Chloe T

My Exhibition is about autism and how autistic people may experience discrimination in modern day society. Autism is a spectrum disorder (ASD) and there is no cure for it. Autism is a social and communication disorder. Kids with autism are going to be adults with autism but with the right support, they can be active members of our society.

I am passionate about autism because my cousin is autistic and I am very close to him. I was very curious about what the disorder was and what could be done to help him as he struggles a lot with everyday life, especially noise.

I have learnt that people with ASD may have some shared traits. They may have difficulties in speech and language, they may have repetitive behaviour like lining up objects or doing a puzzle and then redoing it once its done, repetitive body movements, the need for sameness, lack of interaction, restricted diet, minimal eye contact, sensitive to sound, touch, smell, colour, temperature and pain. I have also learnt that some people with autism are very creative and talented and are able to do amazing things.

My aim for this project is to raise awareness about ASD. In our society, we have learnt to assist those who have disabilities for example: ramps and wider corridors for wheelchair users, braille books for the blind or traffic lights that beep for the blind. However, as autism is not something that you can see, we must try and help people with autism cope with the difficulties they have like autism cinema or autism friendly shopping time.

My exhibition is about teaching people that autism is nothing to be scared of. By changing some of our attitudes and behaviors we can help autistic people become valuable members of our society.