Autism and the Media

There is a lot of information on the motion picture scene that is swirling around the topic of autism and other mental health issues this week.

First, the organization supporting individuals with autism, Autism Speaks, is protesting the movie “Tropical Thunder” starring Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. The film, by DreamWorks, is about an actor who is playing the part of a soldier, but had previously had the role of an individual who had a mental disability. The character with the disability had been called Simple Jack, and the movie not only made light of that, but put labels on individuals dealing with these problems.

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