ADHD in TV & Film: A Conversation for ADHD Awareness Month
This week I sit down with Heather and Sarah Taylor, hosts of the Braaains podcast who have a rich background in the film and TV industry. We delve into how neurodivergence is portrayed in TV and film, why that matters, and how it's been going.
Highlights:
How neurodivergent people are represented in TV and film
Examples of misrepresentation
A watchlist of examples of it done right
The key to achieving better representation
Mentioned in this episode:
You’re Not Alone: Navigating Life with Mental Illness (a 3-part series from Braaains)
Inequality in 1,600 Popular Films - Annenberg Inclusion Initiative
Joy Organics - visit AdultingWithADHD.com/Joy to save 20%!
🙏 If you enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to leave a review on Apple or Spotify!
Summary
In this episode of the "Adulting with ADHD" podcast, host Sarah welcomes Heather and Sarah Taylor, the sister duo behind the "Brains" podcast. The discussion explores how neurodivergent people—especially those with ADHD and autism—are represented in film and television. The Taylors share their personal and professional experiences, emphasizing the need for nuanced, authentic, and varied portrayals of neurodiversity on screen. They critique the prevalence of "coded" neurodivergent characters (whose conditions are implied but not stated), the pitfalls of stereotypical or one-dimensional representation, and the lack of disabled creators in storytelling roles. The episode also highlights positive examples, the importance of lived experience in writing and casting, and the broader statistics around disability representation in media.
In this episode
"We need intentional representation. Just like one representation of, I'll just say X, is not enough on film and television. We have to have many, many, many representations because there's so many different experiences."
Introduction to Heather and Sarah Taylor and their "Brains" podcast
The importance of authentic, multidimensional neurodivergent characters
The difference between "coded" and explicit representation
Common misrepresentations and stereotypes in media
Statistics on disability and neurodiversity in film and TV
Positive examples of representation done well
The need for disabled people to be involved in storytelling and production
Advocacy for more creators, actors, and consultants with lived experience
Transcript
[Sarah S.]
This is the Adulting with ADHD podcast, self-empowerment for people with ADHD. Very excited to have with me today, Heather and Sarah Taylor, and they host the Brains podcast.
[Heather T.]
Brains.
[Sarah S.]
Okey. I'll let them I'll let them tell you more about themselves. Super interesting backgrounds and super interesting topic we're talking about today. Welcome to the show, ladies.
[Heather T.]
Thank you.
[Sarah T.]
Thank you so much.
[Sarah S.]
I'll I'll jump in and uh please do. Introduce myself. I'm Sarah Taylor of the Taylor sisters. Uh, I am a film and television editor based in Canada. And I joined my sister to co-host the podcast Brains. Brains with three A's where we dive into um mental illness and disabilities and how we see it on the screen.
[Sarah T.]
Yes. Um, we always have a special guest that comes in that has lived experience of something and then talk about how they wish they could be represented on screen. Um, it's just so fun because we get to learn so much every time we have a conversation. Um, I'm a writer and a director. I was a former journalist and ad exec for my sins. Um, not the journalism part, the ad part. Um, and I think I take that mindset into the work that I do of interviewing people. So it's so interesting to be able to do that as part of this podcast. Um, and to just bring hopefully to listeners just the understanding that all of these things are very nuanced and everyone's experience is their own experience and they're all different. And that we have to see so just like one representation of, I'll just say X, is not enough on film and television. We have to have many, many, many representations because there's so many different experiences.
[Sarah S.]
Wonderful. Preach. So, um, to get started, let's talk about how you guys got into this space.
[Heather T.]
Well, podcasting is something I've been doing for quite some time. But then Heather and I constantly talk about our brains and all the things that happen inside of them, whether it's like, hey, I learned this new trick in therapy or I'm feeling this certain way. And we also always talked about how we would see something on film and television and be like, what the heck? Why why are they doing that? What is going on? And we'd have our little rant sessions and we decided, I think it's something that we should probably maybe record. We could give it a go. And then uh and then Brains was born.
[Sarah T.]
Yeah, I think we we actually like we talked about, well, Sarah's like, we should do a podcast, we should do a podcast. And then when we stumbled upon that, we're like, of course, this is exactly the perfect intersection of like the work that we do, we talk about what we really are passionate about. As a writer, I'm always trying to put my own lived experiences on the page because I realized the reason I even went into writing was because I was deeply personal in a project that I we did this collective creation. I was deeply personal, told a personal story and people will come up to me afterwards and say, I always felt alone. I never heard anyone else had the same experience as me. And I realized that in sharing our experiences and sharing those parts of our lives that we often feel we have to hide, that actually by doing so, by hiding that, we're doing a disservice to ourselves and to a lot of other people.... And so for me it's like, how do we continue to tell these unique experiences with people who don't always get to tell the story?
[Sarah S.]
I love that. Um, in your work, what's the most important takeaway you've had on how neurodivergent people are represented on the screen?
[Sarah T.]
Now, I'm going to say like for for this conversation, I'm going to talk about neurodiversity through the lens of ADHD and autism because they're best friends. Yeah. In the neurodivergent world because neurodivergency can be many, many, many, many things. Um, I think often when people say neurodiverse, they kind of mean autism, but it's not what it is. It's many things. Um, and so I think the biggest takeaway that I have is that most of the time neurodivergent representation is just coded. Their characters never say that they are neurodivergent or say that they have ADHD or autism or anything like that. Um, and when and the reason I think so many people want to hijack characters to see representation is because when characters are coded, they're overwhelmingly more three-dimensional, complex characters. And then when you say, this is here, we're going to tell you the story about autism. It's very often more one-dimensional characters or very um you know, we'll talk a little bit about, you know, what we need to do better at, but that often it's like just very like to someone who is non-disabled, they'll be like, great, that's autism or that's ADHD because it's so stereotypical. And so we're not really seeing ourselves and I actually had someone say, everything I see that's not coded feels wrong. Um, so but then we have characters, so I'll just list a few characters because I think it's interesting. In autism, we have people that have said they feel identification with Christina Yang on Gray's Anatomy and she's very complex character or Abed in Community, um, or Tina in Bob's Burgers, you know, they sometimes address that. Um, we have Amaly or even Dax in um, oh, what I can't remember the name of the film. Oh, Guardians of the Galaxy. Um, that he's coded autistic, which I just love. Um, and then like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory is an is an obvious one that people talk about a lot. Um, in Brooklyn 99, I read recently like Captain Holt and Amy Santiago would lean into that the autism camp. And then for ADHD, you have uh Jake Peralta on Brooklyn 99, so impulsive, a little stereotypical ADHD, but identify with that a lot. Um, Hank on Bluey, Dory in Finding Nemo, Hiccup and how to train your dragon, and then Jean in um Bob's Burgers, the youngest son. And even I've seen like gifts of Brian Cranston's character Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, which I love. There's one where he's like, oh, the light bulb's out. I'll go find a light bulb. And then he goes on that train that train that I have been on many times where you find yourself as my husband says, and suddenly all of the pantry is on the kitchen table. And you are reorganizing something that was perfectly fine. And then at the end of this like sequence, you see how under the sink um with everything out from under the sink trying to change like a part of the sink out because there was a clog. And I'm like and he's like, don't you say? She's like, why is the light bulb still out? He's, don't you see? I'm getting to it. And he's like in the sink and I'm like, oh my god, that yes, that's me. And they call him a goofy human hairball, but really he's probably a guy who has undiagnosed ADHD.
[Heather T.]
Oh, this resonates so deeply in both my relationship with my sister and my house. People in my house. Anyway.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah, I'm thinking of my garage right now. So let's jump into um what misrepresentation can look like. Well, let's back up. The the examples you just gave were just examples of existing, not necessarily misrepresentation.
[Sarah T.]
No, those were just coded. None of them have none of those examples are people. Those are examples that people have cited as being like same thing with like Wednesday from um Wednesday from Wednesday. Um, that's an easy one to remember. Um, saying, oh, she's autistic. But she's never it's never said. And that idea like without saying who they are or, you know, that part of their themselves, which is not all of themselves, audiences don't expand their understanding of neurodiversity or that idea of what's acceptable differences, which I mean, we should all accept all differences, but you know, you know, you know how it is. Um, but we we need intentional representation. Yeah....
[Sarah S.]
Thank you for that clarification. So with that with that understood, what are some examples of misrepresentation that you guys have observed?
[Heather T.]
I think one of the biggest things that I've noticed is that if the character is cited as having say autism, that is the storyline. It's just about their journey of dealing with autism. And they're not three-dimensional characters. That's the only beat they have is their neurodivergence. And that doesn't serve anybody. And then again, it's always like harking back to that stereotype that we've seen maybe from some other, you know, another show like, oh, the person's like, oh, I heard about autism once. Here's a story about autism, right? Yeah. Um Yeah. So that's that's or it's like they're uh become like a superpower because they have like they're so intelligent because they have this one thing that they're hyperfocused on. So like like in the good doctor, like there's certain characters where it's like just because they're autistic makes them a superhero.
[Sarah T.]
Yeah, I think there is um often especially the savantism, it's in autism is really overplayed. So really they only make up and I want to look relook at the stats. I found the stats somewhere of like 10% of autistic people. I think it's less than that, but but then we see like the good doctor, the accountant. Um, and then Oh yeah. I know. And in the accountant people are like, wait, no one who is autistic was involved. They're like, but we interviewed people and again, um we need to be part of the storytelling and we'll talk about that later. But um uh they're over or like coded betrayals like a beautiful mind or Sherlock Holmes is a big one. Um, who are often white men who are there to provide mystical insights into something that no one else could crack and that is their purpose, right? Um, thankfully like Sherlock Holmes is a little bit more three-dimensional, like the new I'm thinking the new one with um Benedict Cumberbatch, but um still he's pretty pretty screwed up. But they're often still like the odd one out, right? So I think a lot of times it's like they're the odd one out. They're the only character who's neurodiverse. And if we actually look at our lives, I'm looking at you Sarah and I myself. I mean, lots of my friends have ADHD and autism and family members and many other people in my life. So I'm like and mental health disabilities and like the whole gamut. So I'm like, wait a minute, why is there only one? So often they're that odd one out. Um, it's very othering. Um, and then this idea that um often it's showing the effect people's neurodiversity have on other people. So we don't see it from their perspective. We see it from how are you this person how is this person impacting all these other characters even when they're the main character. Um, I think that and overemphasizing those traits, like I said before about like that idea that they seem autistic or they seem like they have ADHD to non-disabled people. But it's just like this laundry list of who we are instead of taking into account that these are spectrum disorders. Um, ADHD, I saw it's like um often the symptoms provide comic relief. Um, they are nuance they those nuance like they really like bug other characters and they're never properly addressed. Um, so that's to me and it's often again told through that perspective of like primarily white, primarily male um perspective.
[music]
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[music]
[Sarah T.]
Um, and if you don't mind, I'm going to give some stats because I love stats.
[Heather T.]
Heather loves stats. Stats are the best.
[Sarah T.]
I love stats, stats, stats, math. Okay. Um, so Math. The best. So there's there's a really good study um that was done by the um Annenberg, I'm going to say this Annenberg inclusion initiative. So they do stuff about uh inclusion. They've been I think for the last eight years have included disability in their conversation. You should really look at their studies. They're amazing. Um, they said only 1.9% of all speaking characters in films in 2022 were shown with a disability. So this is broadly all disabilities, which is wild. 1.9%. Wow. Of films in 2022. And again, state state the stat of how many people uh 25%. 25%. That is known. That is like because people don't disclose necessarily. So 25% of people who have known disabilities, that's our population. So such a vast different.... Um, and there's no meaningful difference in this percentage of and these are speaking characters. So sometimes they don't get to speak because uh often people with disabilities are used as set pieces. Like, oh, let's put that guy in the wheelchair over there. Look, I did it, disability. And I'm like, oh my god, it's so wrong. Um, but that's that's that's stat isn't different over the over 800 films in eight year time span of the study. Um, most characters have a physical disability. Um, so if we're talking about something like neurodiversity, I think they put it under the idea of a cognitive disability, which also addresses things like depression, dementia, PTSD, like those all sit under there. So that's um 17.3%. Uh, of people with disability. So mostly, most characters have a physical disability. So mobility and missing limbs. Um, we all need representation across all of them, of course. Um, because characters could be shown with more more than one disability, those percentages don't equal 100% because people often have multiple disabilities. Yeah. Um, but yeah, uh 54 of the top 100 movies failed to feature at least one speaking character with a disability. Um, and then 76 movies were missing female identified characters with a disability. Um, and then only one of the 800 movies included in the like over time analysis reached, you know, proportional representation of characters with disabilities. And actually they say here 27% of the US population has disabilities. Um, and that was in 2021, one film. And so it's just wild that it's also like, you know, we said heavily male and uh is 70% are male. Three quarters of the characters disabilities were white. And then uh only one character with a disability in 2022 was LGBTQ. And out of 800 films examined, only 10 characters shown with disability were queer. And none of the characters were transgender. So, um yeah. And only a mere 15 characters with a disability in 2022 were shown as parents and we know that we love people in our relationships and have children um because uh Yeah. We do. We are three-dimensional characters who have lives. Um, and we are ants. We are moms, we're dads, we're um or we're not. But we're all like Yeah, yes. I have lots of plants. Um, but no children. And so it's like there's but we don't see those representations. And I think um or like especially leading characters that are leading the story and we get to see the story from their perspective and they're not being used again as a character who will they're not being used to basically say make show how good someone else's life is. Like we know from conversations we've had in the past that um often disability story lines are either fix uh institutionalize or death. Mm. And like oh isn't everyone else sad that that person died? And can't we be inspired by them? And we're like, how about we get to be three-dimensional characters? Yes. So we need to do better clearly by this study. Anyways, that's the study. That's the information. That's. Oh my gosh. My brain splintered in so many directions of hearing you read those stats and I have so many questions. But what I will do is I'll put the link to the study in the show notes. Because I I'm sure the listeners are also dying to look at this study. Yeah, and it's like a study of everything and they look at behind the camera, not as much for disability, which I'm curious about, but I think it's because it's probably so minimal. But they do talk about behind the camera representation. Actually that um box office numbers aren't impacted by like a lot of times you're like, oh, but we need this, you know, white male famous lead and at the top of the show so that we can make lots of money and actually statistically I looked at at like box office returns, it didn't actually do that. That's not true. It's just very much in baked into this mentality of the people making decisions that, well, these are the people we have to give the most money to. And then you look at something like, you know, what hit what's like breaking records and blown out of the water is the Barbie movie. Um, you know, a woman with ADHD. Yeah. Greta Gerwig was the director and co-writer. Amazing. And why aren't we giving more? And and if you look at well, well, why did that hit more? It's like because they actually gave them money and they actually gave them marketing. Major marketing. So surprising, right? Like if you tell people about something, they will go watch it. Yes. Oh, wow, yeah. This is this is a really good conversation. I have a lot to say about this. Obviously. Yeah. I I know again why we do this podcast. That's There's lots of things to say. Oh, that is so gross.... So, um, of these very few who who get it right, um what are what are some what are some examples of where it's been done right? If you can even think of.
[Sarah T.]
No, there are. Yeah, there's some. Can I say one and then Heather, you can go on your spiel?
[Sarah T.]
Sure, sure. I'm ready. For anyone who knows not doesn't know me, which is probably a lot of you. I have a I think a five-page document with all the things I want to say. Sarah knows I have a lot to say. Yes, she has a lot to say. I just want to point out one that I recently saw and actually Heather Heather pointed me to the show. Um, oh my gosh, now I'm blank on the show. Not dead yet.
[Sarah T.]
Yes, not dead yet. Yes, not dead yet. I was like, wait, is that the name? Um, and her roommate in the show played by Steve Glassman, who is Rich Glassman. Rich Glassman. Who's Steve Glassman? Anyway, Rich. Anyway, he is autistic in he is an autistic human and he plays Rich. It's not Rick. I'm like, he's not Rich either. No, I know. I was like Steve, Rick. Clearly he is also a white man. Rick Glassman plays uh the roommate of the main character. And there's a moment when he is upset about how she's organizing things and then she says, what are you Aspergers or something? And then he was like, yes. And then leaves and I was kind of like at first like, what? And then he comes back later in this in the the episode and says, by the way, I I am autistic. We don't call it Aspergers anymore. Um, this is how I need things to function so that I am in a good space and I need my space to be like this. And she was like, okay, cool, thanks for letting me know. And then, you know, they got along better. And then throughout the series or that that season, there was moments where he was like super masking with uh this girlfriend he had and not being his true self. And she was like, what are you like you need to be like who you are truly is the best and don't hide those parts of you. And he was able to like just let himself be himself and it was uh it was a beautiful moment. So I like that one a lot.
[Sarah T.]
Yeah. I think what's also cool is that he is an environmental lawyer. He went to Stanford, I think. Like he is like successful. Yeah, totally. And this idea but also obsessed with like he has like all these collectibles, like that's his like special interests. He loves video games. Like there's other things. So again, I think a complex character, but also played by someone with autism. Um, I think the first show that ended up being shown I on mainstream television that actually had an autistic actor playing an autistic character that main character was Kayla Cromer in Everything's going to be okay. It was created by Australian comedian Josh Thomas. And then through the writing of it, Josh was like, oh wait, I'm autistic too. So now it's like created by someone who's like, this has helped me really identify myself and who I am. Um, Rick Glassman was also in a great show called As We See It, which has three autistic characters, varying different needs, different family situations. Um, they show, you know, the idea of like having an like parent uh when one in this case an older brother acting as parent trying to deal with his sister who just wants to have sex and he just doesn't understand that. She's like, but I'm a human and I'm a and I I'm a woman and I want to have sex. And like, well, let me let me figure this out. Let's find the right way to do this. Um, I think also what's cool, well, I think a lot of times we see really good representation more and more in children's television. Um, and for young teens because I feel like there's this acceptability in that in that space to like I had a friend of mine's like, I feel like I can be really open about my who I am if I want to write for kids TV, but not if I want to write for mainstream TV, which should not be the case. It should be like, no, we embrace these conversations everywhere. But there's a really great show created by Matt Heather and Courtney Jane Walker called Home Sweet Rome. Um, the main character Lucy has ADHD and anxiety. We know those two things are often like comorbidities of each other or anxiety is a comorbidity of ADHD. I love that they have that. Um, also one that I didn't even flag, but it's so true is Julie and Julia. Um, Julie has ADHD and she says it out loud, but I just never flagged it.... And then I'm like, of course, you are so obsessed with doing her. I mean, I've done that. I did daily ukulele for 220 days and then my routine got disrupted by someone being in the house and then I stopped doing it and never went back to it. Yeah. Like and I'm like, oh, of course. So I think you start to like realize that there you start to start to like realize they're there, but then also there's people who let it go. Like, did you know that Betty in Riverdale in the pilot episode had ADHD and then they never mentioned it again? Oh, really? Yeah, I didn't someone else mentioned it to me and I was like, oh my god, because they show her ADHD meds and she's an overachiever and like that idea of Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. It tracks. Yeah, it tracks, but then they never bring it up again. So I don't know if like they dropped that. Um, but then you'll also see things like Heartbreak High has great um representation played by an act an autistic actress playing autistic character um and dealing with that. I think documentary has been really great. Uh, there's going to be a show on Broadway called um oh no. How to dance in How to dance in Ohio. And they had uh autistic actors. They had an autistic consultant because though we say we need to be have creators, you also need the creators and the actors not to be the consultants. So you need to have someone there as well to help. Oh. Be the person who can be like, hey, we need to change the environment or hey, let's do this thing or hey, like come ask me questions. So it doesn't become great, we're going to hire one disabled person to come in and they're going to answer all the questions of all the disabilities and then they will also have to write and do everything else. So they're doing double duty. So it's like um having a mix of things. And then let's see, I'll give another one. Um, there's something like uh Teen Wolf has a character in it, um, who is named Styles. He's the main character's best friend and he is diagnosed with ADHD. Um, and he also has anxiety and panic attacks. And so statistically 50% of adults with ADHD struggle with anxiety. Um, and then there's a quote from his coach which just makes you feel a lot of feels. So Styles, great kid, zero ability to focus, super smart, never takes advantage of his talents. And I'm like, how many people with ADHD were told could do better if they applied themselves? FYI, we're trying. There's one other show and of course I don't know the name of it. It's on it's I think it's a Disney show and it's with this little guy and his dog and he's like in junior high and he has anxiety and he's coming back to go back to school. He was being homeschooled because his anxiety was really crippling for him and then he comes back to school with his um support dog. And so it's really sweet and the dog's freaking adorable. And so I watched that with my kid and that was like a good thing to watch. Um, that's why I like explain yeah what what it could be like, what anxiety could be like. It's important to have that in kids' television, but again, I'm like it's so important to have it in adult television as well. Like I'm really curious like Percy Jackson um is coming out the new like they have a sci-fi series coming out. They but Percy Jackson has ADHD and dyslexia, which often also sit go together a lot. And I didn't realize I guess I just didn't again I like sorry I didn't really watch the Percy Jackson. It was you should. It was good. I don't I know. I love it. It's also the stuff I love. I don't know. I hadn't watched it. But Again, we watched it with our kid anyway. Continue. Yeah, so but basically his dyslexia allows him to read ancient Greek. I'm like, wow, I wish that that's really true. Um, and his ADHD like helps him again, helps him conquer challenges because he looks at the world differently. So I love that they did that in it's a yes, I guess it's kind of like a superpower, but he's also part God. So I mean, he's already got a superpower. He's super powerful. Yeah, there's already suspension of belief, so it's okay. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, totally. So, um, you know, what's the key to achieving more of this good representation out there?
[Heather T.]
Getting the people to tell the stories. Yes. What is it? Uh So it's nothing about us. Nothing else about us. Nothing about us without us. And I think uh Jeremy Andrew Davis, he's a writer, director and producer and he's um autistic and has ADHD.... He said, um he would like to change it to say, nothing about us without us in charge. Mhm. Yes. Because the thing is is that a lot of times what happens for any marginalized community, whether you're disabled or you're a person of color or you are queer or identifies part of the LGBTQ AI plus community, that you are being put in very junior roles and it's really hard for you unless you can find allies in the room to support you. You end up standing up for things and having to try to communicate things and then basically be seen seen as a person who blocks things and says no and and then a lot of people will afterwards be like, oh yeah, I really thought it was a good point, but they never supported you. So it's like we have to change a lot of things back there. But um in that bit of conversation, but I think let us be part of the storytelling process, but also like let us be in charge. Let us have more representation across lots of shows. Um, like we said earlier like we let us be like the fun aunt and have kids and be in loving relationships and you know, see the less romanticized aspects of neurodiversity, but also in the guise of being a wholly three-dimensional character. Um, I think and that that we have many things that are impacting us and we have many interests and many things that are as part of our lives. Um, disabled people are not often allowed to portray disabled characters. So over 90% of the time they're not included and they're not included in the creation process. So um often the conversations are with people who are the parents or relations of those who are neurotypical and not people who are neurotypical. I've had someone say to me not meaning to be mean or undermining, but they're like, oh, but maybe they do that so because it would be too hard for someone with autism to do that job. And I went I have ADHD, you think I'm less capable. She's like, no, no, not you. And I'm like, mhm. So I think there is this misconception that if you have a disability that you are not capable. And that's not true. It's just that we again, everyone needs an environment that works the best for them. And so to start to to take away that like I've started to be very vocal about being disabled, having ADHD because when people see me, they're like, oh, but you're smart and you're but we like you no matter what. I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's just one part of me. Again, one part of me. And so just I just have found a way to move through the world and mask in a very specific way, but it's very tiring. And so if I could like at least be a little bit more of myself, that would be very helpful. But also by standing up on stage, like I was nominated for an award and we didn't win, but I had in my speech to call out to all the writers and show runners and producers in the room that they had to do better because the representation in our guild itself is in the 0.6% area. We're not and that's the writer's guild of Canada. We're not in the US is pretty close to the same. I think they're 1.6. Woo, like we're a little bit more. Um, and they have a really great team advocating just for disability within the guild, which is fantastic. I think David Radcliffe is uh in charge is one of the top people in that in that group. And I'm just like, we're trying to to fight from fight is wrong. We're trying to no, fight. We're trying to fight from the inside and the outside to be like we need to change this. And I think you know, really advocate for the right representation and and when creating characters you're like, you know what? I'm creating this character, but when I'm in the room, we need multiple people, you know, I want multiple people with neurodiversity. I want the character to be played by someone who's neurodiverse because they bring something new to that character and something different and nuanced and like, hey, I wouldn't this is not how I would do it. Could I do it like this? Because this is more reflective of me. Yes, that's why it becomes better. This is why we get and centering the experience instead of it being like about the person with with who is neurodiverse, with autism or ADHD or whatever, get to see their lived experience and how the world affects them, not just about how they seem to affect their carers or they affect and always having to mask and oh, you should just smile and make eye contact. Well, what if the show said there was a character that said, hey, why don't you like just be okay with me not looking at you? Why don't you just okay that I don't smile? Why is it not okay that sometimes...
