The Autistic Representation Problem
Authentic representation is crucial, especially when the demographic is so vulnerable.
Like Sir Anthony Hopkins, I am a late-diagnosed autistic person.
And when I tell people that I was diagnosed with autism at 37 years old, they very often don’t know what to make of that fact — some even hinting that since I don’t “seem autistic,” that I might be misdiagnosed, that the highly-experienced mental health professional who spent hours diagnosing me was incorrect.
This experience is rather typical for late-diagnosed adults.
The reasons for this are multitudinous, but can largely be filed under “autism updates in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition” and “stigma and misrepresentation,’ which is where Sia’s movie Music comes into play — as the film is highly problematic in that regard.
As we say in the neurodiversity community, “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.”
In 2013, the DSM-5 redefined autism when it combined five developmental disorders (including Asperger’s) under Autism Spectrum Disorder, a term contested in the autism community, with many favoring the less…
