Aspect is thrilled to have worked in partnership with Helium Pictures on an exciting new six-part ABC TV series The Assembly. The show features 15 Autistic student journalists as they prepare and interview six of the nation’s biggest names, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Delta Goodrem, Hamish Blake, Adam Goodes, Sam Neill and Amanda Keller.
The students all undertook a journalism course adapted to be autism-friendly through Macquarie University with the support of Aspect’s Autism Friendly team, which is the first of its kind in Australia.
Aspect Autism Friendly uses a comprehensive framework of support that included:
- Visual stories to increase understanding and reduce anxiety
- Well-structured and inclusive learning sessions
- Adaptations to the sensory environment (including less noise and light and provision of quiet rooms)
- Training for all the crew and constant support for the students every day of the course
One of Australia’s most renowned interviewers, Leigh Sales, prepares and mentors the students to learn their craft, research their interviewees and discover how to ask the right questions to reveal the person behind the public persona - with no subject out of bounds and no question off the table.
Employment opportunities
At the completion of the series, the 15 cast members were all offered an opportunity to continue their development through a paid ABC internship.
With the unemployment rate for Autistic people almost three times that of people with disability, and eight times the general population,[1] this initiative is a great opportunity to promote inclusion and showcase the talents of emerging Autistic journalists.
"We believe that any area of work, including media, can be strengthened by including diverse people and perspectives. We’re proud that the course aimed to upskill Autistic students in media theory and practice and provided exciting opportunities and links to paid employment. We hope The Assembly demonstrates that with Aspect’s high quality autism friendly accommodations and supports, educational and workplace environments can be genuinely inclusive and successful" - Dr Tom Tutton, Aspect Autism Friendly Executive Manager
Aspect Autism Friendly
Aspect is proud to be a part of an initiative that so publicly displays the power of an autism-friendly environment and the results it can achieve.
“This project is an example of how we can create spaces where Autistic individuals don’t just participate—they thrive. In addition to supporting the students before, during and after filming, we also provided training to everyone involved in this program—including Macquarie University staff, ABC crew and the students mentor — on how to support Autistic people.”
Other elements of the autism-friendly framework used by Aspect included an explicit welcome, or 'inclusion statement', where students were encouraged to be themselves (as seen at the beginning of each interview), clear expectations for each session, visual stories, structured and inclusive learning sessions, adaptations to the sensory environment, quiet rooms and consistent daily support for the students.
“As student Silas comments in the show, if these supports were everywhere, ‘then the planet would be accessible’”, said Dr Tutton.
All episodes of The Assembly available to stream now on ABC iView.
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers: Summary of Findings
About Aspect Autism Friendly
Aspect’s Autism Friendly team consult with a wide range of organisations including airports, shopping centres, retailers, museums, art galleries, councils, sports and stadiums. Our model is ‘working in partnership’ between Autistic and non-autistic people, and between Aspect and our partner organisations. All of our work is based on our Autism Friendly Framework - a comprehensive approach to accessibility and inclusion of people on the autism spectrum.
Our team consists of Autistic people who provide both their professional and lived experience perspectives on how organisations can be more accessible and inclusive of Autistic people, and those with other hidden disabilities.
