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Works Cited

"Autism Speaks World Autism Month". Autism Speaks, https://www.autismspeaks.org/?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=thd-as-22-11-ps-branded-conv&utm_content=evergreen&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwl6OiBhA2EiwAuUwWZZmF4oz92ODSjHUXs5hEa3OroNAPzU0pQAn4HClwFEFn-sXGqVh7zBoC-z4QAvD_. Accessed 1 May 2023.

Burkett, Catina. “'Autistic while black': How autism amplifies stereotypes | Spectrum.” Spectrum | Autism Research News, 21 January 2020, https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/autistic-while-black-how-autism-amplifies-stereotypes/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Carr, Sarah. “Black and Latino infants and toddlers often miss out on early therapies they need.” The Hechinger Report, 7 March 2023, https://hechingerreport.org/black-and-latino-infants-and-toddlers-often-miss-out-on-early-therapies-they-need/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Chung, Christina. Spectrum News, January 21, 2020, https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/autistic-while-black-how-autism-amplifies-stereotypes/. Accessed 1 May 2023.

“Disability in kids: Private special education school restraint records.” USA Today, 25 July 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/07/25/disability-special-education-private-school-restraint/4737971002/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Gagne, Michael. “Use of restraint, seclusion rose sharply in Meriden schools.” Record-Journal, 18 February 2023, https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/As-students-needs-increase-advocates-question-the-use-of-restraints-and-seclusions-in-classrooms-l.html. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Mariner, Bailey. "Verywell". Very Well mind, January 12, 2023, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-asperger-s-syndrome-5075606. Accessed 1 May 2023.

Rudy, Lisa Jo. “Tips to get the Most From Early Intervention for an Autistic Child.” Verywell Health, 30 August 2022, https://www.verywellhealth.com/make-the-most-of-early-intervention-for-your-autistic-child-5210439. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Smith, Tristram. "Outcome of early intervention for children with autism." Clinical Psychology: Science

and Practice 6.1 (1999): 33.

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Autism in The Black Community:
My name is Lauren Bessette and I am the curator of this project, Autism in The Black Community. I am a student at Trinity College who is taking Black Neurodiversity with Professor Paulin in the Spring of 2023. This course has helped me explore different ideas of what it means to be neurodivergent and what that looks like in the context of the Black community. My Padlet presentation is a collection of four images that exhibits the idealized representation of the Black autistic community versus the reality of the Black autistic community. These dual identities, race, and ability, present an interesting story, and through each image, that story shines through. Together the images represent three different aspects of being a part of the Black community while also having autism to help us understand reality versus the idealized representations that are seen in the media. The image on top of the pyramid exemplifies the idealized representation of the Black autistic community, while the other three images represent the true reality of these individuals' lives. Through this umbrella of images, I am trying to answer the question of what is the idealized representation of autistic individuals in the Black community versus the reality of the autistic Black community. My hope is that this Padlet allows anyone who views it to understand (to the best of their ability) what it's like to have a dual identity of being Black and autistic, and how that is represented in different aspects of the media versus the truth of reality.

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The Reality: Dual Identity of Being Black and Autistic

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The Reality: Dual Identity of Being Black and Autistic

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This cultural artifact is the cover image from an article called ‘Autistic while Black’: How autism amplifies stereotypes on a website called Spectrum News. I had come across this image as I was looking for articles to understand more about the dual identity of being Black and autistic. This image that I have chosen to exhibit autism in the Black community is extremely thought-provoking. The image was created by Christina Chung an illustrator whose work focuses on symbolism. This image is of a workplace and there is a focusing lens of a Black woman hard at work at her desk, while the rest of her coworkers are blurred and are colored in blue. Even though the Black woman is the focus, she is still blurred a bit. When I viewed this image, I understood it to be representative of the idea of the portrayal of Black autism and the true reality of Black autism. This cultural artifact is representative of the lens that Black and autistic individuals are under. They are under surveillance for being Black but also for being autistic. Their experience is not equal to the experience of white individuals with autism like the media portrays it. Fighting the stereotypes of being Black while also having to fight the stereotypes of being neurodivergent creates the ultimate unique experience that is not talked about. Chung allows a look into the surveillance of the Black autistic community through this image and it is important to recognize that this is closer to the reality of the Black autistic community.

Works Cited
Burkett, Catina. “'Autistic while black': How autism amplifies stereotypes | Spectrum.” Spectrum | Autism Research News, 21 January 2020, https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/autistic-while-black-how-autism-amplifies-stereotypes/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Chung, Christina. Spectrum News, January 21, 2020, https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/autistic-while-black-how-autism-amplifies-stereotypes/. Accessed 1 May 2023.

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The Reality: Early Intervention in The Black Community 

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The Reality: Early Intervention in The Black Community 

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This cultural artifact comes from the website Very Well Mind, and is the cover image for the article What is Asperger's Syndrome? This image is extremely important to understand another aspect of the Black autistic experience. Early intervention is critical for individuals with autism because it can better their outcomes later in life if it works, and research done by Smith, 1999 has found that individuals with autism who get early intervention make "major gains" after intervention (Smith, 1999). There are many kinds of early interventions that could include: applied behavioral analysis therapy, play therapy, occupational and sensory integration therapy, and speech therapy (Rudy, 2022). Although early intervention is an amazing tool to help young children with autism, Black and Latino children are often left out (Carr, 2023). This is important to understand when viewing this image. The image shows the idealized representation of Black autistic individuals. Choosing to use Black individuals in art and photos in articles about autism when they are not treated or cared for equally in reality. Black and autistic individuals are marginalized within the autistic community. Much research is done on white participants and many of the resources that are used to help individuals with autism are not available to Black families. These images help us understand that was is presented to us in the media is not always correct. We need to do a deeper dive to see the true reality of what it means to be autistic in the Black community.

Works Cited
Carr, Sarah. “Black and Latino infants and toddlers often miss out on early therapies they need.” The Hechinger Report, 7 March 2023, https://hechingerreport.org/black-and-latino-infants-and-toddlers-often-miss-out-on-early-therapies-they-need/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Mariner, Bailey. "Verywell". Very Well mind, January 12, 2023, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-asperger-s-syndrome-5075606. Accessed 1 May 2023.

Rudy, Lisa Jo. “Tips to get the Most From Early Intervention for an Autistic Child.” Verywell Health, 30 August 2022, https://www.verywellhealth.com/make-the-most-of-early-intervention-for-your-autistic-child-5210439. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Smith, Tristram. "Outcome of early intervention for children with autism." Clinical Psychology: Science

and Practice 6.1 (1999): 33.

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The Portrayal: How Is Autism Represented in The Media?

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The Portrayal: How Is Autism Represented in The Media?

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This visual artifact is from the Autism Speaks website for world autism month. The image is extremely interesting because it shows a wide range of individuals including different races, genders, abilities, and more. Autism Speaks used this image to portray a narrative of what autism could look like and who could be diagnosed with autism. Trying to create the narrative of inclusivity. The organization, using this image, is trying to share the idea that not one "type" of individual can have autism. Everyone, no matter gender, race, ability, or culture could have autism. I found that this narrative was an interesting one to put out into the media because of what the image holds. If you look closely at this image you can see that it is extremely gimmicky. There are pigs and lion-like creatures that are spread out within the image. This choice to include animals in the representation of autism was an interesting choice of the Autism Speaks organization because it invalidates the experience of individuals with autism, by putting individuals with autism on the same level as animals. This image exhibits the messages that the media is choosing to portray surrounding autism but does not truly represent individuals with autism. The Autism Speaks organization could have used real images of people with autism from around the world to portray the inclusivity that they wish to share on their website. I chose this image to be at the top of the pyramid of images to exemplify the portrayal of the autistic community, specifically the Black community, versus the true experience and reality of Black individuals with autism (in the later images).

Works Cited
"Autism Speaks World Autism Month". Autism Speaks, https://www.autismspeaks.org/?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=thd-as-22-11-ps-branded-conv&utm_content=evergreen&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwl6OiBhA2EiwAuUwWZZmF4oz92ODSjHUXs5hEa3OroNAPzU0pQAn4HClwFEFn-sXGqVh7zBoC-z4QAvD_. Accessed 1 May 2023.

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The Reality: Restraining Black Autistic Individuals in School

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The Reality: Restraining Black Autistic Individuals in School

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This cultural artifact is the image from the USA Today's article 'It hurts your bones': Private special ed schools can restrain kids with disabilities 1,000s of times. Parents might not know. This is an image of nine-year-old Shirley Profit, who is disabled, and was showing her mother the restraint that was used on her in school. The idea of restraint is extremely disturbing, especially with kids who do not have full autonomy, like individuals with autism or another disability. Not only is Shirley disabled but she is also Black. Her story, although extremely sad, is not uncommon. Across Connecticut there have been 23,511 reported incidents and 2,197 of those reported incidents were a student who was disabled (Gagne, 2023). This statistic along with this image of Shirley Profit exhibits another aspect of the Black autistic community. This cultural artifact reveals that the reality of these individuals is dangerous, unlike the portrayal of the idealized representation of autistic individuals who tend to be white and considered or labeled as "high functioning". Shirley represents an individual who lives with a disability while being Black and what that could mean for them in school and outside of school. Being Black puts you in danger in our society. Schools should be a safe place in this extremely messed up world, but it is clear that our schools are not the safe haven they should be. The reality of being a Black and autistic individual is scary and is a dual experience that we as a society need to learn more about.

Works Cited
“Disability in kids: Private special education school restraint records.” USA Today, 25 July 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/07/25/disability-special-education-private-school-restraint/4737971002/. Accessed 28 April 2023.

Gagne, Michael. “Use of restraint, seclusion rose sharply in Meriden schools.” Record-Journal, 18 February 2023, https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/As-students-needs-increase-advocates-question-the-use-of-restraints-and-seclusions-in-classrooms-l.html. Accessed 28 April 2023.