In speculative fiction—science fiction and fantasy—the question to ask is often: What if? Future times and round numbers are often points of fascination as writers look ahead to the many possibilities the future might hold. 2010 is a year that has been used in many stories to convey a near, but distant future in which great and remarkable changes have taken place in the world around us. Yet, now the year 2010 is here. The future is now.
I look back on the three decades of my life, and recognize that many fascinating changes have occurred. From the fiction of Star Trek’s communicators to the reality of cell phones, iPods, and Blackberrys. From the fictional black President that symbolized the end to racial prejudices and social injustices to the reality of President Obama lingers well beyond this symbolic happening.
What if? holds a desperate fascination for writers. Yet, an equally important question always follows it: How does this change cause more and different and worse problems? A story, by its nature, requires conflict. Humanity, by our nature, thrives in the face of and perpetuates conflict. A time of peace and justice, however much we may long for it, may forever be out of our reach. In Christian terms, man is fallen—imperfect and incapable of perfection. In scientific terms, man is an accident—just another animal, if a bit more able and adept than our fellow creatures. Neither vision promises much hope for a truly peaceful and just society here on Earth. As we progress and develop, both technologically and socially, we find that we do make improvements on how our lives are lived. We also find new ways to exert our destructive capacity on the world and its many inhabitants. Each step forward opens new possibilities for hope-filled brightness and misery-causing darkness. It is up to us to choose how we use the progress at our fingertips.
For me, the year 2010 will be a year of significant change. Within a few short months I will graduate with my baccalaureate in Business Administration. A little before or perhaps a little after that, I will launch my business writing business. I will also seek to further my writing career by preparing materials for my first nonfiction book. In the fall, I will start graduate school, seeking a certificate in Corporate Written Communications and following that with a graduate degree in Written Communications. There are many opportunities before me and much work to do to achieve my goals. Yet, as I start this year of opportunity, I cannot help but stop, breathe, and think that what I’d truly like for this year is something else entirely.
While the voices of people with autism, their families, and their friends have grown considerably louder and more influential over the last decade, there is still an imbalance in mainstream media representation. Organizations like Autism Speaks typically garner more mainstream media attention than organizations like The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. The word count, page space, and time allotted to the different perspectives on autism are unfairly distributed. From a public relations perspective this is deeply concerning. Yet, the truth is the voice of autistics and their allies have always been perceived as less significant and less worthy in the mainstream media. In the last decade, great progress has been made to push those boundaries and to spread this “alternate” view through media outlets. As I applaud this great accomplishment, still I find the reactions of the mainstream media inadequate in the face of the growing importance and long unrecognized significance of these voices.
Perhaps a perfect world, with justice enough for everyone, is beyond our reach. Perhaps the shining ideals I cling to are mere dreams that can never fully come to pass. But this much can happen: For 2010, it is my hope and my wish to see this distribution of media attention distributed more fairly and evenly, so the true nature of the autism community, with all its complexities, is represented for the public to see, to read, and to hear. Let the people decide for themselves what is right and good and true. It is for this end that I intend to work, using my skills to achieve a greater space in the mainstream media for these “alternate” and underrepresented voices.
