The Genius Painter and Other Stories : A Children Picture Book About Stigma of Autistic Children

Abstract

This thesis discusses stigma that harm autistic children that can harm the mental health of autistic children. Using children picture book as the medium and realistic fiction as the genre, this creative work shows how autistic children’s mental health is harmed by stigma and how autistic children cope with the stigma. The stories incorporated stigma theory which explains how the stigma affects the main characters’ self-confidence self-concept. Coping mechanisms of camouflaging, disclosing, and reframing are used for the main characters to cope against the stigma toward them. Other than coping mechanism, autistic children can get support from other people who are also against the stigma of autistic people.