by Melissa Teodorovic
The trailer for the movie 21 Jump Street was recently released, and even though some moments appeared to be funny, the laughs ended for many, when Ice Cube's character attempted to insult another by asking him if he was "autistic". The "joke" has upset many parents of children with autism, as well as many adults on the spectrum. Some have expressed that they fear it will potentially make way for others (especially young people) to think that it's acceptable to call someone "autistic" in order to insult their intelligence.
Have the awareness efforts of advocates made autism and autistic such household words, that they will have to fight not only for services, equality, and acceptance, but also for the prevention of carelessly demeaning what it means to be autistic? Or will they simply have to accept it, and move on?
According to the CDC 1 in 110 children have an autism spectrum disorder. What the makers of "21 Jump Street" (the movie) have ignored, is that for every 1 child/ person diagnosed there are at least 2-5 people fighting for that person's acceptance in society. Currently, many of these people are spreading the word to boycott 21 Jump Street http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232829/ for using the word "autistic" as an insult.
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