ABSTRACT VIEW
AUTISM REPRESENTATIONS IN MEDIA. THE POWERFUL IMPACT OF AUTISM MEDIA REPRESENTATION ON THE EVERYDAY EPISTEMIC REALITY OF MARGINALISED AUTISTIC PEOPLE
S. Bauer-Zierfuß
University of Applied Arts Vienna (AUSTRIA)
Metastudies on autism find that media influences public perception and stigmatization of marginalised autistic people. Do autism media representations such as those in the Netflix series The Good Doctor contribute to the stigmatizing and epistemic oppression of autistic people? It needs to get scrutinised not only whether and how such representations harden stereotypes around autism that are ingrained in Nazi ideology, but also how said depictions of autistic characters may or may not contribute to epistemic injustice done to marginalised autistic people. Looking into the history of autism to see where stereotypes evolved from as well as a media analysis of the trailer to the first season of the Netflix series “The Good Doctor” may help to find answers to the prompted question.

Keywords: Autism, Stigmatization, Epistemic Injustice, Marginalisation, Media Representation, Oppression.