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Media access and the autism spectrum
Transcript
6 April 2014
Roberta: Wednesday, April 2, was World Autism Awareness Day. Eliza Cussen from Media Access Australia is here to tell us about how audio description, usually reserved for people who are blind, is being used to help on the autism spectrum. Welcome, Eliza.
Eliza: Hi, Roberta.
Roberta: Now, what exactly is autism?
Eliza: Well, the clinical term these days is autism spectrum disorder, which encompasses people at all points along the scale. Prior to last year, I believe, it was separated out into Asperger's syndrome and autism. Now, we're kind of using an all-encompassing term for every disorder on the scale. There's no easy definition for ASD and so people who are diagnosed with it can exhibit a number of key traits which are used to diagnose it, which can be quite a complex process.
Roberta: I was just going to ask you that. What are the main characteristics of a person with autism?
Eliza: Well, there's a huge variety of ways that autism presents itself. I guess the key things to look out for are difficulty communicating either verbally or through gestures, so particularly in children. They might be nonverbal, so communicate in ways other than words, or they could have trouble communicating gestures, difficulty in interpreting cues, such as facial expressions or body language. Often people with autism will have repetitive behaviours or obsessions or particular routines they have to stick to. Of course, one of the, I guess, more obvious things is developmental delays in infancy. So if you see infants not interacting the way the other children do, not coming to adults for affection, not getting those developmental steps in language, those would be the things to look out for.
Roberta: How can audio description help?
Eliza: Audio description particularly helps in the interpretation of language and nonverbal language. Someone on the autism spectrum might not be able to associate a frown with a feeling of sadness, for instance, but an audio track, which gives information such as, "Simon put the glass down angrily," takes out that guesswork. So instead of someone having to match up all those nonverbal signs with an emotion, the emotion is just stated, so it takes out a step.
Roberta: Eliza, what else can be done to help media be more enjoyable for them?
Eliza: Well, we've seen a lot of work being done recently in theatres with many, even in Australia, offering autism-friendly performances. So people with autism or who are on the autism spectrum can often have limited attention spans, so trouble focusing. They can often experience kind of sensory overload if there's just too much stimulation going on in the environment. So the performance can be made autism-friendly by reducing special effects or loud noises, having a quite space outside the theatre where people can go and retreat to if they're feeling overwhelmed and by providing things like fidget toys or textured mats that people can play with. It seems like a contradiction but I actually have Tourette's syndrome, a mild form of it. That's why I'm not swearing at you right now, Roberta.
Roberta: Oh, right.
Eliza: Yeah, and I've noticed that I tic far less and it is easier to concentrate if I have something like a pen to fiddle with. So it's the same principle.
Roberta: I follow.
Eliza: It's allowing the body to find its focus while the brain concentrates on the performance.
Roberta: That's amazing, isn't it?
Eliza: It's fascinating.
Roberta: Eliza, where can people go for more information about all of this?
Eliza: The first port of call I'd recommend would be Autism Spectrum Australia and their website is www.autismspectrum.org.au. I know there are autism-friendly performance in New South Wales scheduled at the moment and there's a performance of The Lion King happening at The State Theatre, I believe, on 14 June and also an autism-friendly season going on at The Sydney Opera House. These are more often geared towards children but there's no reason adults can't attend as well.
Roberta: Of course, well, that's a great start. I hope that it will follow right through Australia on that one.
Eliza: Yeah, it's really catching on.
Roberta: For more information about where you can find audio description and other technologies that make media accessible, you can visit www.mediaaccess.org.au or call Eliza and the team on 02 9212 6242. Thank you, Eliza, for all of that today. That's really, really good progress there.
Eliza: OK, great.
Roberta: I've been speaking with Eliza Cussen from Media Access Australia. Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.