on neuroatypicality, and storytelling as pressure to conform
This piece by Ada Hoffmann is important. I am sharing it because it is important.
Did I say important? Important.
People with neuroatypicalities so often are told to pass, forced to pass, cajoled, shamed into passing. When people with neuroatypicalities are disproportionately represented in our genre in cure narratives written by neurotypicals, it is the ultimate act of passing-pressure: it implies that the neuroatypical difference is only important to talk about if it can be erased. Neuroatypicals are shamed and pressured into not identifying as such, and when they do speak out on how such stories harm them, they so often get rage and indignation in return.
It's as if most, if not all, stories featuring queer characters were 1) written by straight people AND ALSO 2) were about the queer people given an option to become straight.
We can extend this metaphor to other marginalized groups.
Did I say important? Important.
People with neuroatypicalities so often are told to pass, forced to pass, cajoled, shamed into passing. When people with neuroatypicalities are disproportionately represented in our genre in cure narratives written by neurotypicals, it is the ultimate act of passing-pressure: it implies that the neuroatypical difference is only important to talk about if it can be erased. Neuroatypicals are shamed and pressured into not identifying as such, and when they do speak out on how such stories harm them, they so often get rage and indignation in return.
It's as if most, if not all, stories featuring queer characters were 1) written by straight people AND ALSO 2) were about the queer people given an option to become straight.
We can extend this metaphor to other marginalized groups.
Originally posted byRead more on Ada's blog.ada_hoffmann at Note to people thinking of writing autistic charactersYes, real autistic people have impairments and behavioural issues. I should know, since I am autistic myself. (Just making that clear for anyone who happened onto this post from somewhere else.)
No, real autistic people are not reducible to those issues.
If you write a story where your character has no character traits except for impairments and behavioural issues, and where they take no actions not related to these issues (or to someone's desire to "cure" them), you are presenting a distorted and objectified picture of autism. This goes double if you are writing from the autistic character's point of view. If you are neurotypical and have had close contact with autistic people, their impairments may seem to be their most salient trait, but that doesn't mean they are the only thing the person is actually thinking about.
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