Stylist’s entertainment director Helen Bownass on how TV is finally embracing neurodiversity
Dinosaur is on BBC iPlayer now
E very day I’ve been getting 50 or 60 messages from people around the world saying: ‘finally, that’s me! I see myself’. That’s all I could have ever asked for.” Ashley Storrie is talking about the reaction to Dinosaur, the recent BBC comedy she stars in and co-writes. It’s about Nina, a palaeontologist, who is autistic, and follows the lead up to her sister’s wedding to a man she’s known for six weeks.
It was only after I’d finished it (in a heady three-hour binge) that I realised how rare the show was in that it depicts neurodiversity on
“Neurodiversity has typically been depicted in the shape of the white male genius”
TV in a fully fleshed-out way, and through the female experience. Nina’s autism is a part of her, but it’s not her whole personality. She is messy and complex and funny (“I’m not allowed to be myself so I can’t tell you what I think about your ugly shawl,” she deadpans), and has sexual desires.
For decades, neurodiversity has typically been depicted on screen in the shape of the white male genius. From Rain Manin 1998 (which swept the Oscars and was most people’s first exposure to someone autistic on screen) to recent TV series like The Good Doctorand Atypical, the myth has been perpetuated that there is only one way to be neurodiverse.
But in the last few months, a slow shift has emerged – perhaps in line with the many women who have been under-diagnosed and dismissed finally having their conditions taken seriously – with TV studios realising that there is no one particular imprint of neurodiversity. They are beginning to tell authentic and robust stories – and with 15-20% of people globally believed to be neurodivergent, not telling these stories is leaving out huge swathes of the population.
In the latest series of Race Across The World, competitor Brydie has dyslexia and it has been eye-opening to see not only how much it impacts her life, but also how she has learned to adapt and communicate. Meanwhile Fern Brady’s new stand-up comedy Autistic Bikini Queenis currently in Netflix’s Top 10, while Michael Sheen was recently interviewed by a group of neurodivergent teens in BBC’s The Assembly. Kat Brown, the author of It’s Not A Bloody Trend: Understanding Life As An ADHD Adult, also sings the praises of animation Tuca & Bertie. “Lots of ADHD-coded characters focus on the goof
