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Media sources can influence and shape attitudes and beliefs towards others. This study explored newspapers depictions of autism. All articles which included keywords relating to autism published in 2016–18 in Australian newspapers were read, coded, and categorised. In 2016, 428 articles relating to autism were published, 532 in 2017, and 391 in 2018. Only 7% of all articles demonstrated a high content focus on autism; most (59%) were heavily focused on opinion and less than 1% included first-hand perspectives from individuals on the spectrum. Over half the articles focussed upon health and medical issues (33%) and profiles of people on the autism spectrum (25%). To minimise the spread of misinformation around autism, the paper concludes with advice for those writing media articles related to autism. Newspapers provide a public account of autism and those with autism, therefore, media portrayals and what aspects of the condition are reported, inform public perceptions. Newspaper articles predominantly focus on the health and medical aspects of the condition, emphasising a 'cure' or treatments for autism. Articles tend to single out individuals with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, through media depictions or characterisations. Media articles reviewed often only mentioned autism but did not explain or discuss the details related to the syndrome and rarely included the expertise of qualified practitioners. Only 1% of all news stories included first-hand perspectives from individuals on the autism spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how a lack of access to increasingly complex and overlapping digital communications platforms in times of disaster for people with disabilities has the potential to make already life-threatening situations considerably more dangerous. As we are increasingly coming to rely on a social media mash-up of digital platforms to assist in communications during disaster situations, the issue of accessibility for people with disabilities is as dire as if it was high ground during a tsunami or transport during a typhoon. The contemporary social media environment is characterised by a complex and overlapping network of complementary platforms, populated by user-generated content, where people communicate and exchange ideas. In this environment, YouTube videos are posted to Facebook and embedded in blogs, and Twitter is used to link to these other sites and is itself embedded in other platforms. These networks are increasingly supplementing and supplanting more traditional communication platforms, such as the television and radio, particularly in times of disaster. The concern of this paper is that the elements from which this mash-up of communications channels is made are not always accessible to people with disabilities. This evolving network of social media-based communication exposes the limits of existing Internet-based universal design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]