Featured Photo: Source.
Today I wanted to talk a bit about Mark Rober and more specifically on the subject of Autism as it relates to his reveal that his son has Autism, which is the story for many families and parents, and he understandably was nervous to let his fans and the internet know about it until recently as it can be a delicate situation and also just to protect his son from the possible negativity of the internet or just people who don’t understand Autism or who might want to exploit it or something along those lines, which are all very real fears for parents who have children with Autism.
If you do not know who Mark Rober is he has a quite popular channel on Youtube (Mark Rober) where he does these really cool videos that involve engineering genius and very cool experiments and ideas that are then played out on these videos, one of the things he has been well known for are these bait boxes he made that mess with porch pirates via noise, glitter, fart spray and so on – porch pirates are people who steal packages from people’s door steps, it’s quite the epidemic in the US.
Mark Rober is an experienced engineer and formerly worked for both NASA and Apple so he certainly knows what he is doing. He even has an engineering class that runs for 30-days to teach people how to use engineering to make their own cool ideas. So, he is a very interesting and fun individual who makes a lot of epic YouTube videos and projects using his engineering knowledge.
So yeah, that is Mark Rober. A part of his announcement about his son also involved the highlighting of an event he organised called Color the Spectrum which is going to involve a lot of personalities from both the mainstream and from the online world, and its purpose is to bring awareness to Autism, and most importantly the proceeds raised will go to Next for Autism, a nonprofit that helps those with Autism who are 18 or over who may find their options for support lacking. So much support for Autism only really exists for children rather than adults with Autism, and I just thought this was a really amazing thing and wanted to talk about it because I fully agree that there needs to be more available support for things like employment and further education for adults with Autism, so I am very glad this charity was chosen.
Sure, Next for Autism only has a focus on the United States, but as far as I am concerned all Autism Awareness is ultimately good nonetheless and you have to start somewhere, hopefully Color the Spectrum will help spur other things for those with Autism across the world. I can only imagine what Autism is like for people who live in less developed countries or simply countries that have poor support systems, so that would include many countries outside of the West for example, but there are also many countries in the West that have a lot of catch-up to do on the topic of Autism and support for those with the condition as well, we simply have a long way to go, even in the US and UK.
The video where Mark Rober reveals he has a son with Autism is found here and is also a fundraiser for the Next for Autism charity. Color the Spectrum will be a livestream event taking place on the 1st May and I shall be watching it, although I won’t be able to watch it live due to the timezone difference, but I will check it out after the fact. The fundraiser in question aimed to raise $1 million and is already almost there, sitting at $794k, before the event has even begun.
More specifically Next for Autism is a United States nonprofit organisation that aims to help adults with Autism live more independent lives and avoid isolation, aiming to help them work and be a part of their communities. It’s really good and I currently can’t think of anything like this that exists in the UK on this kind of level, at least with this specific focus. Of course, there are programs and ways for adults with Autism in the UK, these are often limited to localised areas though, so they’re perhaps not super widespread or accessible across the entire UK.
For myself I am currently being helped by Health in Mind and Autism Anglia, such as for social skills learning, learning about life and independence, taking part in their social groups for people with Autism, having a social worker helping with learning at-home skills and other life skills, and possibly finding social clubs soon once lockdown ends. I am also going to be starting an online video-call course with The Prince’s Trust soon as well, this charity is for young people who are vulnerable but does not have a specific focus on Autism, but it may give me access to a Mentor afterwards who may be able to help me with work or further Education.
So, I do very much like the idea of these kind of things that can help adults with Autism and give them the support they need to live an independent and non-isolated life and meet others, including those who also have Autism as well. And as such you can understand my excitement then for the Color the Spectrum event, it will help with general awareness and understanding, and we can only hope that it may inspire the creation of charities or groups with a similar focus to help adults with Autism that Next for Autism have, something that I cannot stress enough is so very much needed.
Mark Rober’s video gives a neat general explanation of Autism and doesn’t speak of it in a dehumanizing manner, while also explaining the stereotypes as well, such as in the video he talks about how many people assume everyone with Autism have a super-ability on a subject or thing, but this is most often not always the case. He also explains specifically how Autism affects his own son, which also goes to show how each and every one with Autism is also affected differently, it’s not the same for each and every person with Autism.
I am looking very forward to the Color the Spectrum event, especially as it is for a cause I am very much a part of as I myself have Autism, so I am really happy to see anything like this that raises awareness and raises money for respectable charities to help those with Autism – even more so adults with Autism as again that is very relevant to me and an area that is lacking.
Thank you for reading, please donate to the fundraiser or even donate to your local Autism charity if you have one! And also make sure to spread news of the event and awareness of Autism in general.