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What is it like to be born into a world that seems like it wasn’t quite made for you – to feel, perhaps, as if you’re tuned to a slightly different frequency than everyone else? Produced for the UK’s Channel 4 in 1991, director Tim Webb’s award-winning short A Is for Autism immerses viewers in the minds and drawings of several autistic people as they discuss their interests, dislikes, sensory experiences and the challenges of being different. The collaborative project includes a free-flowing animation based on the sketches of several autistic children alongside the perspectives of autistic people of varying ages, including the US animal behaviouralist and autism rights advocate Temple Grandin. Using sound, music and live action alongside the charming animations to evoke the sensory experiences of its narrators, the film draws out the similarities in their lived experience, as well as the vast diversity among individual autistic people. Created before the major strides in autism awareness and research of the past few decades, Webb’s film was widely celebrated at the time of its release for its original aesthetic as well as for centring its autistic contributors.
Director: Tim Webb
Producer: Dick Arnall
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Stories and literature
Robert Frost’s poetic reflection on youth, as read in his unforgettable baritone
5 minutes
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Sex and sexuality
After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation
14 minutes
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Language and linguistics
Closed captions suck. Here’s one artist’s inventive project to make them better
8 minutes
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Anthropology
Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?
4 minutes
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Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
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Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
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Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes