| Autism in Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Matt Fuller [1] |
| Written by | Ira Heilveil [1] |
| Produced by | Matt Fuller, Carolina Groppa [1] |
| Edited by | Alex O'Flinn [1] |
| Music by | Mac Quayle [1] |
Release date |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Autism in Love is an American documentary film released in 2015. [1]
The film follows four autistic adults, Dave, Lindsey, Lenny, and Stephen, and explores the concepts of love, romance, and parental relationships. [2] Dave and Lindsey, who are both autistic, have been romantically involved for eight years. At the end of the film, they decide to get married. Lenny is a young adult who lives with his single mother. Stephen has been married for over 20 years. The film shows his struggles with his wife's terminal illness.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2015, [3] and was part of the PBS series Independent Lens in 2016. [4]
Huffington Post called the film "touching". [2] The Daily Beast called it "bracingly intimate" and said it "raises questions about love and life that strike a universal chord and have nothing to do with being on the [autism] spectrum." [3]
Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel and as Polly Samuel, was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and sculptor.
The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with the disability rights movement. It emphasizes the neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally occurring variations in human cognition, a disability with both strengths and weaknesses, rather than as a disease to be cured or a medical disorder. This paradigm contradicts and diverges from the medical model of disability, without opposing all aspects of it.
Autism: The Musical is an independent documentary film directed by Tricia Regan. In April 2007, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The film recounts six months of the lives of five children who are on the autism spectrum in Los Angeles, California as they write and rehearse for an original stage production.
Autistic art is artwork created by autistic artists that captures or conveys a variety of autistic experiences. According to a 2021 article in Cognitive Processing, autistic artists with improved linguistic and communication skills often show a greater degree of originality and attention to detail than their neurotypical counterparts, with a positive correlation between artistic talent and high linguistic functioning. Autistic art is often considered outsider art. Art by autistic artists has long been shown in separate venues from artists without disabilities. The works of some autistic artists have featured in art publications and documentaries and been exhibited in mainstream galleries. Although autistic artists seldom received formal art education in the past, recent inclusivity initiatives have made it easier for autistic artists to get a formal college education. The Aspergers/Autism Network's AANE Artist Collaborative is an example of an art organization for autistic adults.
Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps: the autism rights movement and the pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN advocates for the inclusion of autistic people in decisions that affect them, including: legislation, depiction in the media, and disability services.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or simply autism, is a neurodevelopmental disorder "characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts" and "restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities". Sensory abnormalities are also included in the diagnostic manuals. Common associated traits such as motor coordination impairment are typical of the condition but not required for diagnosis. A formal diagnosis requires that symptoms cause significant impairment in multiple functional domains; in addition, the symptoms must be atypical or excessive for the person's age and sociocultural context.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.
Autism-friendly means being aware of social engagement and environmental factors affecting Autistic people, with modifications to communication methods and physical space to better suit individuals' unique and special needs.
The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism is an autobiography attributed to Naoki Higashida, a largely nonspeaking autistic person from Japan. It was first published in Japan in 2007. The English translation, by Keiko Yoshida and her husband, English author David Mitchell, was published in 2013.
Lindsey Dryden is a British film director, producer and writer.
Exceptional Minds (EM) is an American computer animation studio and non-profit digital arts school. Established in 2011, it is the first animation studio and digital arts school for young autistic adults. It is located in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California.
William Davenport is a documentary filmmaker, musician, publisher, writer, teacher and autism activist. He is best known for his documentary films about autism, also for his work as the publisher of Unsound magazine, and as the founding member of the experimental/noise band Problemist.
How to Dance in Ohio is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Alexandra Shiva. The film follows a group of autistic young adults in Columbus, Ohio preparing for their first spring formal. With guidance from their group counselor, Dr. Emilio Amigo, the group spends 12 weeks practicing their social skills in preparation for the dance. HBO Documentary Films acquired television rights to the film eleven days before its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The film premiered on HBO on October 26, 2015. Three young women are the main subjects of the documentary.
Kristen Stills is an American producer and autism awareness activist. She is wife of American musician and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. An autism awareness activist, Stills has hosted and promoted several events supporting organizations such as Autism Speaks. In 2008, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special for her program Autism: The Musical.
Loving Lampposts is a 2010 documentary film directed by Todd Drezner, exploring the neurodiversity movement and the principle of autism acceptance through a series of interviews and candid footage. Drezner is the father of an autistic child whose attachment to and fascination with lampposts gave the film its title.
Love on the Spectrum is an Australian reality television show that follows people on the autism spectrum as they explore the dating world. The show is produced by Northern Pictures for ABC TV, and was made available to stream on ABC iview and Netflix.
Current research indicates that autistic people have higher rates of LGBTQ identities and feelings than the general population. A variety of explanations for the increased prevalence of LGBTQ identities have been proposed, such as prenatal hormonal exposure, which has been linked with sexual orientation, gender dysphoria and autism. Alternatively, autistic people may be less reliant on social norms and thus are more open about their orientation or gender identity. A narrative review published in 2016 stated that while various hypotheses have been proposed for an association between autism and gender dysphoria, they lack strong evidence.