ANIMATED ABOUT AUTISM
18 year old animation student Charlotte Vicarage is finally achieving a long-held ambition, thanks to ITV Fixers. And we’ve put her in touch with the New York teenager who has been her inspiration.
Charlotte, from Berkshire, is autistic and it has been her dream to make a film about living with the condition. But she never thought it would happen until ITV Fixers approached her college earlier this year and invited animation students to help make the title sequence for the ITV Fixers broadcast films.
Charlotte’s entry was one of those picked to form part of the titles. She then told us about her ambition to make an animated film about living with autism. We agreed to help.
Says Charlotte, “The trouble with autism is that it’s not physical. If you see someone in a wheelchair, or walking with a stick or on crutches you automatically think they are disabled. But if a person looks normal as autistic people do, then people think you are being silly or misbehaving if you behave strangely. For example, sometimes I talk to myself or do hand gestures. I want people in the street to look at me and not feel sorry for me or think I am a freak, but to accept me as a person.”
Charlotte is now working closely with ITVFixers new media director Christian Aldridge on the content of the film. “I’m hoping the film will make people more understanding of the condition. There are positive sides to being autistic and if there was an antidote to autism, I wouldn’t take it as I am happy being myself."
Charlotte was inspired to make her film when she saw 18 year old New Yorker Alex Olinkiewicz on YouTube. Alex has Asperger’s, which is a form of autism. In his film, he talks about how it affects him and illustrates his feelings with animations. ITVFixers arranged for a webchat between Charlotte and Alex. Afterwards, Charlotte told us: “It was brilliant talking to the person who is my inspiration. And it was fantastic to meet someone who is in the same boat as me. I hope I can stay in touch with him, time zones permitting.”
Earlier this year Charlotte created one of the animations featured in the ITV Fixers title sequence.
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