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Practice, Autistic Pride Day Symposium 2024
The old excuse for not casting autistic actors was the set itself
In short
At the 2024 Autistic Pride Day Symposium in Sydney, a panellist described productions changing their sets for autistic actors, and the panel heard how access coordinators work.
Read it instead, 4 minutesThe transcript
The story
For a long time, a panellist told the media panel at the Autistic Pride Day Symposium in Sydney in June 2024, the excuse ran the same way. A production wants an autistic character but cannot have an autistic actor, because the work is too demanding, the lights are too bright, there is too much noise and the actor will never learn the script. The panellist was starting to see a different question asked, which they put as “how can we actually adapt the industry to suit the actors so they can actually be themselves”, instead of making them pretend.
The panellist offered two examples, and was careful to caveat both. They had not seen either production, they said, and both still carried the familiar stereotype of white male autistic characters. Their interest was in the conversations behind them.
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Sources the story draws on
- Cameras roll in Canberra on new ABC comedy Austin (opens in a new tab), Screen Australia
- The new movie 'Ezra' stars an actor with autism playing an autistic character (opens in a new tab), NPR (Gus Contreras, Sarah Handel, Juana Summers), carried by WAMC
- Screen Australia launches Access Coordinator Training Program (opens in a new tab), Screen Australia
- What is an Access Coordinator? (opens in a new tab), Screen Australia
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