TMS 8th Grade Unit 3 Assessment

Instructions: Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. Do your best!

The author of this text, Sandra Thom-Jones is the Vice Chancellor of Research and Impact at a uni versity in Australia.

Text #1:

TikTok is teaching the world about autism – but is it empowering autistic people or pigeonholing them?

by Sandra Thom-Jones

1 A quick look at some TikTok stats shows more than 38,000 posts under the hashtag #Autism, with more than 200 million views. The hashtag #ActuallyAutistic (which is used in the autism community to highlight content created by, and not about, autistic people) has more than 20,000 posts and 40 million views.

2 TikTok is one of the world’s leading social platforms, and has exploded in popularity at a time when other social media megaliths have struggled. It has become an important channel for expression for its young usership – and this has included giving autistic people a voice and community. It’s a good start. In some ways TikTok has helped drive discussions around autism forward, and shift outsiders’ perspectives. But for real progress, we have to ensure “swipe up” environments aren’t the only spaces where autistic people are welcomed.

When autism met TikTok

3 TikTok has given many autistic people a much-needed platform to speak about autism in creative ways. Some users such as Paige Layle and Nicole Parish have more than 2 million followers. The opportunity to dispel myths and share the diversity of autistic experiences has not been squandered.

4 Some of the positives for autistic users include opportunities to:

∙ connect with others who are similar to us, and feel less isolated and alone

∙ educate people about some of the lesser known or misunderstood aspects of autism, such as stimming (self-stimulatory behavior including repetitive or unusual body movement or noises) ∙ share our passions and interests with others (#SpecialInterest) and

∙ raise awareness of the prevalence of and different presentation of autism in females (#AutisticGirl).

5 However, as with all forms of social media, we should exercise caution before labeling TikTok as the solution to autism exclusion.

The other side of it

6 The most obvious risk is cyberbullying. Many of us will remember the disturbing fad of “faking autism” videos on TikTok. Examples of this included non-autistic people stimming to music (pretending to be autistic), to make people laugh, or because they thought it made them seem cute or quirky. Turning the autistic experience into a “meme” downplays both our challenges and our strengths. It’s hard to describe just how hurtful it is to see your identity used as a joke to entertain others.

7 Related to this is the posting of videos of autistic people by others without their consent. Whether this is playground bullies tormenting an autistic person, strangers in a shopping centre filming a “naughty kid”, or a parent having a bad day with their autistic child – these videos can be used, re used and misused by others.

8 Moderation by TikTok is an additional concern. In 2019, Netzpolitik.org reported TikTok had policies for moderators to suppress certain content by users they thought were “susceptible to harassment or cyberbullying based on their physical or mental condition”. This included users with “facial disfig urement”, “autism” and “Down syndrome”. A TikTok spokesperson said this was a “blunt and tem porary policy” made “in response to an increase in bullying on the app”.

9 Is the best solution to bullying to silence the voices of potential victims, rather than the bullies?

Algorithmic influence

10 TikTok’s algorithm is highly curated to individual users. The app decides what videos to show a user based on: their previous interactions including which videos they watch, like and favorite; video in formation (such as captions and hashtags); and their device and account settings. This means users will likely see their own perspectives and beliefs reflected back to them. Autistic people may begin to believe this is the only reality that exists, leading to the creation of a “false reality”.

11 On TikTok, autistic people see an idyllic world where everyone understands and embraces autism. We forget that outside our “echo chamber” there is a world of people living in their own echo cham bers. If we want to see genuine improvement, we have to make autism acceptance and inclusion a priority across public life. We could start by including more autistic voices in TV shows, movies, books and news, as well as more representation in leadership teams and among policy makers.