MEDIA
The popular press, television and films have had an extremely powerful role in spreading awareness about autism in India, dating back to the mid-1990’s. AFA Team members are often asked by print and electronic media to share information about autism.
Print Media
Early newspaper articles in ‘The Times of India’, ‘The Hindu’ and other media outlets generated an outpouring of letters from families of children who had either not yet been diagnosed or who had been diagnosed but were isolated from other families.
Film
Videocassette od 'Rainman' came to India in the early 1990’s. One of the very first advocacy and awareness activities undertaken AFA involved inserting small slips of paper into the videotapes that let people know about autism and how to contact AFA for more information. AFA has also made available an awareness film on autism from South Asia, titled 'Autism: An Indian Perspective.'
Videocassette od 'Rainman' came to India in the early 1990’s. One of the very first advocacy and awareness activities undertaken AFA involved inserting small slips of paper into the videotapes that let people know about autism and how to contact AFA for more information. AFA has also made available an awareness film on autism from South Asia, titled 'Autism: An Indian Perspective.'
When Rainman was released in India it was extremely popular, and Bollywood followed suit some years after with the production of several films featuring characters with an ambiguous disability that some interpreted as having autism (e.g., 'Anjali', 1990; 'Apna Asman', 2003; 'Koi…Mil Gaya', 2003). Finally, in 2005, the film Main Aisa Hi Hoon, the Indian remake of I Am Sam, explicitly used the word autism.
So far the most well-known Indian film that has a character with ASD is Karan Johar’s 2010 film 'My Name is Khan', which focuses on the life of the protagonist, an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome, who emigrates from India to the U.S. post 9/11.
'Barfi' was released in 2012, which had a character with autism as the female lead. A ‘feel good’, romantic comedy, Barfi, was probably the first Indian movie that dealt with an autistic character with reasonably high support needs in the lead.
See also:
Autism in Indian Cinema: Cultural Representations of Disability, by Sudha Rai
NeuroPsyFi: The Brain Science Behind the Movies
Understanding Autism, by Farida Raj, The Times of India
Television
In addition to print and film, television is also an extremely powerful medium for spreading awareness about autism.
In June 2009, an Indian television network with viewership in more than 120 countries reaching 500 million viewers globally launched a nightly serial called 'Aap Ki Antara' (‘Your Antara’).
The plot centred around a five-year old girl with autism. Each episode concluded with a three minute ‘testimonial’ from a family member of a person with autism, followed by the number of a telephone helpline and website for AFA.
To demonstrate the dramatic impact that television can have on creating autism awareness, AFA documented the data on the calls received on the Aap Ki Antara national hotline information number and the website traffic prior to and after the launch of the show. Basic caller information was documented on all calls. To obtain in-depth information from callers, a five-week sample period was selected. During this time, additional information was recorded, including the location of the caller, relationship of the caller to someone with autism, the age and sex of the child of concern, the purpose of the call, whether the caller knew about autism prior to the serial, and nature of services the child was receiving.
* During the initial months of the hotline number being flashed, more than 50 calls per day were received. During the five-week sample period, the hotline averaged approximately 15 calls per day with a total of 336 calls documented.
* Geographically, calls were received from 25 states across India as well as from Indians from five other countries.
* Most calls (69%) were made by a parent; 18% were made by a relative including, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles. 35% of the callers had a child who already had a diagnosis of autism.
* In general, the callers largely indicated that they wanted information about autism-related services in their vicinity (48%), with an additional 28% of the callers wanting to know more about autism specifically and 8% asking about both. An unexpected number of callers had children identified with other conditions and requested information related to these issues. Of particular note, 65% of all callers reported that they heard and became aware about autism only through watching Aap Ki Antara.
* Data from the website traffic during the selected time period showed 7,781 visitors from 129 countries and territories. Compared to a five-week period prior to the onset of the show, this represents an increase of 35% of total visitors and 30% for first time visitors.
The data was presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), Philadelphia in May 2010.
Aap Ki Antara was the first prime-time drama in a developing country, and perhaps in any country, to focus on a character with autism. The calls to the national helpline number suggest the potential power of a prime-time show to impact upon the awareness of autism amongst the general population and particularly amongst families of children with disabilities.
see also:
Aap Ki Antara: The Impact of a Popular Indian Serial on Awareness of Autism
Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) 2010,
Aap Ki Antara site at Zee TV
Journey in the Life of an Indian (2014)
World Autism Awareness Day special on IBN Live (2012)
