Let's Discuss the Expected Controversy Surrounding Jason Katims' Dramedy Series 'As We See It'

Jan. 27 2022, Published 6:43 p.m. ET

Any series, ebook, or film highlighting sensitive issues like id, psychological illness, or developmental disorders, as an example, calls for a mild hand. Authentic representation and storytelling are important for a venture to be received well through nit-picky critics and its vulnerable target audience. When it comes to Jason Katims' new Amazon Prime dramedy sequence As We See It — which makes a speciality of the lives of three adults on the autism spectrum — it was created with the utmost care, as realism and validity were primary priorities.

While much of the cast — including lead actors Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, and Sue Ann Pien — in addition to several of the writers and editors, are if truth be told neurodivergent (one thing that was once quite important to Jason), that does not essentially equate to well-crafted, truthful storytelling. In a situation reminiscent of this, art should imitate lifestyles, and the refined nuances between stigmatized truth and generalized fiction have the energy to spark controversy.

As expected, As We See It opened up a dialog regarding the portrayal of autistic lives in entertainment — which is one thing we've observed before with presentations like Atypical and The Good Doctor. Though As We See It has earned a surprising ninety two p.c on Rotten Tomatoes, some other folks — especially autistic other folks — have mixed opinions about the collection.

What's the controversy surrounding 'As We See It'?

While the collection is receiving a lot reward from other folks from all walks of existence, there are others who're slamming the show for its connection to the notorious group Autism Speaks.

"While I was writing the script, I reached out to other people that I knew personally; we shared it with organizations like Autism Speaks to get their feedback," Jason Katims (author of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood) told the LA Times.

Though it's certainly one of the greatest organizations dedicated to advocacy for autistic people, Autism Speaks most certainly gets the maximum backlash from the autistic community itself. One of the primary criticisms of the organization is that it treats autism like a tragedy, a dream-killer, as though it's a malicious presence. Portraying autistic folks like they're burdens is inherently fallacious.

Repeatedly deeming autism an "epidemic," Autism Speaks previously stated that it set out to "cure" autism, till after all doing away with the word from its mission statement in 2016.

An eerie 2009 Autism Speaks ad titled "I Am Autism" still haunts the group. It featured a threatening personified model of autism spectrum disorder. The unsettling voice presented itself as "I am Autism...I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined." It went directly to make statements similar to "if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails" and "you're scared, and you should be." (Bafflingly, the video was directed by means of four-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, who has an autistic son himself.)

While it's transparent that Autism Speaks attempted the entirety they might to clean the video from the web, you'll nearly always rely on anyone to upload a grainy version to YouTube. There's no solution to appropriately describe how truly implausible the video is, so you'll be able to simply must watch it for yourself. (You can also read a transcript supplied by the Autism Self Advocacy Network.)

Beyond the advert, Autism Speaks supports the controversial Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) remedy — which, in a sense, targets to train people with autism to be "normal" (no matter that suggests). Overall, Autism Speaks has let down the autistic community for a few years. No one needs to be handled like a science challenge.

Many autistic other people spoke out about the problems displayed in 'As We See It' by way of Twitter.

In reaction to Jason Katims coming near Autism Speaks for comments on his script, Sarah Stanton — an autistic, disabled writer and recommend — took to Twitter to percentage her thoughts. "Don't watch this show. My dude went to a hate group for feedback instead of #ActuallyAutistic people. #AsWeSeeIt, my arse," she tweeted.

Mx. Charis Hill — any other autistic, disabled writer and advocate — additionally bashed the sequence after viewing it and attending a panel. "The actors are great. The show is a trope. The panel was ableist," they tweeted. They left the panel after 10 mins of anger and discomfort.

"I had ABA [applied behavior analysis] vibes within the 1st minute of watching," they endured in a thread. "It was too accurate, literally, regarding the allistic perspective. It wasn't a script. It was real life. Many allistics will love it. Autistic people will just stim anxiously, as I did the whole time."

For those who do not know, an allistic individual is merely a non-autistic individual. Seemingly, the critique is that the show does now not serve autistic people.

But there are others, proudly on the spectrum, who warmly noticed themselves in the characters. Autistic writer Elly Belle tweeted about how badly they would like "non-autistic people AND autistic people to watch [the show] and laugh, cry, feel."

"It’s the first piece of media I’ve seen that gets autism right," the enthusiastic tweet continued.

Google person Deborah Eberhard, who is admittedly not on the spectrum, adored the sequence for other personal causes. "As a mother and guardian, this show was the most realistic portrayal I’ve ever seen in a series," she wrote. "I laughed and cried as I saw so many of our very own life moments acted out on screen."

All things thought to be, perhaps it's time an actually autistic individual create a tv display about autistic other people.

All eight episodes of As We See It are recently to be had to move on Amazon Prime Video.

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