1. Suggested Title of Research Project
Why is it important to be aware of mental illnesses in todays society, and how do illustrators contribute to raising this issue?
2. Significance
The rise in autism alone is hugely significant today. Now standing at one in 88 children being on the spectrum is really something we need to recognise in our world today. Awareness will help make our society a much more accommodating place for people with mental illnesses, and potentially lead to more help being offered to the families, more investments into schooling, and possibly their lives after school.
The more i write and read about the spectrum, the more interesting i find it and the more i feel it should be something that everyone is todays society is aware of. Im almost shocked at how little i knew before i started this essay.
3. Primary and Secondary Sources
Newspapers, contextual research, documentaries, and books will form the basis of my research.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/autistic-and-seeking-a-place-in-an-adult-world.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1417637291-SXbuYMxNp+oa07EoEGGLcQ
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/autism/overview.html
Mullin.J (2009) “Drawing Autism”, New York city, Mark Batty publisher.
http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/Pages/PDF/Mottron-BurackANGxp1.pdf
Images to use to make my points:
4. Methods
I aim to gain further knowledge on the subject throughout this discourse analysis, so as to make an accurate body of work. I will watch more documentaries and try and get my hands on some more books on autism. I also aim to gather more illustrations on the topic, and visualise the way in which i would like to illustrate autism to raise awareness.
5. Limitations
The main focus of my essay will be autism in todays society, mainly because it interests me so, and i feel the awareness for such disorder isn't as apparent as it should be.
I would like to briefly touch on autism like disorders such as ADHD and asperges as i feel they all fall into the same category. However the majority of the analysis will be on autism and how artists can raise awareness, and what can be done in today's society to help people with autism.
6. Essay Plan
a. Introduction (300 words) - Introduce my question, and briefly outline how i will be answering it.
b. Main body (1400 words) - Facts and figures of autism.
The importance of raising awareness.
What needs to change in our society in light of this.
c. Visual examples (1000 words) - Visual examples will hopefully support my points made in the main body of the essay, and allow me to talk about autism in an analytical way, with a sensitive approach to the illustrations. I will use the illustrations above to help me answer my question, with possible comparisons of the artists work and how they've gone about the same subject differently.
d. Conclusion (300 words) - Conclude my initial points, and make it clear that I've answered my initial question throughout.
