All My Children Negatively Shows Autism

In Missouri, autism rates have increased over 850 percent since 1991. In California, 26,000 young individuals receive treatment for autism. In 1993, it was 5,000. In fact, one out of every child born is born with some form of autism. For every five boys diagnosed with autism, one girl is diagnosed. Autism has been recognized as an epidemic in this country. ABC has found a way to capitalize on autism and have created a character on their daytime television show, All My Children. At first, hopes were high that this character would represent the struggles of autism both individually and for caregivers of autistic children. Unfortunately, ABC has taken autism and produced an ugly stereotype of what it means to be autistic and the behaviors of autistic children. I guess we should have expected more, since this is daytime television and it is known for its outrageous storylines. However, it has taken one of the most serious issues facing children today and turned it into an offensive cartoon. On April 24, 2005, All My Children aired a Cure Autism Now Public Service Announcement. However, airing a PSA does not leave All My Children without responsibility in portraying autism. And this is what they have. The autistic character, Lily Montgomery is played my Leven Rambin. In the April 25, 2005 episode of All My Children, we viewed Lily rocking back and forth and counting, being taunted by other children, getting into a physical confrontation with another, and talking about seeing red. Although these can be behaviors of autistic children, it has done with such over-acting and inappropriateness that is nothing but offensive. What damage does this do? It’s just a soap opera, right? Wrong. If I knew nothing about autism and I watched this show, my impression of autism would be much different than what the reality is. I would view autism with fear. The character is portrayed as someone with absolutely no coping skills, no social skills, and unable to control rages. The character is portrayed as violent. The character is portrayed as cognitively slow. In reality, many autistic children, by the age of high school, have learned coping mechanisms to help them in social situations. Many autistic children have learned how to interact socially thanks to professional intervention and therapies. Many autistic children have learned how to control rages. And many, many autistic children are incredibly intelligent, despite being autistic. I should know. I am raising two autistic children. A bigger issue is the treatment of special needs children in mainstream classes. In the same episode, the “principal” of the imaginary school makes a comment about Lily being a special needs child and how someone who was defending her was simply not helping her because of her special needs. This brings to question an argument that has been fought in many schools across this country. Should special needs children are isolated from mainstream students? With negative stereotypes like this, the answer could automatically be yes. Some feel that special needs children are violent and a danger to their children because they are unaware of the issues these children face. Others believe that special needs automatically equates being intellectually inferior and would create a classroom that would not challenge their children. Truth is, special needs children are no different than you and I. There are just areas were they need more help. I am really ashamed of ABC and the portrayal they have created of Autism. ABC, owned by a company known for its dedication to children, Disney, has done a great disservice to autistic children and adults everywhere. They have created a character that will only increase the general public’s ignorance and have generalized a very complex disorder that over 4 million Americans will live with if diagnosis rate continues in the future at the rate it is today. And this is the same channel that produces SuperNanny and hosts the Wonderful World of Disney? Please! For more information on autism, please visit the Autistic Society at http://www.Autism-society.org