Hello lovely people!
As we head into Neurodiversity Celebration Week (18th- 24th March), a worldwide initiative that aims to challenge misconceptions of neurodiversity and champion representation, we asked the team what media representations of neurodiversity have made an impact on them recently….
Holly on the Netflix series ‘Love on the Spectrum’
The second series of this has just aired in January 2024. If you’ve not seen it, it follows a group of people with autism looking for love.
Full disclosure, I binged watched both series in a few evenings and cried when series 2 ended. Why? I absolutely loved it, I thought the show was produced in such a sensitive way that allowed each person to tell their own story with loads of vulnerability and very little interjection from the director, Cian.
Each one of them was so genuine and passionate that I couldn’t help but fall in love with them all, including their families who were supportive and fully embracing of their individuality.
One of my favourite women says “we’re all hard-wired for connection” and it’s my opinion that shows like this, when done right, raise awareness of the range of challenges people experience when searching for that connection.
There have been different reactions to this series with autistic and neuro-typical viewers coming down on both sides. Some find it exploitive and under-representative (for example, there were no matches between autistic and non-autistic people) while others find it a refreshing representation of a group of people for whom it’s still relatively uncommon to see the realities of their lives on screen.
For me, the way it challenged mainstream stereotypes such as ‘autistic people can’t give eye contact / don’t like or want physical touch / are anti-social and can’t show emotion made it a job well done.
Have you seen it and what did you think?
Rox on the Vanish Ad - 'Me, My Autism & I'
I absolutely LOVE this ad from Vanish via Havas. We've long been involved in conversations about how tricky it is to portray neurodiversity on screen and this ad absolutely nails it. It shows you a day in the life of Ash, an autistic girl, and the sensory overwhelm that she experiences. There is a clear brand link to Vanish as, for some autistic people who may gain huge comfort from particular items of clothing, 'making clothes live longer really matters'.
Liz on Josh Hughes, aka thetourettesbarber
I think we’ve come a long way since the ‘John’s Not Mad’ documentary with regards to understanding Tourette’s syndrome. We’re aware that it shows up in different ways for different people (i.e. it’s not all swearing) and we’ve been introduced to people like Jess Thom – an artist and writer who uses her Tourette’s to fuel her creativity and who said - ‘If I say something funny, it’s absolutely ok to laugh’. (I mention that while fully acknowledging that the condition itself is not funny at all and can be extremely challenging to live with.)
With that in mind, I was interested to see Josh Hughes’s Instagram account come up on my feed. Josh is a barber with Tourette’s who films himself cutting people’s hair. Yes, it’s funny at times and Josh laughs at himself often, but what really struck me was his interaction with a young client called Keiron. Keiron had recently been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and never met anyone else with the condition. In fact, he’d been asked to get out of the chair at other barbers because of his tics. Josh assures him in the video that he is safe to say whatever he wants and that, in contrast to in other areas of his life, he doesn’t need to suppress the tics. It’s an incredible thing to witness someone finally feeling a little less alone and more accepted. This is Josh’s mission and, from what I can see, he’s doing exactly that.
Follow him and watch his conversation with Keiron here.
Oh, and while you're at it, follow Jess Thom’s work here.
What have you seen recently that’s touched you in some way? Have there been any fails?
If you are looking for a way to mark ND celebration week in your organisation, we are giving £250 to ADHD UK for each of these sessions when booked for March or April:
- Unleashing the Power of Neurodiversity
- Coaching Neurodiversity: A workshop for line managers
- Neuro-inclusive Recruitment
Find out more here or email to book.
Team THC x