AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me. Please click the link at the bottom of the page to read the full article).
The company’s 2017 Webby-nominated ad featured autism pseudoscience
As part of 2016’s Autism Acceptance Month, Apple released an uplifting video called Dillan’s Voice, in which a nonverbal teenager delivers a speech at his graduation, his text turning swiftly to spoken word through his iPad. Before he had the iPad, he says in the video’s voiceover, people thought he didn’t have a mind, that he wasn’t in control. We watch him going for a run as the sun rises, doing pull-ups at the gym, walking alone along a school corridor, his hands flapping, humming occasionally, but it’s a life lived mainly through silence. Then, we move to his middle school graduation ceremony as he steps confidently up to the podium, award medals around his neck. “We are the reality of our thinking lives,” he tells the audience, urging them to open their minds. We hear enthusiastic applause, resounding cheers, the video fades to the Apple logo.
“All my life I wanted so badly to connect with people, but they could not understand because I could not communicate. But now you can hear me,” a voiceover reads. “The iPad helps me see not only my words, but to hold onto my thoughts... No more isolation. I can finally speak with the people that love me.”
Dillan’s Voice features something called “assistive technology”: devices and systems that maintain, increase, or improve the functional capabilities of those with differences and disabilities — including voice recognition software, screen readers, adaptive keyboards, and eye tracking devices. Recent years have seen groundbreaking advances in the assistive technology sphere. Individuals are using iPads and third-party apps and devices to make themselves heard, from Sady Paulson directing and editing features using Switch Control on her Mac, to Charlie, aged six, saying “mommy” for the first time using Proloquo2Go on his iPad.
But there was something different about this Apple video: in it, the teen uses Rapid Prompting Method, or RPM, a form of communication that depends on a “facilitator” or “communication partner” standing close by, providing continuous physical and verbal cues. RPM has been labeled pseudoscientific, unethical, and inhumane. Michelle Dawson, an autistic researcher, called it “bad science and bad ethics.” The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) says that “RPM is a technique without any research support.”
Over the next year, Dillan’s Voice generated significant buzz. A single tweet about the video, which does not explicitly discuss RPM, generated over 230 million impressions. It has reached 4.4 million YouTube views. It was featured on the Today Show, highlighted by Mashable, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Metro UK, and shared across disability and autism blogs. The there was a follow-up video that also featured RPM, a nomination for a 2017 Webby Award and a series of other Accessibility videos.
This video had reach.
“It is regrettable that this pseudo-scientific method was featured in an Apple promotional video and received worldwide viewing,” says Howard Shane, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Autism Language Program and the Center for Communication Enhancement at Boston Children’s Hospital. He adds that it is not supported by research and that its underlying theory is “nonsensical.”
Full Article: Apple’s 2017 Webby-nominated ad featured autism pseudoscience
The company’s 2017 Webby-nominated ad featured autism pseudoscience
As part of 2016’s Autism Acceptance Month, Apple released an uplifting video called Dillan’s Voice, in which a nonverbal teenager delivers a speech at his graduation, his text turning swiftly to spoken word through his iPad. Before he had the iPad, he says in the video’s voiceover, people thought he didn’t have a mind, that he wasn’t in control. We watch him going for a run as the sun rises, doing pull-ups at the gym, walking alone along a school corridor, his hands flapping, humming occasionally, but it’s a life lived mainly through silence. Then, we move to his middle school graduation ceremony as he steps confidently up to the podium, award medals around his neck. “We are the reality of our thinking lives,” he tells the audience, urging them to open their minds. We hear enthusiastic applause, resounding cheers, the video fades to the Apple logo.
“All my life I wanted so badly to connect with people, but they could not understand because I could not communicate. But now you can hear me,” a voiceover reads. “The iPad helps me see not only my words, but to hold onto my thoughts... No more isolation. I can finally speak with the people that love me.”
Dillan’s Voice features something called “assistive technology”: devices and systems that maintain, increase, or improve the functional capabilities of those with differences and disabilities — including voice recognition software, screen readers, adaptive keyboards, and eye tracking devices. Recent years have seen groundbreaking advances in the assistive technology sphere. Individuals are using iPads and third-party apps and devices to make themselves heard, from Sady Paulson directing and editing features using Switch Control on her Mac, to Charlie, aged six, saying “mommy” for the first time using Proloquo2Go on his iPad.
But there was something different about this Apple video: in it, the teen uses Rapid Prompting Method, or RPM, a form of communication that depends on a “facilitator” or “communication partner” standing close by, providing continuous physical and verbal cues. RPM has been labeled pseudoscientific, unethical, and inhumane. Michelle Dawson, an autistic researcher, called it “bad science and bad ethics.” The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) says that “RPM is a technique without any research support.”
Over the next year, Dillan’s Voice generated significant buzz. A single tweet about the video, which does not explicitly discuss RPM, generated over 230 million impressions. It has reached 4.4 million YouTube views. It was featured on the Today Show, highlighted by Mashable, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Metro UK, and shared across disability and autism blogs. The there was a follow-up video that also featured RPM, a nomination for a 2017 Webby Award and a series of other Accessibility videos.
This video had reach.
“It is regrettable that this pseudo-scientific method was featured in an Apple promotional video and received worldwide viewing,” says Howard Shane, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Autism Language Program and the Center for Communication Enhancement at Boston Children’s Hospital. He adds that it is not supported by research and that its underlying theory is “nonsensical.”
Full Article: Apple’s 2017 Webby-nominated ad featured autism pseudoscience
