OK, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, everybody. Welcome. My name is John Hamry. We're delighted to have you here. Ishii Gesang, thank you for being our partner. We were just talking before we came out. This is the ninth conference that we've held, annual conference with Jettro. And we've greatly appreciated it. And of course, it's a very, very different landscape today than the earlier days, when there was a great deal of uncertainty about where Japan was heading. Just over the weekend, of course, we all saw the data that Japan's economy grew, I think, 7% or 8% in the first quarter. It's booming over there. And of course, it feels like that when you go to Japan now. There's a buoyancy in the air that is just everybody is walking a little taller and smiles. And it's really quite exciting to see this. And we're very glad for it. So this is going to be a very different format for our conference this year. No longer gloom, Ishii Gesang, you're back. Japan is back. And we're delighted to have you here. It's my privilege today to be able to introduce to representative Aaron Schach. For a man who is so new to Washington, he got on the power committee. And it tells you it's an insight into how he is seen by his colleagues in the House of Representatives to be invited to be a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which puts him right at the epicenter of politics these days in Washington, especially with Asia. Representative Schach just came back from a trip to Asia. He's been to Asia many times, but his first time to Japan and had a very good conversation with Prime Minister Abe talking about what's on everybody's lips, trade promotion, the TPP and trade promotion authority, I should say. I hope that he will get into that today because this does represent kind of the start of a fundamental agenda between us for the next 20 years. Where is it going? And of course, it's uncertain. It's been a very labored process, not so much the negotiations, but just us getting focused here in the United States. It's been labored. So now we're coming to the focal point. And I think it's a remarkable opportunity for us to hear from Representative Schach to be with us. So would you please with your warm applause welcome, Erin Schach, who is with members of the Ways and Means Committee. Well, good morning. Thank you for the warm introduction and the opportunity to be with all of you. As was mentioned, I'm a member of the Ways and Means Committee, also a member of the Trade Subcommittee. And you will not find a more outspoken proponent of trade not only in the Asia Pacific, but with any country we can get a free trade agreement with. As a United States citizen, I can't imagine not believing that with only 5% of the world's population, it is to our benefit of our economy, as well as my constituents who need jobs and growth, that we look for as many opportunities as we can to level the playing field and have access to the other 95% of the world's population. I happen to believe in Americans' exceptionalism, both in our people as well as in the products that we sell in the commodities that we grow. And if you believe, as I do, that America can compete, that we should not fear any open markets around the world. And I mention that in my opener, because as a member of Congress, I'm a representative of who I, who elects me. And the amazing thing about trade is that sometimes the politics of trade are not as easy as perhaps the policies. And as a member of Congress who runs every two years back in my central Illinois district, the number one industry in my district is agriculture. There are 60 members of Congress left in the United States House of Representatives who have ag dominant districts like myself, which means all 60 members of Congress can vote together on ag issues and we lose overwhelmingly. So we have to do a good job of explaining ag policy to our colleagues in suburban and urban America. And second, the second largest industry in my district is manufacturing. Chief among it is a big yellow tractor company called Caterpillar, which is in my hometown. And both manufacturing and agriculture are intricately tied to new markets' growth and trade. And yet when I pull this issue back in my congressional district every two years, should we enter into new trade agreement? Should we look for new markets and new access? Believe it or not, it's a 50-50 issue nearly every two-year cycle on whether we should move forward with more trade. And so that's why as a member of Congress and someone who's passionate about trade, I'm never bashful about bringing this up when I'm back home on the stump, whether I'm in a hospital setting or a town hall forum or any business or educational institution about the benefits of trade and why more access to free markets are important because oftentimes those on the other side of these issues are better organized, better funded and do a better job of communicating. So we have our work cut out for us to continue to advance the ball forward. I also think it's a good opportunity to remember what we just went through with Columbia Panama and South Korea. Here in the United States, we have seen huge boom in economic growth. Even despite our anemic recovery, the administration purports several hundred thousand jobs have been created as a result of those three trade agreements. So you can imagine how more weak our recovery would have been without the implementation of those three trade agreements. And certainly in our ag and manufacturing sectors, they have benefited from exports to those three countries. Why I mention that is because what struck me when I went to Japan was the politics of trade is not just unique to the United States. And in our meetings with Prime Minister Abe and many of his cabinet members, Finance, Defense and others, it became very apparent that sometimes perhaps what they want to do on the policy front is a bit encumbered by the politics. And it's refreshing to hear from a Prime Minister like Abe who speaks with such clarity about what he wants to do not only for the benefit of their economy, but I would also submit for the benefit of their country from a national security standpoint. It's no secret that the United States and Japan have had a very close relationship after World War II militarily. We have a treaty that we reaffirmed when we were there that America stands by her allies, regardless of any dispute, regardless of who the dispute is with, America stands with her ally and we will continue to do that militarily. Needless to say, as we then ventured to South Korea and China, which were the two countries we visited after Japan, we got talked to a little bit about those comments. But nonetheless, it is America's position not only by our President, but also reinforced by the congressional delegation that visited the country. But second, we know that countries that trade together and grow together economically are that much stronger. And so I think both from our administration as well as the Japanese administration, they understand that a trade agreement and particularly TPP being signed into law will help further that relationship, both economically, but also send the message to the region that America is tied both militarily and economically with no daylight, which I think is extremely important. This TPP proposal really can get done, but for a few obstacles. One, the administration's discussion about excluding particular items from TPP. I will tell you specifically on ag components, if the administration goes forward excluding certain lines within agriculture, I think that bill will be dead on arrival in the House of Representatives. And this is a very important message that we delivered to Prime Minister Abe, and it's also a very important message that the Ways and Means Committee and the Trade Subcommittee has communicated directly to Ambassador Froman and his team. If I'm gonna go back to my district and explain why manufactured products from Japan should come to the United States tariff free and autos should be able to go back and forth, which is another issue of contention. We cannot unilaterally exclude products like pork and beef, which are extremely important to the constituencies in rural America, and quite frankly, to a number of members of Congress that we need to be yes votes on TPP. Second, the President of the United States cannot allow the United States Senate to run the country, specifically Harry Reid. The President needs to be willing to exercise the political capital that he needs and seems to be willing to do on other things. Most recently last week, releasing five detainees from Guantanamo Bay clearly expended some political capital to do that. So we have a President who's willing to make some tough decisions that he believes is right when he's willing to do it, and this is one of them that he needs to flex his political muscle and get the votes from his own conference and buck perhaps even some of the leadership in his own Senate to do what he knows is right for America. And finally, all parties have to be willing to embrace a truly free model of free trade. They have to be willing to face the temporary political obstacles, both in the United States of America, as well as in Japan, to get this agreement done. Knowing that long-term, the economic growth will far outweigh any political outfall that either country will have or either leader will have. I think if both leaders are willing to do that, we can get a TPP agreement passed. These 12 countries, as you know, represent 40% of the world's GDP. It means a lot not only to the United States, but also to Japan and others in the region. And I think Japan and the United States are really the two sticking points in the agreement. If we can get Japan and the United States on the same page, I think the other 11 countries will fall into line. Finally, I would say to the Americas, in my country, I would say, if we don't get our act in order, we have the potential to lose out. Again, I would point to the trade agreements we most recently signed. As we took our time on the Columbia trade agreement, our wheat sales to Columbia fell from about 70%, 80% of total wheat sales to Columbia to about 20% of total wheat sales to Columbia. Why? Because Columbia entered into a free trade agreement with Canada, which made their Canadian wheat much cheaper than United States wheat, and as a result, we lost market share. Same will be true with Japan and other Asian countries as they enter into agreements with other countries around the world as United States takes its time on trade. And so that's really why time is of the essence, and so many of us are pushing the administration to not let the political season or the political calendar get in the way of doing the right thing for our economy, for jobs, and for growth here in our country. Finally, let me just say about, mention another country in the region, which is important. A year ago, I had the opportunity to go with two other members of Congress and be the first U.S. delegation to meet with Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in 10 years that a congressional delegation had met with him. We were visiting India on the invitation of Chief Minister Modi. Some in the United States said, oh my gosh, I can't believe you're meeting with him. It looks like we bet on the right horse. Now Prime Minister Modi, one with overwhelming election, a historic election, set a record in terms of turnout, and one with no need to build a coalition government. He and his party won enough votes to basically control the entire operation of the Indian government. Why is this relevant? Well, India represents the largest democracy in the face of the earth. You talk to U.S. business owners, perhaps Japanese business owners as well. They will tell you many of the challenges dealing with India is certainty with the rule of law, unpredictability in the courts, and let's face it, corruption. And those were the themes that I kept hearing from U.S. businesses is that they've attempted to invest in the world's largest economy. When I visited the state of Gujarat, and I met with the leadership of Abbott, met with the leadership of Ford Motor Company, who at the time was under construction of a new billion dollar factory in the state of Gujarat, in private meetings with just the American congressmen and the leaders of these U.S. companies, I posed the question, why are you building in the state of Gujarat? Why are you putting a billion dollar facility here? And the one word answer they gave me back was Modi. I said, oh, come on, you know, I'm an elected official, he's an elected official, no one's perfect, why? They said, yes is yes, his no is no, he's not corrupt, you don't pay to move your file. He said he would build a road, he built a road. We don't get that anywhere else in the country. And so for 10 of the 12 years that he had been chief minister, they had double digits growth in that state. Those are the reforms that he ran on as prime minister. Roll out the red carpet and cut the red tape. Maximum governance, minimum government. Sounds like a few politicians here in America. The point being that he now has not only the track record of doing that within a state of India, but I would suggest he also has the political might and the political capital to execute that on a national level, given his overwhelming electoral victory. And I think it is opportune time for the Asian countries and the United States to reach out a hand and perhaps consider inviting India into the TPP negotiations. The largest democracy on the face of the earth, and if they can accept some of these same free market principles and leveling a play field and elimination of tariffs, I think that country can see a very similar economic boon that we're seeing in countries like Japan and others that have this pro-growth economy. The right leadership with the right political capital can do the right thing, both in Japan and the United States, and I would also submit it in India. So it's an exciting time right now with trade. Final thought is this. Our administration here in the United States has been discussing the possibility of moving forward and completing TPP negotiations prior to the passage of TPA. I think that will make it extremely difficult, if not possible, to pass TPA. TPA, in very simple forms, a simple explanation, is Congress's ability to lay out its wants and desires as a part of the fast-track authority it gives to the President. For the President and the administration to complete negotiations on agreement and then come back to Congress and say, we want your opinion on how to negotiate is more than putting the cart before the horse. And at a time when there is some skepticism within the Congress about how far they can trust the administration for a number of reasons, and someone who is actively involved in whipping my members to vote yes on trade and yes on TPA, I will tell you the biggest pushback I get on TPA is members who say I'm not sure we can trust the administration. Perhaps TPA is simply a blank check for the administration to negotiate whatever they want on trade, and we're only getting their votes by saying, look, this is actually your opportunity to weigh in on how far the administration can go. This is your opportunity to weigh in and give some framework to how the trade agreements will be negotiated. If the administration completes TPP prior to the passage of TPA, I believe it will be very difficult to get TPA passed and ultimately TPP. And this is, again, a message I have taken to the administration, specifically to Mr. Froman, and said you're making a huge mistake if you move forward with TPP before TPA. The President has shown again that he's willing to flex his political muscle. We understand the political season right now with primaries is underway, but I think, again, the opportunity is there for the Republican House, the Democratic Senate, and the White House to get TPA done. Max Baucus and Chairman Kamp had agreed to language on TPA. And the only reason we didn't have a bipartisan TPA bill in the House of Representatives was because the White House was silent and didn't weigh in. Had the White House endorsed the Baucus-Kamp agreement, we would have had a bipartisan bill in the House and TPA would have passed the House of Representatives overwhelming. So it is up to the administration, particularly the President, to exercise some political capital right now to get TPA across the finish line and in advance of TPP concluding their negotiations. So with that, I think it's appropriate to open it up for some questions and let all of you perhaps drive the last 10 or 15 minutes of dialogue. Once again, I appreciate what you're doing to foster the U.S.-Japanese alliance and helping grow our economies. And I will tell you, as, again, the congressmen for Caterpillar Tractor Company, they have significant investments in Japan. And a growing Asia is good for U.S. economy and U.S. manufacturers and agriculture. So hopefully we can get TPP done to continue to grow those economies, both from an economic strength, but also I would suggest for a military and the national security strength as well. Thank you. Do you want to go over here? Or do you want to come down here? Thank you, congressman. I'm Mike Green, Senior Vice President for Asia here at CSIS. And I want to thank congressman Schach for a real tour de force. The politics of trade in this country, the urgency of it, but a very astute observation on the bookends of our Asia policy, if you will. Japan and India are largest Asian ally and the largest democracy in the world. So that was terrific. We're going to open it up for Q&A. I'm going to use the prerogative of the chair to ask the first question, if I might. Could you walk us through the best case scenario over the coming months or years bounded by the reality of politics in the midterm election? Given the urgency, what's the best case scenario for the timing of TPA and TPP? Some people talk about the lame duck session, others say no, it won't happen until the next administration in 2017. What's the best case scenario you see for TPP and TPA over the next months and years? Well, I have found lame ducks to be rather lame. And this is my sixth year in Congress, so perhaps this will be my third lame duck. And everybody puts so much hope and so much optimism and has such high expectations that so much will get done during the lame duck.  So I guess I would start with the premise of why the lame duck? We have an overwhelming House majority willing to vote for TPA. The President has said he wants TPA. But for Harry Reid in the Senate, I would argue we should have TPA. So this ideally from a time standpoint is, again, I'm not gonna give Harry Reid election year advice, but I would suggest that if he wants to remain majority leader and he looks at the senators who are in the most risky U.S. Senate seats or states, they're primarily states that Republicans have won and trend red. They are also states which tend to be more supportive of trade. So from a political standpoint, as well as a policy standpoint, I think post-primary season, whether that be the end of July or the three weeks that were in session in September, I think September is an opportunity for the President to flex his political muscle, for the Senate to actually deliver on something pro-growth, pro-business, pro-jobs, for those senators who are in tough re-elections and need something of substance to show for in a Senate who's done very little. So that is an opportune time, I think. I think it's perhaps too much to ask that TPA and TPP, first of all, it's speculation of when we'll finish TPP negotiations, but TPA and TPP before the November election, I think maybe a bridge too far to cross, but I really don't think TPA before the November election would be too difficult if the President was willing to lean in and flex his political muscle. If not, it's not gonna get done without the President's engagement. Simply put, Ron Wyden, the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I don't believe has the political muscle to overturn the will of the majority leader in the Senate. Only the President can do that, and if the President wants TPA, I believe he can get it done before the November election. TPP, once TPA is finalized, once TPA is signed into law, I think it will eliminate the doubt that we heard in the Japanese voice when we were there about whether or not Congress would back up what the administration negotiates. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that what we do in the United States, in the ping-pong between the White House and the Congress, and the Congress and the White House is constant fighting back and forth, sometimes undermines our credibility to speak with one voice internationally. And one of the concerns expressed by the Japanese to us was, if we negotiate in good faith with this President, we'll you the Congress back that up. And in order for us to be able to say yes, we have to have TPA. Without TPA, I think a negotiated agreement on TPP is hallow. Thank you. The floor is open, and we have a few minutes, so keep your questions brief. Yes, ma'am, in the back there. My name is Victoria Guida. I'm with Inside U.S. Trade. And I was wondering, you mentioned earlier that there shouldn't be agricultural product exclusions in TPP. When you talked to Prime Minister Abe, did you talk about whether there could be reductions, but not necessarily exclusions? And did he seem willing to maybe include tariff lines, but was interested in maybe not reducing them too much? What was the message that you got from him there? Well, without divulging too much of private conversations, I will just say nothing was settled. But the interesting thing is someone who represents a large ag district is that while both of our sides on ag recognize that it's an issue of contention, ag is a large industry in the United States, but I would submit they're not very well organized. Short of the Farm Bureau, in terms of political might, these are not the super PACs that you fear in an election, right? However, contrast that with Japan, which relatively speaking within their economy, the ag sector is not the dominant force. However, my sense was they are far more well organized and have more political muscle outsized of their weight within the percent of the Japanese economy. And so my sense from Prime Minister Abe began not talking specific ag lines, pork, beef, soybeans and the like, but a 30,000 foot view, my sense was that he has to deal more with the political realities of ag and not so much the economic impact of a free trade agreement on those lines with ag. And so much of what he's been doing, I think, is really building up his base, building up his political capital back home so that if and when he needs his members and he himself needs to do some tough things, he's got the political capital to expend to do it. And so perhaps when our embassy gets exercised over visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and other things, we lose sight of the fact that our political leadership here in the United States, both Republican and Democrats, act in very similar ways when it comes to shoring up their base, when it comes to making sure that they have the political capital, sometimes doing things that aren't as mainstream, but perhaps are important for political reasons that then allow you to reach out and expend that political capital on policy initiatives. So I think that the Prime Minister Abe heard us when we said, as the United States Congress as representatives here, we cannot deliver a TPP bill in the House that excludes ag portions of the bill, but whether or not there's a sunsetting of some of these tariffs similar to what the President negotiated with South Korea on autos, perhaps there are things like that that our negotiators are looking at. We're not involved in the day-to-day negotiations, but the top-line message was if you expect us to deliver a bill that excludes specific ag portions of our economy, it's gonna be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Is that Robin? Robin White, retired Foreign Service. Thank you, Congressman, for your support of free trade. Following up on the ag issue, we have some protectionist interests on our side, particularly sugar, and of the 60 members you cited in the ag group, I'm sure some of them have the opposite feeling that, gee, maybe some exclusions might be needed. Would you please comment on sugar? Well, as a corn and soybean grower, and my home state being the largest candy producer in the country, perhaps you know my bias, which is, generally speaking on agriculture, I think the elimination of tariffs is a good thing. And I think if you look at the New Zealand model in other countries, which have gone down that path of a true-level playing field, a true elimination of support programs and assistance, ag has booned, and we tend to, just as in manufacturing, get really good at what we're good at, and get out of what we're not good at. And so I was one of the members of Congress who voted to eliminate subsidies to the sugar industry as a part of the farm bill. Obviously we lost that fight in the house, and I would also say that the ag assistance program are bipartisan, so it's not a Republican-Democrat fight, it's really a regional fight. But there will be no perfect TPP, so we have to recognize that. But I think the message from the Congress, and certainly the message from the Trade Committee, which will be the first hurdle for us to get through, is the cleaner the bill, the fewer the tariffs, the more flatter and fairer the trade agreement is, the better it will be, and the easier it will be to get past Congress. But you're right, one man's pork is another man's safety net, and we see that in not only ag, but social programs and the like, you can name it. So I guess we'll all watch, wait and see. We'll invite a congressman from Louisiana next time, just so you can ask the question again. Or Florida. Or Florida. Or Minnesota. Hi, Manny Manriquez with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. Also thank you very much for your support for free trade, we very much appreciate that. There's been some sounds recently that Ron Wyden might introduce his own version of TPA, which he has termed SmartTrack, and it will probably contain some form of currency manipulation in the negotiating objectives, and it will probably have something on labor and environment, a lot of democratic priorities, which he said he's been speaking to members about. I'm wondering to what extent would Republicans be willing to address some of those democratic priorities in TPA and perhaps integrate them into a larger bill? That's basically it. Well I would first say that would be suggesting that the Bacchus camp bill that was negotiated in February didn't include some of the democratic priorities. If Ron Wyden thinks that he can reopen negotiations on TPA to grab more of the democratic Christmas list with nothing in exchange for Republicans, he's mistaken on how negotiations work. So I guess I'd back up and say what is more important timeliness or perfection? The trade office had signed off on the camp Bacchus language. The administration short of the White House and specifically the President speaking out publicly about that agreement had all but endorsed it. So I would submit that the perfect is the enemy of the good. And at the end of the day we want is a good TPP bill. What I would say to my democratic senators, look you probably have more sway with the White House than I do. And so TPA is really the framework, TPP is the specifics. And so to completely slow down and bring to a halt the movement of passing a TPA bill, a good TPA bill because you want to make it perfect, I think really jeopardizes the possibility of getting TPA and then ultimately TPP done across the finish line. So Chairman Wyden certainly has the powers, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to try to begin a new negotiation on TPA, but it's not going to be as simple as him adding democratic priorities to a TPA bill that was originally structured under Bacchus and camp. That means that camp is then going to have to go back to us and say, okay, if we're going to agree to these democratic priorities, what are we going to get exchanged for that? And I actually thought the camp Bacchus TPA bill is one that could have passed. Certainly the USTR team felt that it was good enough that they could work within it, which means the Republicans weren't hamstringing their ability to negotiate a TPP deal. So let's not try and make it perfect. We've got a good TPA agreement. It's necessary for TPP and other trade agreements. And my wish would be for us to move forward on language similar to the Bacchus camp bill, not because it's perfect, but because there seems to be a coalition of Republicans and Democrats that can get that done. My fear with a new agreement is it will take a considerable amount of time and then you get into the uncertainty of the political calendar of when will we pass that? And what does that mean in the timeline and holding up progress on TPP? Let me ask finally, when the Bush Administration got into this TPP business, it was described as a building block towards a free trade area of the Asia Pacific. Presumably the APEC countries, presumably including China at some point, the debate in China has shifted with Japan's active participation. There's not a lot of interest. This could be setting rules China needs to be a part of, but also as a lever to force reform and so forth in China. This is getting way ahead of ourselves, given everything you said about the politics of moving on TPA. But thinking down the road, if we get a successful TPP and TPA bill through and demonstrate results, is China just too big for Congress to swallow? Do you think that we could get on track where that's conceivable down the road? Well, I definitely think a trade agreement with China, I mean, to the degree we can get a level playing field with China I think will be a good thing for us. I'm not sure the Chinese are ready to agree to where Japan, United States, and presumably the other level countries are gonna go. But there's nothing like competition to get your act in order. And there's nothing like seeing economies boom, markets grow, jobs being created, for others to say, you know what, I wanna be a part of that. And if there was any theme that we took away from our trip to China and something I knew about from my other trips to China is they recognize that their strength and their ability to maintain power is directly tied to their ability to maintain economic growth and a continual movement up the economic chain of ladder for the people of China. And so whether it be for economic reasons or political reasons internally, they're gonna wanna be a part of trade period, whether it be a part of TPP or some further yet to be negotiated trade agreement. But I think the best thing we can do with a partner like China, which may not be ready like Japan is, is to conclude an agreement with Japan and the other allies in the region create some synergies there, create some growth for both of our countries, and that will get the competitors in the region to I think more quickly fall in line. Congressman Schock, you've been generous with your time and given us a very energetic and compelling case for engagement internationally and for trade. And what we really have to do is let you get back to the other side of town where there's a lot more work to be done. So please join me in thanking Congressman Aaron Schock. Thank you.


The simplest and the most fundamental thing that you can do in your life is that your life always. You don't have to be in any particular way, you just have to be alive. Everything else, including the body and the mind, are accessories to life. Accessories are added to life to facilitate certain things, not to overshadow life. We add accessories to facilitate, to add on and enhance, not to overshadow completely, not to occupy life, but to enhance life.  Oh, let me see how you get depressed. You must get spot on with life, this is all you have to do. What is you and what is not you must be distinction. So whatever is not you, when you hold it, you must hold it in a certain way. Of course, depending on the nature of what it is, if it's a flower, we hold it one way. If it's a vessel, we hold it another way. If it's a pen, we hold it another way. Can you employ the same grip on everything? It's different, depending upon the nature of what it is. But every kind of grip that you use, if you notice how you hold anything for that matter, there is always this dimension that you can loosen the grip and let it be. Suppose you hold something and you cannot loosen the grip, okay, you are heading for the stuff. So just look at these things, how many things in your life are such that you held it and now you can't loosen the grip. These two months, this is all you need to do. Consciously don't tell anybody, they will all fight you. They think you're going to leave them and go away, they think you're going to take sannyas, they think something else and something else. No, within yourself, nothing need to be done outside. Within yourself, how are you holding it?  I'm very generous, I'm giving you twenty-four hours. Yes, the nature of life is such, it never guarantees twenty-four hours for you, but I'm giving you twenty-four hours.    Have you seen in the Hindi movies? No, have you not seen the movies? Losen the grip, it's gone.  When you're alive, if you loosen the grip you will become exuberant. When you're dying, that will anyway happen in the last scene. So these two months you must make use of it to loosen the grip on everything. I am a hard nut so I learnt it in my own way. But these days I'm seeing all the golf trainers are telling their, whatever, the trainees, those who want to learn, those who've been playing for many years also they're teaching them, you must hold it loose, you know, you should not hold it tight. Normally when you want to hit something you want to hold it tight, but you must hold it loose. This will happen to you if you have never ridden on a bicycle for the first time you sit on it. When you loosen it, it rides well, isn't it? Just loosen it, you will see you will ride the life well, too tight. Have you seen the new cycle rider? He doesn't go anywhere. So you've got to loosen the grip.


So this is Autism Representation in the Media by Toon Ruins. Some of it just a little quick tidbit from me. I really don't watch a lot of shows that have Autism Representation in them because they tend to irritate me. It sometimes hits a little bit too close to home, like it's a little bit... I tend to watch... I'm used to watching neurotypicals, like, be a part of shows. And when Autism comes in the mix, it's just a little bit too relatable. Sometimes there's a little bit of that emotional distance that I have between myself and the characters because, you know, they're a different neurotype. But we'll see about this one. Hopefully YouTube doesn't get upset again. Hello everyone and welcome to Toon Ruins. My name is Leah and today we're taking the time to talk about Autism Acceptance Month, which you may know as Autism Awareness Month. Now, for those of you who are subscribed to me and watch my videos regularly, you know that this isn't the type of video that I usually make. My usual content consists of theory and review videos about cartoons, mainly Steven Universe. But April's a special month to me and many others, so I thought it was the perfect time to make another personal video, like I did back when Steven Universe had its fifth birthday. And for those of you who don't know this about me, I'm on the spectrum. It's called being on the spectrum because there isn't just one catch-all checklist for Autistic people. For instance, one Autistic person may have a problem with eye contact and communication, while another person on the spectrum may not be bothered at all by those things. It's called the spectrum because you can't put all Autistic people into the same group because we aren't all the same. Just like everyone, we're individuals. We have our strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Just because we're Autistic doesn't mean that we're suddenly all the same or fit into one definitive definition. And that's why- One thing to point out here is that for anyone who isn't well accustomed to the Autistic community, the reason why it's called Autism Acceptance Month, as opposed to Autism Awareness Month, like most people know, is because a lot of the Autism Awareness content out there is actually pretty much hijacked by a lot of the top organizations. And some of the top organizations are not very favorable to Autistic people. Some people like them, a lot of people don't. And so there's been a bit of a differentiation and a lot of people feel that the term acceptance feels a little bit more apt because people know of Autism. However, they do not accept Autism. You know, I'm just picking at words here about awareness and acceptance. Probably education is the way to go. I don't know, it feels like a bit more of a catch-all term. And characters fitting with the theme of my usual content while also making informational video of sorts. And I hope that by the end of this video that you'll have learned something or gained a better understanding of those on the spectrum. The first creator we're talking about today is Satoshi Tajiri. For those of you who don't know who Satoshi is, he's the creator of Pokemon. Autistic people tend to develop something called a special interest where they become transfixed on either one or a few things. In Satoshi's case, his special interest was insects and insect collecting. This special interest led to the creation of Pokemon since Satoshi claims he wanted something that brought joy to people the same way bug collecting brought joy to him. He also developed a special interest in video games while he was a teenager and began collecting them. Because of his love and extensive knowledge of video games, he wrote a fan magazine that was centered around games, specifically arcade games. The name of this fan magazine was Game Freak. If this magazine name sounds familiar, it's because Game Freak would later grow into the video game company that has a hand in making the Pokemon games. I'm not sure what that logo is. Maybe it's like something related to a Japanese character. But I used to be absolutely obsessed with Pokemon. Absolutely obsessed. I still like it to this day. I play Pokemon Go, but not the games. The first game I ever played was Pokemon Fire Red, probably my favorite game. A zine company to a game company in 1989 and soon after the idea of Pokemon was pitched to Nintendo. And that's how Pokemon became the behemoth of a series that it is today. Had Satoshi never been transfixed on bug and video game collecting, it's not too far of a stretch to say that Pokemon would never exist. Special interest in autistic people often lead to extensive knowledge on the subject that they're focused on. This is why Satoshi knew so much about video games and it's why he was able to successfully create Game Freak. And other autistic individuals having a special interest may cause them to excel far above their peers in whatever their special interest is about. For example, someone who is on the spectrum may be able to tell you every little detail about how a complex motor system works if their special interest involves it. But on the other end, someone on the spectrum may have a difficult time motivating themselves to do something outside of their special interest. This is something that is definitely shared with people who are ADD, ADHD. It's a little bit different. I did do a podcast with Coaching with Brock where we talked about the differences. And with autistic people, it tends to be that our interests are a lot more stable. Whereas with ADHD, they tend to flip between multiple things and they don't have so much control over what they're interested in and what gives them what they pay attention to. This is a really interesting one because I feel like this can be a good thing and this can be a bad thing. If you're in a workplace where they're happy to make adjustments and they're happy to craft a job around you that better suits your skills and really utilizes your skills and your interests, then it's brilliant. Not so good when you have a very broad job role that covers a lot of different things. It's definitely something that I've found and I feel like for a lot of autistic people, self-employment, if they're able, can sometimes offer a lot more in terms of being able to manage your routine, your schedule, being able to do what you're actually interested in and good at. It's a big thing. Make them seem lazy or unintelligent when in most cases this is really far from the truth. For example, I frequently have a very difficult time making videos that aren't related to Steven Universe, and if it wasn't already obvious, Steven Universe is one of my special interests, and it's actually my primary one. It makes it ridiculously easy for me to pump out a 10-page video script in under two hours, but on the flip side, it also makes it difficult for me to write a script of about the same size on something that I'm not incredibly interested in. This may make me seem lazy or unintelligent, but it isn't the case in the slightest. I just have a very difficult time focusing on things outside of my special interest. This is where a lot of common misconceptions about people on the spectrum start, but it really is just a case of people misunderstanding how the autistic mind works. And it's interesting because the skills that we learn in one area don't always transfer like one to one into other areas. You might learn creative writing in the context of Steven Universe. You might be very good at writing Steven Universe fan fictions or something, but when it comes to stepping out of that and transferring your writing skills into writing emails or doing blogs or writing script videos or all of those types of things, sometimes our skill transference can take a lot longer than it would do for most people. And we also tend to have very, very spiky profiles, and that's both for autistic traits, different traits can be very, very wide in variety, depending on which autistic person you're talking to. And also when it comes to intellectual skills, I'm terrible at maths. English, language, communication, that's people, emotions, those are the types of things that I'm very interested in. And whenever what I'm doing aligns with that, I tend to do very well. Mixing maths statistics in there, not going to have the best time. At the time we are unintelligent or lazy, we just find it more difficult to put all of our effort into something that we are interested in, more so than the autistic individual does. In simpler terms, we are masters of our trade and so are above our peers in that subject, but we have a hard time focusing on and succeeding on things outside of that. My advice to other individuals on the spectrum who have a hard time focusing on things outside of their special interests is to somehow involve it in whatever task needs to be accomplished. For example, I included Steven Universe in this script to make writing it easier. Another example would be if you want to improve your art skills but are having a hard time finding the motivation that you draw one of your favorite characters or objects from your special interest. It'll make the task that much easier. Another good thing to do is to motivate yourself by telling yourself that once you're finished with what you need to do, that you'll reward yourself by watching an episode from your favorite show or partaking in a related activity. That only works if you have some level of self-restraint. Sometimes actually, for me, transitioning into relaxing after being hard at work is often harder for me. I very much like to truncate what I'm doing day to day. Just because it's hard to switch lanes sometimes, I feel. With incorporating special interests into different areas of life, different tasks, 100%, is something that's used quite a lot within the area of teaching as well. If you can make some social story which involves the characters or some writing project or some mathematical equation related to an autistic kid's interest, it's so much more easy to get them focused and involved in it. I'd say it probably transfers to adults as well. Self with your special interest but also not allow it to dictate your day-to-day life. You don't want it to become debilitating. My advice to allistic individuals who have autistic people in their life is to encourage the passion and enthusiasm that the individual has towards their current fixation. Special interests are incredibly important to autistic individuals and act as a safety blanket for us. A lot of bonding can happen through partaking in related activities with the individual. For example, my mom and I are very close because she watches Steven Universe with me. Just listening to someone talk about their special interest could be a bonding activity and the person will greatly appreciate you listening to them. It's especially important for parents of children on the spectrum to encourage this behavior and support their child's interests, as it may one day turn into a profession if it's nurtured enough. It is important to note, however, that while you encourage them to share what they enjoy, that you should also shift the conversation to something that you enjoy as well. This increases social skills and is beneficial on both ends. Another example of- I don't think that it necessarily has to be phrased in the context of building their social skills. I have met- it's a very small portion of autistic people that I have met that really just always just want to talk about what they're interested in, which is fair enough. Like, I get it. But you know, it's definitely something I used to do when I was younger. In adulthood, I'm a little bit less like that, although feigning interest in what someone's saying is exceedingly difficult. Someone on the spectrum who turned their special interest into a profession is Dan Ackroyd, who is the writer and creator of Ghostbusters. Not only did he create the Ghostly series, but it was because of his love for ghosts and law enforcement that it came to be. One of his special interests involved Hans Holzer, who inspired the idea of Ghostbusters in the first place. Dan also claims that his special interest in law enforcement is what helped the most in Blues Brothers, since because of that he knew a lot about borderline sociopathic hedonists. Other examples of successful autistic individuals are Dr. Vernon Smith, who is a professor of economics at Chapman University, John Elder Robison, who is a successful book author, Clay Marzot, who is a professional surfer, Courtney Love, who is a lead singer for the band Whole, Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is an actor most famous for his role as Hannibal Lecter, Temple Grandin, who is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. If you haven't watched my interview with Temple Grandin, I highly recommend you do. It's a very interesting one. You mostly see interviews with Temple talking about work and how autism applies to work. Whereas if you really want to dive into the mind of Temple Grandin, like understand her outside of work, really, really good podcasts to work, to watch. She very much opened up in ways that I haven't seen her open up before, so it was really, really interesting to talk to her. And will behave your expert. And Tony DeBlois, who is a world famous blind pianist. There are many other autistic people who are both successful and well known, but this is just to name a few. Another person that I wanted to put in the spotlight as well as Dan Harmon, who is the co-creator of Rick and Morty next to Justin Royland. Dan realized that he may be on the spectrum while he was writing the character Abed Nadir from the show Community. Since then, he's talked about his experience within the autistic community as well as gone on to say that being on the spectrum isn't a disability or inhibitor as people on the spectrum don't feel that they are negatively affected by it. In fact, in a lot of cases, people on the spectrum feel that it has the opposite effect. Instead, they state that they are only negatively affected by how people treat them for being different, which honestly, this sentiment rings true to me as well. On the subject of Rick and Morty, though, this is the perfect time to switch over from autistic individuals to autistic and autistic coded characters. Like Dan Harmon, it's revealed in the episode Rick Turian Morty Date that Rick Sanchez himself is actually autistic. He may not be the best example of someone on the spectrum, but it is nice to see subtle confirmation on such an iconic character. Other canonically confirmed autistic characters are Julia from Sesame Street, Parker from Leverage, Towns Lenderman from Inpult. A little bit more insider knowledge on the Sesame Street character. They did a collaboration with Autism Speaks for that character. Some of these portrayals are better than others, these are some of the canonically confirmed characters on the spectrum. Speaking on one of these characters I just mentioned as well, Carl Gold displays behaviors of having a special interest, like I mentioned earlier in the video. Carl's first seen special interest is trains, and he can easily point out the intricate details of the locomotives and draw them accurately. He is also shown to have problems changing the subject away from trains, which is something I also mentioned earlier about special interests. His interests also change from trains to rockets and spaceships by the episode Buster Spaces Out. Trains in space are a common fixation for people on the spectrum to develop, allowing Carl to be relatable to the young children viewers. That being said, there unfortunately isn't a whole lot of characters other than the ones that I've mentioned that have been canonically confirmed to be on the spectrum. There are a lot of characters that fans speculate and headcanon to be autistic, but they lack creator confirmation or an in-show statement. Today's episode definitely shows some hints of autistic traits. There was a lot of controversy around it because people were trying to guess whether she was autistic or whether she was a psychopath or if she was a sociopath or any number of things. It's very hard to tell, especially when it's not like, as Tune Ruins said, you know, like canonically like confirmed. There's a lot of autistic characters that are canonically confirmed. For example, a lot of people will agree that Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory is unquestionably somewhere on the spectrum, but when asked about it, the creators refuse to say if he is or isn't. So whether fortunate or unfortunate, depending how you look at it, Sheldon is in the headcanon list for autistic characters. Yes, and I think people don't particularly like it. I did watch or read something on the creation of Sheldon Cooper and the actual actor who plays him. I think they had a lot of disagreements with the casting crew on how he should be portrayed as and a lot of the interactions that he had with the other characters. They weren't particularly favourable and a lot of the time it did come across like they were kind of just bullying him or like discriminating against him. So it's an interesting sort of representation.  A lot of characters that are headcanon to be on the spectrum, some of which even being extremely well-known characters. One of the most famous headcanons and speculations is that SpongeBob SquarePants himself is autistic. People have pointed out that he's very hyper fixated on his job at the Krusty Krab, is an excellent fry cook and knows everything about the job, gets upset and nervous when something doesn't follow a pattern, has a hard time understanding social boundaries and cues, laughs for no apparent reason, obsesses over even the smallest details, is best friends with his pet Gary and has a hard time having more than a handful of close friends. These are all very obvious traits of an autistic person and it's why a lot of people theorize that this happy go lucky sponge is on the spectrum. On the spectrum, also very likely ADHD. Audio-HD possibly. I love SpongeBob. So explain why SpongeBob happens to be a pretty common special interest among autistic people. Another character that people headcanon to be on the spectrum is Dendi from OKKO. She has unusual speaking patterns, a very hard time making new friends and approaching people, doesn't understand a lot of social cues, appears to be apathetic when she isn't, has a special interest in pal cards and happy stims by jumping up and down when she's happy or excited. A lot of people relate to Dendi and they find her to be a very positive form of representation as her quirks aren't seen as something negative but rather as something that makes her special. A similar character that has also headcanon to be on the spectrum is Parodot from Steven Universe. She is by far the one that most autistic people in the fandom relate to and there are a lot of reasons why. The first is that she takes everything literally even after spending a lot of time on earth and as a crystal gem. She doesn't quite understand jokes unless she's made them herself and will usually reply with a literal and unenthused response. She's seen to appear apathetic when in reality she just doesn't understand the situation. When it's explained to her in terms that she understands, then she's able to fully understand the situation and becomes more empathetic to it. An example would be how Garnet explained Ruby and Sapphire's relationship through Percy and Pierre. She has a special interest in Camp Pining Hearts and it's why Garnet was able to get through to her using that analogy. Lapis watches Camp Pining Hearts with her and since it's her special interest it's a very good bonding activity for the two. This is why Parodot likely feels the closest to Lapis since she takes the time to indulge in it with her. It's also been pointed out that she has a hard time maintaining relationships, accidentally hurts people's feelings and doesn't realize it and hisses at people when she's overstimulated. There's also symbolism in Parodot's lemon and being an era 2 gem. Parodot feels that she's wrong because she's seen to have a disadvantage and disability compared to the other gems and it's why she's been given her lemon hands.  She believes that without their help that she's useless. But through Steven and the Crystal Gems, she realizes that she's just different. She doesn't have a disability, she just has a different way of dealing with things and working around them. For example, she discovers that she has feroconesis when her tablet is in danger. Her discovery of her metal bending powers proves that she isn't defective, she just varies from the norm. Parodot is seen as a because she's an example of an autistic person who can thrive in a loving and supportive environment. When people take the time to explain things to her in a way she understands, she's happier and so are the people around her. She's really come out of her shell on earth because people don't treat her like she has a disability. In stark contrast when she was on homeworld, she was terrified of messing up and she was incredibly unhappy, trying to live up to their standards and expectations. This is a situation that's all too real to people on the spectrum, and it's wise showing how she's thriving in a supportive and understanding environment versus the one that she wasn't thriving in is so important to a lot of people. However, Parodot isn't the only one in Steven Universe who people head canon to be autistic. While I personally identify and see a bit of myself in Parodot, the character I more heavily relate to is actually Pearl. Parodot has more visible traits of an autistic person, but Pearl has her fair share as well. And I saved this one for last since I identify more with her and can compare my personal experiences with hers. It's also interesting that there's two characters in this show who are strongly autistic coded because it shows just how different people on the spectrum can be from one another. Like Parodot, Pearl takes things very literally. Jokes often fly right past her and she doesn't catch that it's a joke rather than a statement. While the other Crystal gems sometimes have this problem in not understanding human terms, it isn't ever as intense as it is with Parodot and Pearl. Most of the gems understand jokes whereas these two generally don't. This is one of the reasons why Pearl has such a difficult time dealing with Amethyst because she doesn't really understand her actions or her comedic nature. She often reacts with anger or with reprimanding her. It isn't until recently that she better understands and is able to get along with her. I relate to this a lot because I oftentimes don't understand when people are joking with me. I can get defensive if I'm not understanding that it's a joke or I can get irritable. This most often happens with my dad who has a similar jokester personality to Amethyst. My dad also has a similar kind of jokes to attitude to things. He's definitely autistic, but he has very, very strong elements of sarcasm and kind of witty humor. It's kind of nice because I've sort of grown up with it and got used to it some degree. So it's definitely like broadened my ability to to understand when people like make jokes that aren't completely... It's not like people say, okay, this is a joke. I'm going to tell you a joke. A lot of the time it's like off the cuff kind of stuff. I used to have a hard time with it. Not so much nowadays. My favorite thing to do is to it's like my own little brand of humor, a little spicy humor. People say something and I take it literally on purpose even though I know that it's not meant to be literal. I find that incredibly funny because then people are like thinking that I don't understand it. So it's like it's just a ninja, you know, it's just a bit of a self-chuckle. Mean jokes? They're basically just dad jokes that I don't understand a lot of the time. He often asks me, you know I'm joking, right? Whenever he does them and I can only assume it's because I'm not reacting the way he wants or expects me to. Over time I've gotten used to and started understanding that he's joking but it took me a long time to grasp it. Another interesting point about Pearl is that she can get irritable when she's overwhelmed or overstimulated. Being overstimulated for an autistic person means that they are experiencing sensory overload. Now it isn't- Not always. It can be a lot of different things. It can just be general stress. It can be due to social difficulties. But sensory overload is definitely like a contributing factor to having like a meltdown, a shutdown, being overloaded. 100%. Important to note that sensory overload isn't just exclusive to autistic people. However, it is seen in them the most often and causes more problems for them, as it takes less to set it off than someone who isn't autistic. Things that may cause sensory overload are lighting, smells, sounds, certain out-of-place or repetitive motions, and textures. It may also be as simple as an overwhelming situation where a lot of negative things are happening one after another or where there's a change from a routine that they aren't expecting. If they- The routine change is definitely a big thing. What was the other one that we're talking about? Just a general overwhelm, I think, is a lot more of an underrated factor in that mental health, anxiety, things like that. That can definitely lower your tolerance. And if you are going through a burnout, a lot of these things that you could usually tolerate, when you're going through a burnout, they tend to be a lot more heightened. You tend to be a lot more sensitive to sensory things. Your social battery tends to be a lot flatter. And whenever you kind of go past your limits in terms of socializing work, sensory experiences, that's usually when you tend to have the issues, when you tend to get overloaded. Fail to balance out the sensory overload, they may experience a meltdown or they may stem to try and combat the overstimulation. Pearl often needs to plan out everything that she does to a rather meticulous degree and shows a general distaste to going into something without a plan or an expectation for the outcome. She also tends to get overwhelmed rather easily and can react in a snappy or aggressive manner as a result. She has an obsession with keeping things in order and knows where to find all of her belongings without even thinking about it. She also has shown to have a hatred for food, which is something a lot of people on the spectrum struggle with.  Something about the texture just makes me very unnerved and disgusted to a degree that's also called arfid, which is avoidant restrictive intake food disorder. I think I said that right. Food intake disorder. I think as well from the way that they're describing it just sounds somewhat like, and there is some level of crossover with OCD and autism. A lot of these things are sounding a little bit more OCD-ish, but the food thing is definitely like an autism thing, or else there is like a trait for it. I left a little though. To where I can't even look at seedy foods without feeling my skin crawl.  The other gems like Lapis and Peridot haven't been seen eating, but they seem indifferent to food in general. Pearl is the only gem who will go to any lengths to avoid eating, including forcing Alexandrite to infuse in order to avoid it. Pearl also has actions that can be seen as stimming. Stimming stands for self stimulatory behavior and is usually used to combat over stimulation. Stimming behaviors include hand flapping, rocking, spinning, general repetitive actions or phrases, hair twirling or feeling certain textured surfaces. And then an interesting thing about stimming is that everyone stims. Stimming is a repetitive thing that you do to soothe yourself. It can also sometimes be done to cope with emotional overwhelm, but everyone does it to some degree. But autistic people, because of our differing sensory profiles, some things are a little bit more hyposensitive, so a little bit more insensitive. We tend to stim when it comes to like the insensitive parts of us. So I'm insensitive to my balance and my proprioception. So balance is like the vestibular sense. So anything that's involved with spinning, really, really calming for me, 100%. Proprioception to do with awareness of your body in space. You can also get some of that kind of touch stuff involved. Like I like to go to the gym. That tends to be like a really big stim for me. So it's really anything that you can think of that you do in the world that's repetitive and it makes you feel better. It's just we tend to have the label of stimming for autistic people because it's not seen as the norm. On the spectrum may stim because they are excited, happy, anxious, overwhelmed, or because it feels comforting. Just like with overstimulation, this isn't something that is exclusive to autistic people. If you've clicked your pen repetitively or bounced your knee, those are forms of stimming. You're likely aware of and can control these actions, whereas autistic people are usually unaware that they're doing it and they find it stressful or impossible to stop them. These actions are done to self-regulate and self-come from overwhelming and strong emotions since people on the spectrum often suffer from sensory processing dysfunction, which is what causes overstimulation to occur so easily. Though contrary to popular belief, just because someone on the spectrum is stimming does not automatically mean that they're anxious. Stimming is for any overwhelming emotion, positive or negative. It's just a way to get rid of the excess excitement and energy that comes with these emotions so that they aren't overstimulated. Some people even have specific stims for specific emotions. For example, I flap my hands whenever I'm happy or excited. I twirl the right side of my hair whenever I'm anxious about something. If I'm on the edge of a panic attack, I will either bounce my right leg, pace back and forth, or repeat certain phrases to myself until I calm down. A lot of times, I won't even notice that I'm doing these things until they're pointed out to me. Pearl has similar stims. This is something that I would say that I'm a little bit different to. I've never been stopped stimming. I used to stim a lot when I was a kid. I used to spin around in a circle. It really helped me. The reason why I stopped is because of the social aspects of school. People looking at you drawing attention to yourself. Over time of being very hyper aware that I was doing something that was abnormal in people's eyes, I stopped. And it's something that I don't do unconsciously.  It's not something that just comes upon me most of the time. Most of her stims are in relation to negative emotions. Usually when she's angry or anxious, she can be seen grasping the fabric of her clothing in one way or another. She also sometimes will involuntarily cover her mouth or put her hands to her face when talking about something uncomfortable or stressful. While Steven Universe lore explains the mouth covering portion, it could also be that her mannerisms were planned out to match a theme. She also talks with her hands a lot which is another common action among people on the spectrum. Pearl also shows discomfort and physical affection when she's not the one initiating it. While a lot of people who are autistic love and crave physical affection, there are those who are known to react negatively to it. A lot of the time it's circumstantial as well as they may just be uncomfortable with the person or situation that they're receiving the affection from. Pearl seems to be circumstantial in that she only likes hugs from those she's close to or when she's initiating or expecting them. This is called um, term for this is sensory defensiveness. Kind of the analogy that I like to use with this is okay, you have someone who really likes cold showers, they can prep themselves, they get ready, they can ease themselves into that cold shower and enjoy it. It's not a very relatable one because I don't know many people who enjoy them but contrast that with being pushed into icy water. So it's a lot different. People who are sensory defensive might, as Tune Ruins says, they might really actually like enjoy hugging people that might have a need for that but only if it's initiated by them or only if it's something that people ask them for. Or they're very close to that person and it's kind of like a regular thing that you do with that person. Autistic Coded would also explain her inability to believe that Steven couldn't miss his mom more than her because he never met her. Inability to understand people even in similar positions is something a lot of us struggle with and it's something Pearl struggled a lot with in the past as well. And just like Peridot, Pearl is seen as defective. She's even been called defective multiple times in the show by multiple characters. Rose didn't see her like she came out wrong and it's why Pearl grew such a dependence and unhealthy attachment to her. Not only was Rose the first to treat her like an individual but she was also the first to say that there was nothing wrong with her. She's just different. Other traits that land Pearl on the spectrum are her being the tech genius of the group as is a common trait for autistic people. She has a large collection of swords and knows an obscenely large amount on gem history. The interesting thing about Pearl and Peridot is that they're both representative of different types of people on the spectrum. Pearl is someone who's been around for a long time and has been reprimanded and told that her differences are bad for most of her life. Whereas Peridot is someone who has experienced those things but not as long or to the same degree. Peridot very obviously loves herself and sees no problems in her differences whereas Pearl is damaged and has a large self-hatred for herself and her differences. Pearl sees her differences as a curse whereas Peridot sees them as an advantage. Pearl and Peridot are two sides of the same coin. Peridot is someone who was caught early enough and given a loving and caring environment to reassure her that there was nothing wrong with her whereas Pearl was scolded and made to feel like a defect for the largest portion of her life. This is really interesting because they're kind of like they're tying in like the environmental aspects of autism like yeah it is that there is that just there's that I've come across some autistic people and I have talked about this before being like unicorns as in they just have had a normal experience of life they haven't had any mental illness they haven't had any horrific experiences particularly during childhood adolescence but there's a very few and far between and you know I very much as you said Jordan I'm I relate to Pearl a lot perhaps if it was it if I was a bit younger and I was a little bit more like in into the autistic community might be a little bit more like the the other one Peridot Perle is definitely like a little bit more me I would say more expressive whereas Pearl is more reserved and often scolds herself for her reactions and feels useless and effective it's also why she likely has more aggressive reactions because she doesn't know how to deal with her emotions properly she's gotten better but it's taken a lot of unlearning and help from Stephen to do so while there are autistic people who are more easy to identify like Peridot there are people like Pearl who you wouldn't know unless they told you I actually fall into the pearl category in this case since a lot of my traits aren't very pronounced or visible usually if and when I tell people I'm usually met with a lot of disbelief and bewildered looks if anything I guess it really only proves my point that people don't really know a lot about this subject and while Peridot and Pearl are aliens and likely cannot be canonically autistic because that's a human term I think that they're both pretty obviously autistic coded but enough about these two because I don't want more than half the script being about them while these two are excellent examples of those who are on the spectrum there's unfortunately more examples of bad representation now if you've made it to this point in the video we're getting into the juicy part of it though the one thing that they're mentioning about like emotional outbursts of anger that's a very very rare experience for me it's it's like it's needle in haystack most of the time my way of coping with overwhelm was like an internal thing like a lot of the time I would just shut down that would be my immediate kind of reaction to being overloaded rather than expressing it outwardly but I do know of people who are like that and I think a really good comparison between experiences of autistic people would be myself and autistically be from one of the podcasts that we did where we're talking about light fitness and stuff like that and yeah his reaction was very out outward anger kind of overwhelm for me it was very internal thing so it's interesting how we deal with overload and the feelings that we have though you've likely noticed a trend that trend being most autistic representation includes some sort of genius character who is just quote unquote misunderstood and somewhat socially awkward and unfortunately the most well-known characters who are thought or confirmed to be on the spectrum all fall under this category let's use some famous characters and their shows as an example the good doctor the Big Bang Theory and BBC's Sherlock Holmes now while Sheldon Cooper and Sherlock haven't been canonically confirmed to be autistic these are the shows that most people think of when they think of autistic characters and representation the good doctor Sean Murphy is canonically on the spectrum and it's actually the basis of the show there's many other shows like this where the main character is autistic and they're also some sort of genius that surpasses the intelligence of everyone around them while it is possible for someone's high intelligence to be due to their autism most of the time this isn't the case in fact most people are average or above average intelligence um i think the differences is that our skills are a lot more focused in certain areas they're not as generalized as with most people i tend to avoid it even more so like some of the the representation that i talk about a lot that i really really like is from the tv series called Hannibal and the reason why i like that show so much is because it really touches on the idea of empathy and the main character is autistic it's not something that is really mentioned very much during the show this autistic person they're a detective and it's basically following um like the series uh with with Hannibal Lecter being like the psychopathic uh person so it's kind of like contrasting the two which i found really interesting it's definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it i really really enjoyed that series to most autistic people are either of average or lower intelligence the problem becomes that the media romanticizes the idea of autism being more of a superpower than actually giving an accurate representation of what it is and can cause they focus on the very small percentage of genius people on the spectrum will also completely skipping past the majority who are either of average or lower intelligence you would think that something like all well known autistic characters being geniuses is a good thing but it really isn't it's a harmful stereotype and it does more harm than it does good while it is a positive trope the media sets the standard extremely high for real life people the ordinary person doesn't know much about autism and i'm assuming that you yourself even learned a thing or two while watching this video this means that people's expectations are formed by the media that they've consumed when the media that they're consuming tells them one thing and one thing only then their standards and expectations for what someone on the spectrum should act like is set eventually these characters become a model neuro minority and set the standard on how autistic people need to behave and be sociologist William Peterson coined the term model minority to describe the positively stereotyped demographic groups that achieve success despite marginalization there's actually a yeah that i really like that term i'm gonna i'm gonna take that turn to the bank model minority yeah it's something that we do see a lot and a lot of the time you'll have things like myths and stereotypes that we've had that really go the other way and so people think that the best way to to combat that is by going the other way so like it's not this demonic horrible that all negative thing that that people are is also not this glamourized angelic sort of godlike state of being that you know people are it's it's it's usually somewhere in the middle and it's i guess it's sort of tried it tries to be somewhat like inspirational and good and positive but all of the time it just comes off as you know being very out of touch you know it's not it's not always the best but i i see the possible good intentions that people might have of it it's the same thing where we're talking about earlier on that video that was um stopped by youtube um where they were talking about like using the term special you know good good intentions but bad execution very good and more detailed article about this that i will link below but it's actually what i'm basing a lot of my wording off of because of how well it explains the issue essentially shows like the good doctor create a false scale of importance it alleviates some pressure from those on the spectrum with high intelligence while excluding others who do not fit the idealized description it creates a mythical autistic superhero who deceives the public by misrepresenting how disabling some symptoms of autism can actually be this common trope also highlights and puts on a pedestal the false belief that autistic people only have value if they have seven skills that can benefit non-autistic people and offset their supposed societal burden the good doctor is again a perfect example of this as shan really only exists to push this narrative and makes his co-workers feel good about giving him a job while positive depictions can be essential to reducing the stigma the majority who do not fit the media idealized definition are left behind autistic people who don't resemble the geniuses on tv such as those who have visible and debilitating social and physical issues encounter major barriers to self-advocacy and are virtually erased because of this people who aren't autistic have no idea how to actually deal with or treat autistic people and it leads to the infantilization of people who are on the spectrum additionally these depictions usually eliminate the ugly things such as overstimulation and meltdowns this makes these things even more demonized and ultimately less understood meltdowns and overstimulation are completely avoidable but only one approached correctly these shows need to focus more on the bad and commonly unknown parts of autism to educate people on how to interact with individuals on the spectrum as well as give them basic education on the subject things such as stimming aren't even common knowledge and i'm sure are seen as bad due to individuals being uneducated unfortunately most people get their information from the media and entertainment they consume it's time for us to change what the status quo for autistic representation is so that life becomes easier for all of us i understand that shows like the good doctor are supposed to be feel good shows that put autistic people in a positive light rather than the normal negative one and if you like it for that reason and change of pace i don't blame you i just think it's a problem that this is basically the only type of autistic character that is ever big in the media while researching this subject to make sure my facts were correct i really only now realized how big the problem is but to end this video on a more or less positive note if you'd like to learn more about individuals who are on the spectrum and what that entails i will be leaving resources below if you'd like to donate to an organization that helps autistic people like me and many others i will be leaving a link to the autistic self advocacy network otherwise known as asan below as well as links explaining why autism speaks is a horrible organization that should never be donated to or supported i could explain in this video but that entire thing is its own video in of itself and i don't feel like getting into that territory right now and if you'd like to support me or my work including videos like this why not subscribe and hit that bell icon to get notifications of when i upload you can also further show your support by pledging to me on patreon every pledge enables me to keep making content comfortably and more frequently thank you so much for your support and i will see you all in the next video have an amazing day guys i don't think i think the the the key takeaway from that is that you know it's it's good to have a balance you know it's good to it's good to recognize both the the positives and negatives of being autistic and you know this being great this has been um autism representation in the media by tune ruins uh very very good video very interesting video and um i feel like it touches on a lot of um really key things about autism representation a couple of characters that people may know of um it's always good to have some more autism content that that's you know it seems to be quite actually autistic focused in the in the mainstream spheres