Essay on Autism: Autism and family

Submitted By maninthesky
Words: 1300
Pages: 6

Autism is a relatively new disease that many parents don’t know how to deal with or possibly even know about. The powerful advertisement above shows what can happen if a child with autism is not given the proper therapy. The author utilizes the text in a creative way. We start by easily reading the words “The longer a child.” Of course children hold a special place in our hearts, so those first few words bring us in. But as the words go further down the wall, the smaller they become. We read the rest of the long sentence to discover how distant the little girl with autism is from her family. It is worth noting that the lighting is the same on both sides of the table, but is dark in the middle. This could signify that the daughter is in fact part of the table, but is separated by darkness. Most autism commercials that I have seen have dealt with the importance of diagnosing autism early. Many have displayed the signs of autism such as “preoccupation with objects, and lack of eye contact.” Autism ads also use the term “1 in 88” very frequently, meaning that one of 88 kids has the disease, a number higher than most parents would imagine. The idea and image is simple but powerful, and probably didn’t take many people to create. Computer animation was a necessary tool, to go along with a designer to make the lighting and furniture seem like a normal kitchen. Above all, the author(s) are familiar with the potential devastating consequences of leaving an autistic child to fend for itself. This ad can show people who are not familiar with autism what effects it has on the child. She cannot even eat dinner with her family and hold a normal conversation. In addition, the viewer will see a regular family having dinner: a mother, a father, and a daughter. Everything seems perfect, but the father glances down the long table to see their other daughter. This could symbolize the daughter acting out because she was never taught how to cope with her disease. The mother is preoccupied by her daughter. This is not unlike a normal situation, where the healthy child takes most of the attention. The camera is in position to let the audience see the whole kitchen and down the long table in which the autistic child is located at the end of. The picture is so emotional to us because of how emotionless it is to the child. The father obviously shows a form of despair that his own daughter is “lost” and that he could have prevented it. The daughters face is stone cold. She stares right back at her family which she can’t really be a part of. It is a scary image, which will help young parents realize the importance of diagnosing a child with autism. I have a very close relationship with a child with autism. Peyton is my 12 year old cousin who I am extremely close to. From an early age, Peyton showed mild but classic signs of autism. He was fascinated by animals and insects. He would play games on the computer all day if he could have, and had trouble being social towards others. When he was 6, he was given a test. The test revealed that Peyton had Aspergers, a form of autism. We were very lucky that Peyton lives in a beautiful home with a loving family to help him every step of the way. At school, Peyton stays with a specialist that helps him throughout the day. She guides him through situations that might be difficult for him to handle. He is also one of the smartest kids in his grade. The last time I asked him what he wanted to do for a profession, he told me he wanted to be an archeologist, which fits his love of dinosaurs perfectly. Peyton is the most innocent, pure person that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I have never heard him tell a lie, which is unheard of for a boy his age. I have never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. He is extremely compassionate towards his younger brother, Mason. Much more than anyone his age would be, even when they fight. When I think of the perfect person that God would want us to be, I think of