Vanish Supporting Autism Advert

[Tealsofa]

I don't normally watch terrestrial TV, but watching the voyage of the dawn treader on C4, and the advert for vanish keeps coming up.

It looks like a deep meaningful maybe a charity or awareness advert, and then it's "vanish" a cleaning product

My ds (autistic) was also wtf about it

The trouble is I don't think is going to promote acceptance snd tolerance of people with autism.people who don't have understanding of autism.
They are going to feel sorry for Lily who presumably has her own non autistic anxieties, and frustrations and feel sorry for her and think Ash is a brat that needs taking in hand.

I haven't read the whole thread, as I couldn't cope with some of the comments.
But yes, this advert (the full version) made me cry, it's our DD to a tee. We've been fighting for a diagnosis for years. I won't be buying Vanish, but I am very grateful for them highlighting autism in girls. Perhaps some HCPs might see this and learn too. The ignorance in the medical community is worse than the general public sometimes.
There are also stories of girls and young women getting other harmful health diagnoses when they have undiagnosed autism.
The actress in the advert is autistic.

@FrancescaContini on the basis of this alone they're an organisation I'd be quite happy to be allied to. And to be completely fair to them they produce effective stain removers. So maybe I will apply!

So you think we shouldnt portray people with autism on the TV in case ableist people think they just need to change their behaviour, and its just bad parenting?

Abelist people think that anyway, that shouldnt stop ND people from being portrayed in media

I cried when I watched it. Not because of my severe autistic daughter who is non verbal as that isn't relatable to our life in the advert . It was more me being the sibling in my family life when I was a child when my brother who is undiagnosed autistic was at home. Its funny/ironic I actually use vanish quite a lot my daughter smears a lot and gets its everywhere and I use vanish to try and help with that. I'm guessing showing autism in that way wouldn't be so pleasantly pleasing . I find with this particular issue. Its quite a hidden thing. Its awful to talk about it to others and it's as it isn't a pleasant thing I guess others wouldn't want to know about it anyways. Thankfully I have friends who have children who do same so we can get emotional support from each other.

The point I was trying to make and doing quite a bad job is there are behaviours that autistic children can do that can be really difficult or not spoken about due to nature and can be quite hidden to society in general . I'm not saying a advert would be appropriate at all I'm just mentioning the irony

This articulates perfectly so much of my life in a multiplex family with a whole range of ND presentations (including my own). I feel like the internet of autism is good at recognising the paradox of high sensitivity and high need for stimulation when it presents with in one individual; it’s a lot harder to think about honouring multiple people’s fluctuating and often conflicting sensory needs within one setting, whether that’s a home or a workplace or a school.

Ash is a real autistic young woman. And that's her real family and friends in the advert. By calling her a "brat" you are simply highlighting the kind of nasty prejudices faced by autistic people that this advert aims to tackle.

www.diversityinadvertising.co.uk/winner/vanish-me-my-autism-and-i/

Disappointing that in this entire thread, nobody has raised the issue that this advert is supported by/ supporting the charity ‘ambitious about autism’
A charity that supports and uses ABA therapy to treat autistic children in their schools badly. A charity that doesn’t want to change society’s views towards autism or build up schools that quietly nurture and support autistic needs, but spends its time making autistic children conform and be manipulated into behaving more NT. A charity that restrains children in its facilities. How disgusting.
I will never buy vanish products again now knowing that any penny might go to this charity.

The poster didnt call her a brat at all.

Same. I also think @fUNNYfACE36 is allowed to have an opinion, and I feel similarly. I am autistic, and think the ad portrayed Ash as causing issues without explanation. It showed her family seemingly having to put themselves out for her (radio off in car, sister told to shut up, subtitles on TV), making it look like they have to tread on eggshells around her. They likely don't, and will be used to supporting her by doing these things, and understanding that she might be snappy when overwhelmed (e.g. the noise in the car).

Video recordings & photographs are classed as personal data, do you believe consent can really be sought for this, if the footage is a real family, as claimed.

I see the fear and avoidance of familiar daily routines that appear to be perceived as (extremely) demanding and cause an emotional escalation to begin, triggering dysregulation, upset, repetitive behaviour, depiction of skin picking and self protective fear response reactions. Presumably full self harm & physical attacks on others couldn't be portrayed in a shit washing up product advert?!!!

GDPR doesn't apply to a recorded advert, yes there are plenty of safeguards and regulations around recording them. I highly suspect although its an actual family they didn't follow them around filming ffs.

I have an autistic teen DD. She saw it first and said 'omg it's me' - and it is. I then showed it to my teen DS as he is definitely the sibling shown in the ad. Ds has problems understanding how but of DDs issues is autism and how much is just 'her' - I think it was useful for him. A friend saw it and said 'we'll most of that is just like my teen DD (who is NT) - I saw it through different eyes as it was very similar to what we (DS and I ) live with every day.

I don't mind which product it's associated with - but I think it's brilliant for raising awareness. Even better that it's a real family.

I wish my DD could go into school with just a bit of the reluctance shown in the ad though - mine hasn't been in for 3 months and that has so many other repercussions- confidence in herself, low self esteem and huge amounts of stress. But if that's representative of their day to day then good for them for bringing it to a wider audience

My sincere apologies. I misread your post. I realize now you didn't call her a brat. Sorry 💐

Thank you for alerting me. I'd misread her post. I've apologized to them.

Not sure you understood my comment. Video/photos do constitute GDPR, as I said. Can a dysregulated young person really, truly give consent for this depiction....... for a fecking household cleaning product?!!! Can they really "act" out a meltdown. It's very exploitative and the family are lacking in legal advice in their media career based on their DC's disability and how it manifests.

The article linked earlier in the thread says the family acted it. It isn't a documentary! There was improvisation. I'm amazed at how well all the 'cast' acted. Including her real best friends at school. They've done a brilliant job.

I agree maybe there could have been a little more of a clear indication she was overwhelmed by the noise in the car etc. That an accumulation of all the triggers built up until she shutdown. Then when she's home she lets it all out. To me it was obvious, but then I live that everyday.

This thread has been a bit of an eye opener for me this morning. I am very much my dd's advocate and I'm a bit upset at some of the perceptions on here. One thing I still struggle with, is not getting overwhelmed and embarrassed during a meltdown or shutdown. My own issues that I'm working on. But listening to some of the perceptions of Ash's behaviour have been hard to hear. This is my biggest fear for my DD. That people think she is 'a brat ' at times or my own parenting is to blame. This has got more difficult the 'older she looks'. Lots of staring from strangers when she was running up and down the escalators bare foot the other day crying. My fault for not acting earlier to try and prevent the meltdown. What they hadn't seen is her competing in an international sporting event minutes before. They hadn't seen her coping with the noise and people, hanging on by a thread. Then something tipped her over the edge. She got to the semi finals 😊.

Those complaining about the link to the washing powder. I think it's a ligament link. Yes some ND DC don't like clothes washed. But equally, they'd want their clothes to be washed in the same detergent etc. My DD isn't too bothered by this unless she is struggling with something. Then she likes to wrap herself up with something familiar and very soft.

So why mention GDPR at all? And yes some people with autism will be more than capable of giving consent, some won't sure but its quite offensive to suggest no one with autism would be able to. Cripes. Also that's quite an accusation to suggest that her parents are exploring her or unaware of the legal ramifications. Would you prefer the part was given to someone who wasn't autistic and therefore was simply acting out and profiting from autism? Or perhaps never have any representation at all in advertising or the media? There are stringent controls around children performing.

I have two high functioning teen DD's and the advert was my eldest DD to even the hood pulled up to keep out the world .It made me cry .I worked as a team leader with challenging behaviour and autism .But when it is your own child it is a whole different ball game .Working fulltime and coping with meltdowns and trying to avoid triggers it is hard but i love them and i would not change them for the world .What does really upset me is when people have the oh they are just naughty attitude .The lack of knowledge of autism is still bad .

People with disabilities have agency. They can marry, have sex, be employed, appear in TV commercials - Of course they can. Pretty shocked at some of the attitudes here. And yes, some of them can actually act and even become successful actors. Mind-blowing isn't it? 🙄

@Floralsquirrel

Sorry, the quote system makes it look like I was replying to you, but the reply was to the post you were replying to...iyswim🤦‍♀️

Just watched it- my sister has severe autism- she insists on her clothing being washed everyday cannot be left at all. It's a good awareness promoting ad

Hi fellow multiplex! I like that term.

Yes, it seems many people jump on the bandwagon of 'adapting' = 'making more NT acceptable' and that's not true at all.

Also while this ad is about autism, on a wider scale there are other conditions with overlap (e.g. ADHD). And there are specific diagnoses that can be similar - e.g. general sensory issues with food, sound of autism vs AFRID, misophonia. There's really no 'catch-all' term that expresses a person's needs.

At the end of the day , in a philosophical way I think it all comes down to the increasing attempt to fit people into boxes. Everything around us is increasingly automated. You can't speak to a human in any form of customer service without going through a million forms. We have algorithms supposedly providing 'personalisation' but it's just classification on a deeper scale. Job interviews all have online tests, rubrics (which yes while enforcing a standard also allow many to fall afoul of them).

A slower pace, more individually geared way of life with the time and space to think, and personal connection would go a long way towards making life easier. Everyone would benefit, yes but especially ND people. Autism is very individualised in its presentation and that's the main thing that has to be gotten across.

Fucking hell.
I'd prefer people with ASD & their families were not exploited for the benefit of Proctor & Gamble, or whoever owns Vanish. Does the understanding of autism depend on capitalism?

I did not suggest "no one with autism would be able to" (give consent). Nor did I say "her parents are exploiting her". Of course there are stringent controls around children 'performing' BUT this girl & family have been talked into exploiting her needs by depicting her real life for an advert which will profit a massive brand as they can be seen as Autism allies now. Not only have her personal rights (GDPR) been advertised but the whole thing shows who she is, how vulnerable she is. If you can't or refuse to see the problem with this then it says alot about why this allegiance behaviour is so successful in the advertising/media world.

Let's have respectful, real education about real lives of families with autism and other disabilities, especially the non media friendly world of PDA.