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Thoughts about mental illness, disabilities, and the media…
I have a funny post in me about this, and it’s coming, but I thought I should write this post first. It’s been ruminating in my mind for a while. I have just been looking for the proper outlet for all the words I have about this.
This one is long. I have a lot to say about a lot of things!
For as educated as I am, and as open and willing to learn as I purport to be, I still allow media to inform me of things I don’t think I “need” to know about.
Many years ago, when my oldest was maybe 2 years old, PBS did a series on Autism. We were living in a remote area in Northern Wisconsin and only had PBS through the antenna at this point (we watched everything else online) and I was only watching it because it was on. The first one I watched was all about Aspergers.
You know how images stick in your mind? The opening scene of that documentary was a boy flying around his yard, “flapping his wings” like an airplane. My son did that. Exactly like that. But he was always a bird. I had always found it a bit odd, but chalked it up to just a kid thing. I perked up, watched intently, and waited on the edge of the bed. Very soon after the opening they went on to highlight more severe, and less “high functioning” cases and symptoms of Aspergers. In a way that was almost a disservice…
