Adhd is wild #33
So, we all agree, sia is ableist and here movie isn't representing shit and it's not what we want, right? Okay, so here's some ideas I have for stories with neurodiverse representation that, y’know, aren't sponsored by autism speaks and would cast neurodiverse people to play neurodiverse characters and would use the word disabled and wouldn't send the people they're supposed to represent into sensory overload:
A documentary about a group of autistic people who go undercover to shut autism speaks down (added bonus to this idea: autism speaks would be shut down)
Remake of the breakfast club but instead of detention, it's a standardized test with accommodations. (Okay hear me out: it's a group of teens with different conditons/disabilities/whatever who are from very different social groups who have different perceptions of each other and they bond while waiting for the proctor to show up (bc, at least in my experience, they're always late, so there's time to bond) and they also bond during breaks. We'd get some "wait, we're not so different after all" type moments, a we'd get some commentary on the stigma of neurodiversity, we'd get some commentary on standardized testing and standardized testing accommodations. I'd be great.)
A tv show about a young adult who realizes they might have (insert disability here) in their mid-twenties and the show chronicles their journey of maneuvering self-diagnosis as an adult and trying to see how they fit into the disabled community, the specific community for that disability, and their own community. They would learn a lot about themself and their communities throughout the show.
[This one requires a lot of intermediate shenanigans but I feel like someone could make it work] A movie about a special ed teacher with Tourettes who, right before her first day at a new school, gets a tic where she says "fuck the system". She tics in front of her class of disabled students and she scrambles to explain what happens when someone asks what that statement means. Her explanation inadvertently starts a disabled revolution in the school. She's hesitant ar first because it starts with her students just shouting fuck the system and they're like 10, but when her boss has such a negative reaction to the disabled revolution, she fully backs her students. (Also she wears cute Ms. Frizzle skirts)
A comedy about a guy who becomes the subject of one of those viral inspiration porn stories for because he started his own bakery and he's autistic. After he breaks up with her, his adhd ex-girlfriend sends an email to the local new station about him and his bakery to try to get them to write an inspiration porn story about him as revenge and, because she has no impulse control, she sends the email. When the news team first shows up at his bakery, he thinks it's just because his bakery must be that popular. He only realizes what happened after the story is written and broadcast, but at that point it started to get viral. He was going to call the news station to shut the story down, but the story brought his bakery a lot of business. It's funny take on inspiration porn from the perspective of disabled people. (Also, all his friends are disabled in the story are disabled and roast the shit out of him for this.) (Also also, this story takes place in Essex. I don't know why, but it does.)
A story where the protagonist has adhd, autism, ocd, tourettes, dyslexia, bpd, or any other form of neurodiversity and is played by an actor who is also neurodiverse and the story was written by or with neurodiverse people and is not affiliated with an ableist hate group and is story is accessible to disabled people (we ask for so little, and yet, we're still disappointed)
[I have adhd and I was diagnosed as a child. If you are disabled/neurodiverse and you think one of these is wrong (unrealistic representation of a disability, a stereotype your specific community is trying to get away from, etc) let me know]