By Fady Wassef
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of the population have moved a lot of their life online. One app that has been gaining incredible popularity is TikTok, which is a social media application where users can record video snippets that are then overlaid onto various song templates. Understandably this application has worked as a great outlet for stress relief as there is a broad range of hilarious to heartfelt content. A few weeks ago a new “challenge” went viral on the TikTok called the #AutismChallenge. The “challenge” consisted of various able-bodied individuals pretending to have a disability by mocking various behaviors, gestures, and facial expressions. The background music playing is, a heavily remixed version of, the Black Eyed Peas song “Let’s Get it Started in Here”; with the original words to the explicit version, which are “let’s get retarded in here.” Most if not all of the actions that are performed are inflated stereotypes, which are not even remotely representative of certain stimming behaviors that can be characteristic of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In my opinion, I see these videos as nothing but ridiculing and hurtful to the Disabled community, the Neurodiverse community, and most significantly the Autism community.
I high-key live under a rock when it comes to social media, therefore I heard about the #AutismChallenge through a friend at work. I immediately looked into it and when I saw the first video, my jaw dropped and I was dumbfounded. A few videos later my reaction had not changed. I was utterly shocked by how blatantly ignorant some of these people were being online. I really did not know if the people doing this were ignorant, knowingly ignorant, or had actual malicious intent. I felt deeply hurt and incredibly frustrated with the level of insensitivity in some of these videos. I know individuals and have friends with various disabilities, some functional and some neurological, and I have never seen any of them act remotely close to the incredibly thoughtless way they were being portrayed on TikTok. I see it as incredibly ignorant because of how off-base people are being with their imitations; additionally, those videos seemed to be made with no regard for how they would make individuals with Autism feel, as well as individuals in the greater Neurodiverse Community. Furthermore, I see the act of mocking, stereotyping, and exaggerating self-stimulating behaviors, facial expressions, and other gestures as absolutely prejudiced, and to me it shows the altered perception that these people have of the Neurodiverse Community. We are supposed to live in a diverse society; one that is accepting, understanding and respectful of all sorts of cultures and walks of life. Trends like these only function to take away from that ideal. In my time working for the DCP I’ve learned a lot about the Disabled Community and the Neurodiverse Community, and from my point of view creating these videos does nothing but attack individuals with Autism and undoubtedly creates a hostile and discriminatory environment.
In my research, I found various smaller sources stating that this challenge began or may have begun as a way of raising awareness for those individuals with Autism. However, there are much better ways of raising awareness for individuals with disabilities that have happened in the past. The #icebucketchallenge worked immensely well for Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) without being offensive or insensitive to members of that community. Additonally, I’ve heard the case for ignorance; because people may have associated the words “Let’s get retarded in here” with “lets get crazy in here (club, venue, whatever).” I can see that as well, but that is a highly outdated definition and that word isn’t necessarily expected to mean that in modern society, but is an offensive term referring to the neurodiverse community. Thus, no matter the intent, these videos seemed incredibly insensitive, offensive and prejudiced and generated a heated response from the Autism Community.
Since the release of these videos, there has been immense, but expected, push back from the neurodiverse community, including those with ASD. Many people have expressed their extreme frustration and anger at this challenge and the image it provides of their community. Individuals in response videos seem personally attacked and are speaking out to condemn the challenge. Additionally, many able-bodied TikTok users have also released similar videos, speaking out against the Autism challenge. Suffice it to say many are outraged (and they have every right to be) and it's good to know that some are pushing back against this hatred. Other individuals with Autism have expressed their desire to make this a learning moment for society and use it to spread awareness, marking a new Autism Challenge, started on The Positive Autism, youtube channel. The challenge is to talk to 3 people and tell them why it is wrong to make fun of people with disabilities. The Autism Society of America also responded to TikTok urging them to flag and remove the content and condemn the challenge stating; “Every individual, regardless of neuro-diversity, should be treated with dignity and respect...The Autism Society demands that TikTok takes the necessary action to end this offensive challenge, and apologize to the autism and disability communities for this shameful activity.” TikTok responded by removing the content and releasing a statement to "TODAY Parents" which reads: “This content does not reflect our values and is against the code of conduct outlined in our Community Guidelines. The hashtag in question has been removed and we will take action against any further content that violates our policies.”
Now more than ever it is incredibly important to be sensitive and accepting of all walks of life in our society, especially on our diverse, progressive campus. In general, making fun of a person or group of people, outwardly and openly, is one of the most offensive things someone can do. In this time of quarantine where tensions are already unbearably high we shouldn’t be attacking one another but doing just the opposite, working to bridge the divides. Life in quarantine has made the online world significantly more prevalent in our day to day lives and I could not imagine opening a computer or twitter right now and seeing countless videos fueled with hate, targeting me or my community. I would expect that to be absolutely terrible to say the least. I feel this intentional and blatent discrimination has no place in our current society and should be addressed with more seriousness. I also firmly hold the notion that there is no place for this kind of action and discrimination against members of the Neurodiverse Community or any other marginalized community. It is not in line with our Bruin values that are at the core of our campus community. I truly hope that members of the Neurodiverse Community are treated with more respect moving forward and hopefully more ignorant or unknowing able-bodied individuals will learn from this injustice.
Sources:
https://www.today.com/parents/tiktok-removes-autismchallenge-platform-amid-backlash-t182030
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tiktok-responds-autism-challenge-backlash-212625689.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w6ksH-VcGo