The brief was to select a ‘disability’ or condition and to research it thoroughly and investigate ways to communicate to the general public the difficulties of living with it. I chose autism.
After lots of research, I came across the concept of Autism Acceptance, as opposed to Autism Awareness. Acceptance is about understanding the spectrum and teaching that everyone with autism is different.
The campaign is based on the phrase ‘I AM ….’, creating a personal and real campaign. The main problem I found with current campaigns is that they weren’t made by autistic people and lacked a personal quality.
I chose to do this project for personal reasons, as my brother and cousin both have autism and I wanted to do something which I felt strongly about.
I interviewed many different autistic people of different ages, from children to adults - all of which were on different levels of the autistic spectrum.
The main form of the the campaign is through the TV advert, but backed up with additional material
1) Website - allows users to upload their own videos based on the TV adverts. This creates a sense of pride in the autistic community. Also educates people about the traits of autism.
2) Print adverts
3) Educational card game - The card game is based on the ‘Triad of Impairments’, the device used to explain autism.
The aim is to learn to recognise the different traits of autism, by placing a card under a certain impairment.
4) Tshirts - Tshirt design involving interactivity.
The idea is that lots of t-shirts with
‘I am [ ]’ are released.
Then people would write in a permanent pen something they are good at
5) Stickers - Stuck in public places, around bedrooms. Reaffirms the campaign’s message.