Onstage and Behind the Scenes: Autistic Performance and Advocacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v16i2.2666Keywords:
autistic advocacy, performance, comedy, mediaAbstract
For many autistic performers in arts and entertainment, the stage can be an important site of self-advocacy and creative expression. Whereas everyday social interactions may be unpredictable, being onstage can allow autistic performers to work from a script and anticipate audience responses. This article explores the affordances and challenges of performance for young autistic adults in Canada through interviews with four autistic performers (two singers and two stand-up comics). While solo performance was the focus, participants discussed the creative employment of diverse media platforms, from the stage to screenwriting and children’s books, and emphasized the need for autistic people to be involved in all creative realms. This research follows a Critical Disability Studies (CDS) framework which challenges deficit models of autism (McGuire, 2016), “supercrip” tropes (Clare, 2015, p. 2), and narratives of overcoming autism (Cheng, 2017). While one participant noted being uncomfortable with the sense that they were a source of inspiration for non-autistic audiences, each found it encouraging that autistic audiences relate to their work and might be motivated to participate in similar forms of self-advocacy; in particular, they noted the value of performance in building confidence. As previous CDS literature is wary of disability as spectacle (Darke, 1994), this research provides insight into how young autistic adults use their work onstage and behind the scenes to promote and perform self-advocacy.
References
Addicott, R. (2019, January 21). Why did it take me 40 years to be diagnosed with autism? Daily Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6616681/Why-did-40-years-diagnosed-autism.html
Arendell, T. D. (2015). The autistic stage: How cognitive disability changed 20th-century performance. Sense Publishers.
Brady, M. J., & Cardin, M. (2021). Your typical Atypical family: Streaming apolitical autism on Netflix. Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 42, 96-116.
Buckley, E., Pellicano, E., & Remington, A. (2021). “The real thing I struggle with is other people’s perceptions”: The experiences of autistic performing arts professionals and attitudes of performing arts employers in the UK. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51, 45-59.
CBC. (2016, July 14). AspieComic Michael McCreary in Studio Q [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0deO8oaORc
Cheng, W. (2017). Staging overcoming: Narratives of disability and meritocracy in reality singing competitions. Journal of the Society for American Music, 11(2), 184-214.
Clare, E. (2015). Exile and pride: Disability, queerness, and liberation. Duke University Press.
Darke, P. A. (1994). The Elephant Man (David Lynch, EMI Films, 1998): An analysis from a disabled perspective. Disability and Society 9(3), 327-342.
Ellcessor, E. (2017). Kickstarting community: Disability, access, and participation in My Gimpy Life. In E. Ellcessor & B. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), Disability Media Studies (pp. 31-51). New York University Press.
Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. Columbia University Press.
Ginsburg, F., & Rapp, R. (2016). Screening disabilities: Visual fields, public culture, and the atypical mind in the twenty-first century. In B. Linker & N. J. Hirschmann (Eds.), Civil disabilities: Citizenship, membership, and belonging (pp. 103-122). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goffman, I. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Random House.
Griwkowsky, F. (2019, August 16). Fringe review: Anna and the substitute teacher. Edmonton Journal. https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/festivals/fringe-review-anna-and-the-substitute-teacher
Gross, T. (2020, May 26). Autism spectrum diagnosis helped comic Hannah Gadsby ‘be kinder’ to herself. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862081893/autism-spectrum-diagnosis-helped-comic-hannah-gadsby-be-kinder-to-herself
Haruvi-Lamdan, N., Horesh, D., Zohar, S., Kraus, M., & Golan, O. (2020). Autism spectrum disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder: An unexplored co-occurrence of conditions. Autism, 24(4), 884-898.
Hollin, G. (2020). Within a single lifetime: Recent writings on autism. History of the Human Sciences, 33(5), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695120915799
Johnston, K. (2012). Stage turns: Canadian disability theatre. McGill-Queens University Press.
Lehmann, A. (Director). (2016). Asperger’s are Us. [Film]. Duplass Brothers Productions.
McCreary, M. (2016, May 28). Does this make my Asperger’s look big? [Address]. TEDxYorkUSpectrum, Toronto, Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBVpgyIXllw
McCreary, M. (2019). Funny, you don’t look autistic: A comedian’s guide to life on the Spectrum. Annick Press.
McGuire, A. (2016). War on autism: On the cultural logic of normalized violence. University of Michigan Press.
Mitchell, D. T., & Snyder, S. K. (2000). Narrative prosthesis: Disability and the dependencies of discourse. University of Michigan Press.
Murray, S. (2008). Representing autism: Culture, narrative, fascination. Liverpool University Press.
Sandahl, C. (2003). Queering the crip or cripping the queer? Intersections of queer and crip identities in solo autobiographical performance. Glo: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 9(1-2), 25-56.
Sandahl, C. (2005). The tyranny of neutral: Disability and actor training. In P. Auslander & C. Sandahl (Eds.), Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance (pp. 255-268). University of Michigan Press.
Sandahl, C., & Auslander, P. (2005). Introduction. In P. Auslander & C. Sandahl (Eds.), Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance (pp. 1-12). University of Michigan Press.
Schwartz, A. (2018). Anna and the substitute teacher. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Schwartz, A. (2016). I’ve got Asperger’s, so I’m better than you… Shhhh don’t tell Mom. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Schwartz, A. (N.D.). Jonathan and the big barbeque. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Schwartz, A. (2020). No school today. https://www.adamschwartzcomedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/No-School-Today-1.pdf
Statistics Canada. (2017). New data on disability in Canada, 2017 (11-627-M). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2018035-eng.htm
Valentish, J. (2018, July 16). ‘I broke the contract’: how Hannah Gadsby’s trauma transformed comedy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jul/16/hannah-gadsby-trauma-comedy-nanette-standup-netflix
Yergeau, M. (2018). Authoring autism: On rhetoric and neurological queerness. Duke University Press.
Young, S. (2014, April). I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much [Address]. TEDxSydney, Sydney, Australia https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much/transcript?language=en
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Miranda Brady
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles are published in Studies in Social Justice under the Creative Commons "Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative Works" Canada licence.
The copyright for the articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles may be used, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings. The submission of a manuscript to Studies in Social Justice will be taken to mean that the author understands and agrees to the following:
- the manuscript represents original work not previously published;
- the manuscript is not being considered elsewhere for publication in the same language (publication elsewhere in an alternate language does not preclude acceptance of submission to Studies in Social Justice);
- appropriate written copyright permissions have been secured for republication of any copyrighted material contained in the manuscript;
- copyright for this article is retained by the author, with first publication rights granted to Studies in Social Justice;
- by virtue of its appearance in this open access journal, it is understood that the article is freely available for use, with proper attribution, for educational and other non-commercial purposes;
- reuse of the article for commercial purposes by anyone other than the author requires permission of the author;
- the author agrees to cite Studies in Social Justice as a source whenever h/she later republishes or reuses the article in other platforms.
