A colleague and I watched the video below from The Onion and thought it was hilarious. It features a reporter with autism reporting from the site of a train crash in which one person was killed. The reporter is completely focused on information about the train and is oblivious to the fact that his interview comes across as rude since he ignores the human drama of the situation.
We think this is funny because we know people with autism who might see something like this and have the same reaction, not recognizing that this is a story about people not a train. It's not that they would be behaving rudely on purpose; it's just that some people with autism have trouble recognizing emotion and responding in a manner that society deems as appropriate.
We didn't just blindly forward the video to other friends in the field. We actually took a minute to discuss who we could send this to and who might be insulted, which led me to thinking -- when is something about special education just funny and when does it cross the line to insulting?
Autistic Reporter: Train Thankfully Unharmed In Crash That Killed One Man
It is absolutely wonderful for people who work with or are acquainted with this population. However, for others who don't they'd think it crossed the line. Would be wonderful for career counselors to be aware of, however..something one wouldn't even think about!!
ReplyDeleteKim M.