battles like this are raging all over the world. days on Twitter and other social media. On one side, parents of autistic children with serious traits – including intellectual disability, limited language ability and self-destructive acts – who say that autism is a disease that requires treatment. Julie Greenan, who lives in New York and has five children with autism spanning the spectrum, is frustrated with what she sees as public support for people with autism who need little support to cope with the disease . "Where is the publicity of my child who suffers every day?" She says. "I really think that there is a population that is not represented by the movement of neurodiversity."
On the other hand, advocates of "neurodiversity" argue that the disease represents a neurological difference and a disability – a problem that society should accept and accommodate rather than trying to prevent or cure. "Although I am happy to cure my anxiety, I do not want to cure my autism because I believe it's an important part of myself and something that deserves to be celebrated," Lilo says. , an autistic student who uses gender neutral pronouns. be identified by this name for security reasons.
This struggle between the two camps has sometimes been harsh, with the former camp calling neurodiversity advocates privileged and naive, and the latter claiming that parents are "capable-ist" and abandoning their autistic children. Over the past two decades, as the spectrum has expanded to include people with milder traits, this struggle has turned into a total warfare that takes place on social media , on the Internet and at community meetings.
Both sides argue good arguments, but the animosity is only detrimental, say many experts frustrated by the situation.
"I see a lot of positive things about the neurodiversity movement, including fighting for what parents of children with autism want: getting society accepted and getting accommodation for them," says Manuel Casanova, professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Carolina. But the strongest voices in the neurodiversity camp are causing "upheaval" by insisting on a strict interpretation of autism and the needs of people with autism, he said.
"They see the world in black and white and you are with them or against them," says Casanova. And if these opinions ultimately influence public opinion, "it could end up hurting research and providing services to the people who need it the most."
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