MTV’s ‘True Life’ Focuses On Autism
By Sherri
March 14, 2007
Autism is a silent epidemic that has many children and families suffering alone. With an estimated 1 in 150 people now being diagnosed with the neurological disorder, the silence can no longer be tolerated.Thanks to the efforts of autism awareness, fundraising and research supporting agencies like Autism Speaks, the condition is starting to get the mainstream recognition it desperately needs to increase demands for research and treatment.
But as strong as the educational effort has been, many still know very little about this condition.
Enter MTV.
The network is focusing some of its attention on showing what it’s like to live with autism. The condition has many different presentations. Symptoms can range from very mild to severe, which is why patients are said to fall on a spectrum. Autism is characterized by communication impairments, rigid routines and repetitive behaviors.
“True Life: I Have Autism” will feature three teenagers that fall on different parts of the spectrum. The first person point of view show will feature Elijah, Jeremy and Jonathan as they tell their stories. Viewers will learn about an aspiring comedian, an artist and a teen that just wants a regular birthday party.
The episode debuts March 18 at 9 p.m. EST. It’s my hope it will make it in its entirety on the MTV.com site as it could be a real eye-opener for those who are unaware of autism and the demands it puts on not only those who suffer from the condition, but also their families.
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Labels: autism, mtv, mtv.com, true life
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15 Comments on MTV’s ‘True Life’ Focuses On Autism
The depiction of Jeremy was really awful. It was obvious the "LightWriter" was a joke. In most scenes his mother, or worse a paid aid, was clearly directing his finger to a particular letter. Jeremy had no idea what was being typed. Very sad.
I think that your comment was pathetic. Maybe he had a little help, but I really think that those were his main thoughts. You have no idea what these kids go through. They are trapped in their heads, like they are stuck on a deserted island, looking out at the rest of the world. I believe that he loved every minute of the party and the attention. Who cares if his mom helps? Your sad.
You are very sad. My little brother has Autism, and is COMPLETELY aware of whats going on around him. So what if she directed him to some of the letters, they get off track and have to be redirected all the time. The depiction of Jeremy was wonderful. Exactly how a "typical" autistic child is. Youre a sad individual. Do you even KNOW anyone autistic?
Actually, the LightWriter is a real device and was not a joke. I researched it myself and found it to be very intresting. The brain is so complex and it was indeed very possible for Jermey to think real thoughts in his mind, but not able to communicate them or express his feelings through words. The LightWriter is also programmed so when the person using it types a couple of letters to form a word, it automatically froms the word for you. So what of Jermey may have needed a little help to use the LightWriter? I still feel as though he enjoyed his part very much so. I find Autism amazing and would like to learn more about it.
No, the first poster is correct. This is a form of "facilitated communication," which has been discredited in multiple past studies. The "facilitator" actually does all the work, unconsciously; it is the equivalent of a ouija board. Besides the fact that she is clearly directing his "typing," it makes no sense from a neurological standpoint that he would be capable of the level of vocabulary that he was supposedly using. It is sad and misguided, and only making the mother feel better...
How does it make no sense neurologically that an autistic person would have sophisticated language?
Autism from the inside out
People need to study autism, FC, neurology, intelligence, etc., before DARING to assume and presume they know of what they speak. I am a former FC user who became an independent typist after 3 years of being facilitated. I went from being considered profoundly retarded, severely autistic and unable to learn to having my IQ test at a genius level, having an Associate degree and a dual Bachelor's degree from an esteemed university (with honors), being a published author and composer and in-demand presenter at conferences and colleges. I just also happen to USE the augmentative communication device known as the Lightwriter and can assure you it is not only a very valid and accepted device but also a very expensive piece of equipment. So, please do some research and keep an open mind or you fail to give people who most deserve and need it the benefit of the doubt.
Actually I use a lightwriter and
a computer and a lap top - it is
the main way that I communicate,
although I do have a vast vocabulary, I have never been
able to hold a conversation. I am
merely able to speak the occasional sentence. I was labelled "autistic", "retarded",
"learning disabled" as a child. I
was sixteen years of age before
I began to type. I spent the
first sixteen years of my life
drowning in fear that I would
never be able to communicate.
I have spent the last fourteen
years proving that I can. I left
segregated education at the age
of nineteen having been denied
an equal education and studied
at a pre-university level. I have typed
both independently and also assisted typing, in that I needed
that support to steady my hand
which has a tremor due to cerebral
palsy. At the age of fourteen I
was stated to be intelligent but
low functioning. Well I proved
all of the so called "experts"
wrong. My English Literature
Lecturer stated I was the brightest student he had ever
taught. So perhaps someone
could enlighten me as to why
this social injustice continues
towards children under the
umbrella of disability who are
denied equal right and an
equal education, and the right
to communicate.
I am a speech-language pathologist and have taught dozens of individuals to communicate through assisted typing. Unfortunately, because of a lack of understanding of autism in general, and assisted typing and how it works, many people decide it looks like the assistant is doing the communication, and they write it off as invalid. Many who need assistance initially learn to type independently. Then they can tell us if people were pushing their hands around when they were assisted! If people would take the time to observe this kind of communication carefully, and see how it improves the quality of life immeasurably, they would have a different opinion. Most critics know almost nothing about the method. As some of my students said, "Open your mind!"
I could barely stand watching the segments with Jeremy; I even had to fast forward through it. I kept waiting for MTV to put up some text that the use of the Lightwriter and other assisted communicative devices for people with this level of impairment was *highly* controversial and largely discredited in scientific studies (except for a few anecdotal cases) but it never happened.
It was heartbreaking how it was so obviously the mother (and through her, his friends and "peers" ...like Jeremy would call them "peers") who was finding light and hope with the assisted device. His hand waving in the air and looking off in the distance while his mother or his aide unconsciously aiming the device to produce long involved sentences... gad I kept tearing up.
As study after study has shown, the person giving the assistance is not conciously aware they are helping in any way, so don't come down hard on the mom or the assistant. For more info into both sides of the controversy, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_communication
Studies have actually proven that children who type with supported typing (fc)are valid. However I am afraid that because we
live in a world with people who
have one rule for children/people with the label of autism and another for themselves, the studies have been largely ignored and the goal posts moved to the
detriment of the children who had the potential to communicate on equal terms. Perhaps people should try to define the meaning of the word equality. And then apply it to children under the label of autism. The results might shock you to the core.
Perhaps the person who posted the comment "only making the mother feel better" would like to come and make that comment to the faces of the countless mothers who have supported their children through the trauma of special education and then discovered that their children are able to communicate through the written word and are not only equal to their peers in education but having in fact been denied equal educations, have had to work ten times as hard to obtain their degrees. The question is not one of whether fc is valid, there is no doubt, the question is whether anyone has the right to deny a child the opportunity to communicate. Do not give your
sympathy, give the children what they deserve as a social right an equal education and equal opportunites.
hello, my child is a child that needs assistance with communication. people need to understand that periphereal vision is used often in my daughters case even if she does not use her hands she makes choices using her eyes in a side long glance it may appear at times as if she's looking away. people need to hear the stories and websites of people who are now independant users. One CNN documentary for one "Autism is A World" and the book "Autism and The Myth of a Person Alone" is another. my child looks the same as jeremy and produced much of the same results with a facilitator who happens to be completely blind so how would the content have come from him i wonder? considering he couldn't see where she was at. they used a flat letterboard so there was no way he could sense where the buttons were at because there were no buttons. it was the simple alphabet on a laminated sheet of paper. so was her content the work of some miracle then? being that her aide was completely blind? think about that for a moment before you dissmiss essential for some people to communicate. thanks for the others for their favorable posts. my child is 10 and i worry about things when she gets older for one thing people who stupidly think people would enjoy talking to themselves. LOL, for one thing if the content was from me i'de actually think we'de agree more on things and not have to argue things over so much!!!!for one thing bungee jumping is simply not happening regardless of how much she asks about it. LOL!
I don't believe in facilitated communication. I've seen double-blind experiments showing no conclusive evidence of success. In the study the Facilitator was shown one picture then the child was shown another, every single time the word that was typed out was the one the facilitator saw. Not one time did the child type out what their were seeing. It was only when the facilitator knew what was being shown would the correct answer be typed out. It's too bad it doesn't work cause many people put a lot of hope in it.
It's sad to see facilitated communication still being done. It was shown to be a hoax many years ago, saying it's largely discredited in the scientific community is an understatement. It doesn't surprise me to see confused or wishful people on an internet message board who don't have their facts straight, but the producers should at least get a clue.