Karen Jeynes

Autistic Representation on Television: Who is putting words in our mouths?

University of Pretoria, South Africa

When autistic characters speak on screen, who is putting words in our mouths? When writers who aren’t autistic put words in our mouths, what effect does that have? Whether we like it or not, TV is the first place that most people will encounter autism, and it can dramatically shape their views and behaviour and have real world impact on autistic people. I will speak to my experience in the South African context, which I believe is relevant to many other contexts particularly those with diverse populations.

I will discuss current examples of autistic representation, and the real world impact these representations have. The vast majority of mainstream TV depictions of autism show:
● White cis males
● Children or young adults
● Either genius savants or those who require a great level of support
● Characters that seem like DSM checklists rather than real people
● In some cases, harmful behaviours and treatments

There’s almost no representation of women, LGBT+ people, older autistic people, or autistic POCs. This has a strong impact on what people believe autism to be, from teachers who make assumptions about children in their classrooms, to potential employers who believe that autistic people will be too much hard work, to parents receiving an autism diagnosis for their child who base their expectations for that child on the characters they’ve seen on TV. The TV industry is by and large not concerned with authentic representation, and tropes are easier to sell.

How do we as screenwriters respond to this challenge? I will explore different ways screenwriters have approached representing autism, and different models for how to go about creating autistic characters. I will present the argument for autistic writers being part of the creation process for autistic characters, and what effects this might have.

Karen Jeynes has worked extensively as a writer and director for stage and screen, most recently as writer, co-director and creative producer of comedy series The Morning After and drama series Recipes for Love and Murder. Other productions she has developed and overseen with creative partner Thierry Cassuto at Both Worlds are Point of Order, Comedy Central News, and Parlement Parlement, and the documentary Africa and I, as well as working as head writer on Puppet Nation.

She is in demand as a script consultant and advisor, working with local and international funding bodies, production companies and broadcasters, as well as individual writers. She has an MA in screenwriting from Falmouth University, and is currently busy with her screenwriting Ph.D. on autistic representation on South African television through the University of Pretoria. She serves on the advisory committee of GADIM, the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment.