Rylan's Story - Autism is not a choice is a short film from Windaroo Valley State High School (Australia, 2022) included in the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival. Rather than assuming a plot, the film invites viewers to consider themes around autism, ADHD, cognitive and intellectual disability, mental health, stigma and stereotypes. It also touches on school and home life, bullying and how perception shapes responses to difference. Presented by a young Australian filmmaker team, this work contributes a thoughtful, youth-led perspective to the festival programme, prompting conversations about inclusion, understanding and the everyday challenges faced by children and teenagers.
My name is Rylan and I am 9. I like to watch YouTube and play Roblox. I also like to pat the dogs and hug them. I have autism and I have ADHD combined type. I also have dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. I have anxiety disorder and a sleep niation disorder. Pragmatic language disorder. I also have severe food aversions. I also have sensory processing disorder. Autism is a problem in your brain and it affects all kinds of things. Your sleeping and mostly your anger and your sadness. I was diagnosed when I was 4 years old. Some cool things is that I can hear conversations from miles away. I also don't like loud noises but I like smooth things. This is my dog Harley. She is the best dog I've had so far. I love her so much. She is the best dog in the world. She's like in my heart everywhere. That's how much I love her. She's my therapy dog as well. Mum looks after me a lot and she takes me to all my appointments. Mum helps me the most. I am home schooled. She helps me do home schooling. I like how she fights for everything and she is the best mum ever. My name is Denae and I am mum of 6 and Ryland is my youngest. He's 9. I'm his full time carer, his educator and he's my absolute world. Ryland was diagnosed at the age of 4 with autism and in the years following he's had a multitude of other diagnoses that have affected his life. When we took Ryland for his initial assessments at age 4, I always knew that I didn't want to say that there was something wrong with my child but I knew that something wasn't right. During his younger years there were a lot of signs that I didn't recognise until after we'd spoken to the paediatrician that these were flags for autism and sensory processing disorder. He was a very unsettled baby. When Ryland was diagnosed I heard the word autism but I didn't really know too much about it. After the diagnosis came through and doing my own research I realised that Ryland being different is not a bad thing. He may struggle harder than some kids but there are so many things about autism that make him the unique little individual that he is and it's something that needs to be celebrated more. So what are some challenges that you find with having autism? Some challenges is where you can't control it and when you bond with someone if you have to switch it will be hard for me to switch. Something that I can't control is my anger. Like if I get angry my brain just goes, switches off and I can't control it. I get frustrated about how I can't think straight and when I get distracted on too many things while I'm trying to do schooling. Sometimes I don't feel normal, I mean not sometimes, all the time. I think that other kids think I'm different because it's harder for me to do work and I just act weird and they don't like how I have autism. I wish that everyone tells their kids to stop bullying because then I'd be able to go back to school and see all of my friends again. I wish that kids stopped bullying kids that were different.
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Rylan's Story - Autism is not a choice by Windaroo Valley State High School (2022)
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Rylan's Story - Autism is not a choice
by Windaroo Valley State High School - SCHOOL DOCUMENTARIES
