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During the autumn months, Tasmania sees a brief explosion of a short-lived bioluminescent fungus, the so-called Ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis) in secluded damp forest patches affixed to rotting trees. Owing to their typical low position hidden underneath forest canopies, a view out to the night sky is very rarely afforded, much less on clear nights – making this view out to the crown jewel of the night sky, the galactic centre of the Milky Way, a truly once in a lifetime opportunity.
Tasmania’s Low Head is home to one of the most important lighthouse arrays. Sitting at the mouth of kanamaluka/River Tamar, it serves as herald of land for sailors arriving across the Bass Strait. Occasionally it plays host to the southern aurora and the setting Milky Way, captured with grasses and rocks fluorescing strongly in the foreground.
Under certain spectrums of light, living and organic matter can produce intensely vibrant colours, glowing as if by magic. This process is called biofluoresence. Here, the Milky Way’s galactic core rises behind a small oceanic lake on Queensland’s coast.
Tasmania’s endemic Tanglefoot (Nothofagus gunnii), Australia’s only gold-weather deciduous tree is draped in a thick blanket of snow. Its leaves are a bright golden, contrasting against drab greens and greys of Snow gums and Pandani.
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Anti-Autistic Ableism
The next day, I had a call with the producer. I broke down why the play was so harmful and why putting it on was a bad idea. She defended the choice, saying the harm could be mitigated with a talkback after the show.
I asked who would be on the talkback panel. She said:
• The playwright, who has an autistic daughter and based the play on his experiences.
• A social worker who works with families of autistic kids.
• A parent from the community who suggested the play, who has an autistic son.
I said, “Do you know who’s not on that list?”
She admitted they didn’t have an autistic person on the panel. She asked if I could recommend an organization to reach out to for someone to join the talkback. I said, “It has to be an autistic person.” And also, the panel shouldn’t outnumber autistic voices with people who likely believe they have the right to speak over us.
She asked how to handle the play sensitively. I said, “You can’t.” The way it portrays autistic people is so harmful that simply putting it on is damaging. It reinforces anti-autistic beliefs and plants harmful ideas in the heads of those unfamiliar with autism.
I asked if she truly believed putting this play on was the right thing to do. She said yes. I was flabbergasted—this is someone who has repeatedly gone out of her way to listen and learn from me as an autistic person.
She said she’d speak with the board and the director to figure out what they could do, then asked if I’d meet with their team the following week. I agreed.
Anti-Autistic Ableism
Anti-Autistic Ableism
An upsetting #ActuallyAutistic experience I’m in the middle of.
A local community #theater I work with asked me to review a play they selected after I volunteered to help them improve their autistic inclusivity. The play is about a family with an #autistic son.
They sent me the script at the beginning of October, but I was sick the entire month and couldn’t review it until early November. When I finally read it, I was specifically asked to provide guidance on how to approach the material and production sensitively and considerately.
Let me preface this by saying: I had full faith in this theater to listen to my feedback. They have consistently demonstrated a willingness to listen and learn without talking over marginalized people.
Then I read the play. And it. is. horrific.
It’s so deeply problematic in how it depicts and discusses autistic people that I was genuinely shocked.
The autistic child is functionally erased. He’s not listed as a character and doesn’t appear on stage, except for a brief optional moment. He is reduced to a literal prop in a story ostensibly about him.
The script is littered with harmful lines. Characters (who aren’t portrayed as villains) say things like how the autistic kid “doesn’t know how to enjoy life,” “doesn’t have anything to say,” and doesn’t know “how to be human.”
The story centers on the kid’s parents, whose struggles with him lead to infidelity for both of them. The only character with hiss best interests in mind, a social worker, is painted as an unsympathetic shrew for calling the parents selfish.
On top of all that, the play endorses ABA, a therapy widely criticized by autistic people as harmful and dehumanizing.
The overall message is clear: autistic people are burdens, and caring for us ruins the lives of our loved ones. It’s peak “ #autism mom” rhetoric.
I was utterly disgusted.
Anti-Autistic Ableism
Anti-Autistic Ableism
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