FA+
Shop
We can stop this together!
7 years ago
General
Okay so this is something I've seen going on in the world and I felt like I needed to make it known to at least a few people so we can do something about it. This is going to be a little bit long so if you could just read the first three paragraphs or something that would be good too:
There seems to be this idea that "autistic" means "left-brained". That the genetic condition heightens the analytical part of your brain and impairs the creative part. As someone who has been diagnosed myself and has spent a lot of time around other autistic people I think I can confidently say this is hogwash. And at first this seems like one of those things you can shrug off as harmless ignorance....
...But it's not harmless. Because it's starting to affect the mindsets of people on the spectrum. Some of whom I might add have amazing creative potential. A few examples: My friend knows a boy who refuses to draw, saying he's terrible at it, but when she asks him to write numbers he can draw beautiful intricate designs into them, because he doesn't think he's drawing, he thinks he's working with numbers. I also clicked on the No-RP group and one of the shouts said something along the lines of "I don't like to RP, mostly because I am autistic so can't imagine things well".
This shocked me. I have met so many creative people on the spectrum and now some people, simply because they are on the spectrum, have been convinced that they cannot be creative. I'll admit I'm not a neurologist so I can't say for a fact that it's impossible for autism to interfere with your creativity, I know from personal experience that it's not a defining symptom. It's not. Just because you are autistic does not mean you cannot be an artist or you will have trouble making art.
At the lowest points in my life my imagination and my art are the only things that have kept me going. Psychologists will tell you art and music whether making or indulging in it are essential to mental health. And we live in a time where growing up with autism often means you will be mentally abused by your peers who say "autistic" to mean "loser". At 10-12 I watched the anti-vax movement unfold killing so many children because as I saw it they would rather risk their children contracting deadly diseases than risk their kids becoming like me... it's impossible to describe how devastating that was to my sense of self-worth. I was at such a vulnerable age. So I turned to my drawing and my creative visualization and now I can do something productive that makes me happy and that (I like to think) makes others happy too.
But around me I see young people just like me who are saying "I am autistic, so I guess can't imagine or create". They give up, force themselves into other things like math, science, etc, they make things in Minecraft and the like and refuse to call it creativity... and from what I've seen they become bitter and spiteful people at war with society and the world. All of this could be avoided with the addition of creative pursuits into their lives. Art is a perfect, easily accessible way to treat anxiety, depression and other symptoms that often come with autism (because sometimes that's all autism is, not just social issues and math-fixation) and people are passing it up.
Apart from the blow this does to mental-health treatment, there's another problem: I said earlier, in giving up on creativity entirely artists with amazing potential are throwing away their talent, and the world will never see the amazing things they could've done. Imagine if they told JRR Tolkien he had a condition that made him unable to be a storyteller, and he believed them. Imagine if they told Michelangelo he couldn't paint or sculpt, and he believed them. What have we already lost because of this discouragement? What are we in danger of losing?
But here's the thing: we can put a stop to this. We need to work together, but we can change this image and see the creative branch of people on the autism spectrum flourish. Here's a few things to start out with:
1. Make Art
This goes for both autistic and non-autistic people. Draw, paint, sculpt, sew, cook, construct, carve, write poems and stories, sing, play an instrument, tell jokes, dance, act, arc-weld, cosplay and make any art you can. Especially the kind you feel a passion for. If you feel adventurous, try something that's a bit out of your comfort zone, something you haven't done before. I really want to see openly autistic people trying this and sharing their experience. If you are autistic and feel uncreative, please give it a shot, even if you think you'll fail. Non-autistic people too. Please share your art. Any art helps. The world needs more art. It's so important.
2. Don't Let People Tell You Who You Can And Cannot Be
Don't ever EVER let someone tell you that you cannot do something just because you are autistic. If you do have trouble do something, it doesn't mean you can't do it, and it DEFINITELY doesn't mean you SHOULDN'T do it. And if you happen to be autistic and genuinely leftbrained or uncreative (because it does happen) try not to blame it on your autism, because although not impossible it's very very unlikely the two are intrinsically connected. That said you should challenge yourself to make something at least twice before you give up.
3. Promote Creative Role-Models
Growing up with autism can be hard and as such we often need role-models to keep us going, people who have had similar struggles and come out on top. We are often given role-models such as Bill Gates, Temple Grandin (I actually met her!), Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs Isaac Newton. They are great role models, but they are all scientists and mathematicians, and that can create an imbalance. How often do we hear about Hans Christian Anderson, Lewis Carrol, Emily Dickinson, Michaelangelo (there he is again!) Tim Burton or Andy Warhol being autistic? Hardly ever. Use them as role-models for our youth instead of or in addition to the more traditional scientists. Tim Burton is my personal favorite among these, and in the movie Edward Scissorhands (which was largely based on his childhood) there are allusions to the difficulty of growing up labeled as special needs. OH - and it might be good to mention Dan Akyroyd or Jerry Seinfeld, because there's another hurtful misconception that autistic people have no sense of humor. That's not true and laughter is often the best medicine!
4. Change Representation
I have to be honest, I'm not really an expert on how to work with the media on representation in entertainment. I DO know however that we can do the same thing we have with LGBT representation in the media. This means on television, in movies, in books, maybe even in video games. Once upon a time many gay people were fooled by the media into thinking they weren't gay simply because they didn't match their portrayal (namely gay men as effeminate nit-picky interior-designers and lesbian women as blunt flannel-clad bikers). But that changed, and it's because of the general public. Now there are LGBT characters in shows like Brooklyn 99 and Steven Universe and... just look at what it's done to broaden people's general image of what an LGBT person looks like! But I digress. We need to do that with autistic characters. Right now we have Sheldon Cooper, the Rainman and that kid from The Dog In The Nighttime whose name I don't know. We need more colorful creative boisterous imaginative autistic characters in our media, whose difference comes in that they see the world differently. Also, we need to try and change the idea that savantism means you are good with numbers. There are all kinds of different savants. I know someone who is a musical savant. Again I'm not really sure how this kind of thing works but... write up NBC or FOX or something, or write something yourself! Whatever lets people see that autistic people are very diverse.
5. Encourage Others
If you see someone feeling discouraged from trying to be creative, tell them not to give up! Even with naturally talented people there's no success without struggle. You should see some of the stuff I drew in high school XP. Heck just post a tweet or something on FA or anywhere on social media saying "Just because you are autistic, don't be discouraged from using your imagination and creating something" As a matter of fact I often think my autism is what MAKES me so imaginative. And PLEASE if you're an autistic artist speak up for the rest of the community! It can be as simple as just posting something you made and mentioning you're on the spectrum. I know that can be hard to do considering the toxicity of internet culture towards autism and people on the spectrum, but even one voice speaking out would really help.
6. Tag Something #ArtisticSpectrum
Okay I may have overstepped my boundaries here :P but I would love to see this out there! (And I couldn't resist the pun!) I can't do it myself because my anxiety keeps me off of most social media but it'd be amazing if some brave soul did this on Facebook or Twitter. Who knows? It might even become a trend! Anything's possible...
Thank you so much for reading this and to anyone who read this all the way through, you have some serious dedication and I appreciate that. I hope we can work together to make the world a better place!
There seems to be this idea that "autistic" means "left-brained". That the genetic condition heightens the analytical part of your brain and impairs the creative part. As someone who has been diagnosed myself and has spent a lot of time around other autistic people I think I can confidently say this is hogwash. And at first this seems like one of those things you can shrug off as harmless ignorance....
...But it's not harmless. Because it's starting to affect the mindsets of people on the spectrum. Some of whom I might add have amazing creative potential. A few examples: My friend knows a boy who refuses to draw, saying he's terrible at it, but when she asks him to write numbers he can draw beautiful intricate designs into them, because he doesn't think he's drawing, he thinks he's working with numbers. I also clicked on the No-RP group and one of the shouts said something along the lines of "I don't like to RP, mostly because I am autistic so can't imagine things well".
This shocked me. I have met so many creative people on the spectrum and now some people, simply because they are on the spectrum, have been convinced that they cannot be creative. I'll admit I'm not a neurologist so I can't say for a fact that it's impossible for autism to interfere with your creativity, I know from personal experience that it's not a defining symptom. It's not. Just because you are autistic does not mean you cannot be an artist or you will have trouble making art.
At the lowest points in my life my imagination and my art are the only things that have kept me going. Psychologists will tell you art and music whether making or indulging in it are essential to mental health. And we live in a time where growing up with autism often means you will be mentally abused by your peers who say "autistic" to mean "loser". At 10-12 I watched the anti-vax movement unfold killing so many children because as I saw it they would rather risk their children contracting deadly diseases than risk their kids becoming like me... it's impossible to describe how devastating that was to my sense of self-worth. I was at such a vulnerable age. So I turned to my drawing and my creative visualization and now I can do something productive that makes me happy and that (I like to think) makes others happy too.
But around me I see young people just like me who are saying "I am autistic, so I guess can't imagine or create". They give up, force themselves into other things like math, science, etc, they make things in Minecraft and the like and refuse to call it creativity... and from what I've seen they become bitter and spiteful people at war with society and the world. All of this could be avoided with the addition of creative pursuits into their lives. Art is a perfect, easily accessible way to treat anxiety, depression and other symptoms that often come with autism (because sometimes that's all autism is, not just social issues and math-fixation) and people are passing it up.
Apart from the blow this does to mental-health treatment, there's another problem: I said earlier, in giving up on creativity entirely artists with amazing potential are throwing away their talent, and the world will never see the amazing things they could've done. Imagine if they told JRR Tolkien he had a condition that made him unable to be a storyteller, and he believed them. Imagine if they told Michelangelo he couldn't paint or sculpt, and he believed them. What have we already lost because of this discouragement? What are we in danger of losing?
But here's the thing: we can put a stop to this. We need to work together, but we can change this image and see the creative branch of people on the autism spectrum flourish. Here's a few things to start out with:
1. Make Art
This goes for both autistic and non-autistic people. Draw, paint, sculpt, sew, cook, construct, carve, write poems and stories, sing, play an instrument, tell jokes, dance, act, arc-weld, cosplay and make any art you can. Especially the kind you feel a passion for. If you feel adventurous, try something that's a bit out of your comfort zone, something you haven't done before. I really want to see openly autistic people trying this and sharing their experience. If you are autistic and feel uncreative, please give it a shot, even if you think you'll fail. Non-autistic people too. Please share your art. Any art helps. The world needs more art. It's so important.
2. Don't Let People Tell You Who You Can And Cannot Be
Don't ever EVER let someone tell you that you cannot do something just because you are autistic. If you do have trouble do something, it doesn't mean you can't do it, and it DEFINITELY doesn't mean you SHOULDN'T do it. And if you happen to be autistic and genuinely leftbrained or uncreative (because it does happen) try not to blame it on your autism, because although not impossible it's very very unlikely the two are intrinsically connected. That said you should challenge yourself to make something at least twice before you give up.
3. Promote Creative Role-Models
Growing up with autism can be hard and as such we often need role-models to keep us going, people who have had similar struggles and come out on top. We are often given role-models such as Bill Gates, Temple Grandin (I actually met her!), Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs Isaac Newton. They are great role models, but they are all scientists and mathematicians, and that can create an imbalance. How often do we hear about Hans Christian Anderson, Lewis Carrol, Emily Dickinson, Michaelangelo (there he is again!) Tim Burton or Andy Warhol being autistic? Hardly ever. Use them as role-models for our youth instead of or in addition to the more traditional scientists. Tim Burton is my personal favorite among these, and in the movie Edward Scissorhands (which was largely based on his childhood) there are allusions to the difficulty of growing up labeled as special needs. OH - and it might be good to mention Dan Akyroyd or Jerry Seinfeld, because there's another hurtful misconception that autistic people have no sense of humor. That's not true and laughter is often the best medicine!
4. Change Representation
I have to be honest, I'm not really an expert on how to work with the media on representation in entertainment. I DO know however that we can do the same thing we have with LGBT representation in the media. This means on television, in movies, in books, maybe even in video games. Once upon a time many gay people were fooled by the media into thinking they weren't gay simply because they didn't match their portrayal (namely gay men as effeminate nit-picky interior-designers and lesbian women as blunt flannel-clad bikers). But that changed, and it's because of the general public. Now there are LGBT characters in shows like Brooklyn 99 and Steven Universe and... just look at what it's done to broaden people's general image of what an LGBT person looks like! But I digress. We need to do that with autistic characters. Right now we have Sheldon Cooper, the Rainman and that kid from The Dog In The Nighttime whose name I don't know. We need more colorful creative boisterous imaginative autistic characters in our media, whose difference comes in that they see the world differently. Also, we need to try and change the idea that savantism means you are good with numbers. There are all kinds of different savants. I know someone who is a musical savant. Again I'm not really sure how this kind of thing works but... write up NBC or FOX or something, or write something yourself! Whatever lets people see that autistic people are very diverse.
5. Encourage Others
If you see someone feeling discouraged from trying to be creative, tell them not to give up! Even with naturally talented people there's no success without struggle. You should see some of the stuff I drew in high school XP. Heck just post a tweet or something on FA or anywhere on social media saying "Just because you are autistic, don't be discouraged from using your imagination and creating something" As a matter of fact I often think my autism is what MAKES me so imaginative. And PLEASE if you're an autistic artist speak up for the rest of the community! It can be as simple as just posting something you made and mentioning you're on the spectrum. I know that can be hard to do considering the toxicity of internet culture towards autism and people on the spectrum, but even one voice speaking out would really help.
6. Tag Something #ArtisticSpectrum
Okay I may have overstepped my boundaries here :P but I would love to see this out there! (And I couldn't resist the pun!) I can't do it myself because my anxiety keeps me off of most social media but it'd be amazing if some brave soul did this on Facebook or Twitter. Who knows? It might even become a trend! Anything's possible...
Thank you so much for reading this and to anyone who read this all the way through, you have some serious dedication and I appreciate that. I hope we can work together to make the world a better place!
I've tried my hand at drawing and writing and even a/v media...
Not with measurable success but I felt pleased with my effort nonetheless.
I highly doubt that it inherently "interferes" with our ability to be creative... Considering my own personal experience.
I get super into anything creative that I fancy. I once played a DnD character that was a "modified" kobold, and an escaped slave. I got so into writing her history and personality I ended up drawing her too lol.