The Australian government initiative Positive Partnerships has taken a multidimensional step for autism education and awareness, with a short video entitled A Family Journey, about a father’s perspective of his child’s autism, which will be released on World Autism Awareness day on 2 April, 2015.
A Family Journey is a 10 minute animated short film produced by Positive Partnerships, based on real-life experiences and evidence provided by the generous help of parents from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The film will be freely available online and will even be translated into Greek, Arabic, Thai, simplified Chinese, Turkish and Vietnamese.
The free educational clip is designed for parents and family guardians of school-aged children with autism and diverse learning styles. It follows the narrative of a father learning about his son’s autism and the impact that it has for his whole family.
The film was designed under the notion that at critical moments, a parent firstly wonders why their children are not developing social skills. A quick succession of scenarios in the film, including a shopping outing, shows the viewer some of the challenges families face. Viewers can further learn of the help offered and can grasp how to manage in scenarios showed in the film.
Families from culturally diverse and linguistic backgrounds also contributed generously to the film’s translations, which the National Project Manager for Positive Partnerships, Karen Jones states “were made possible with the incredible support of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds across Australia”.
Jones further states that she was particularly inspired by one of the fathers involved, whose life’s dream is to be able to “put his head on his pillow one night with a clear conscience and say that he had done everything possible for his child”.
The aim of Positive Partners for the video, as stated by Jones, is for “parents and carers, and indeed the wider community who see A Family Journey, regardless of background, to be inspired to reach out for the support they need and to understand that they are not alone”.
Jones further stated that “a major focus for Positive Partnerships is on helping parents and carers develop the skills they need to have productive relationships in support of their child’s education, so hopefully the video will help spark some important conversations”.
A Family Journey will be released on World Autism Awareness Day (April 2) at a special event – a breakfast at Melbourne Aquarium at 7.30 am.