Joe Kendall

ALT Comic Title: Morality & How Researchers Talk About Us. The first panel shows a researcher looking at a graph. The text reads: In 2020, researchers conducted a study with autistic and allistic people. Participants were from Brazil and between the ages of 14-25. They were given a choice. The comic shows two different choices. The first one is: Support a bad cause for monetary gain. The panel shows a girl smirking and holding a stack of money, her back turned to a cardboard box of crying kittens. The text on the side of the box reads 'termination'. The second choice is: Don't support the bad cause but miss out on the money. The girl is holding one of the kittens in her arms and yells “No!” as she kicks the empty box away. The comic goes on to explain that the choice was given in two different settings: public and private. One panel shows a girl sweating nervously, surrounded by a group of people. The other panel shows the girl alone in a big open space as she carefully considers.

ALT A girl is seen clutching a sack of money, cackling wickedly. She has little devil horns and a tail. The comic text reads: This is what the study discovered: Allistic people were more likely to support the bad cause. The higher the monetary reward was, the more likely they were to do so. The girl is seen fawning over a pile of money with hearts in her eyes. She gasps “Wow!”, her mouth wide open. The comic goes on to say that allistics were more likely to support the bad cause in the private setting. One panel shows the girl in a group of people, with a halo over her head and sweating nervously as she lies, “I don't support it!” In the next panel the devil horns have returned, and she is alone in the room with a wicked grin, clutching the sack of money as she says, “Give me the money!”

ALT Autistics, on the other hand, were much less likely to support the bad cause. And their answer stayed the same, regardless of the setting. The first comic panel shows an autistic girl playing with the kittens from the first page. The second panel shows the girl turning up her nose at the stack of money. In both panels the girl says determinedly, “No way!” The comic then asks: So, how did the researchers feel about these results? Well... They concluded that autistics were too concerned with their principles and morals. The panel shows the researcher tapping a sign showing the girl and the cat crossed out; the text reads, “Bad!”. The comic goes on to say that the researchers framed the results as a negative thing. It shows two shortened excerpts from the research paper, which read as follows: “...inflexible when following a moral rule even though an immoral action can benefit them...” “...suffer an undue concern about […] the moral cost...”

ALT The autistic girl faces the reader, looking perplexed. She says, “Basically, they decided that autistics care too much and should be more willing to sacrifice their principles for money.” She inhales slowly, massaging her temples. The camera zooms out as she raises her hands in frustration and shouts, “WHAT!” After calming down, she continues, “I know, I'm shocked too! But let's remember this is only one study. Not all autistics are selfless, and not all allistics are selfish. Yet it does shine a spotlight on how researchers talk about us.”