Table 2.
Themes for autistic performing arts professionals and performing arts employers
| Themes | Subthemes | Example quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Autism can bring strengths | Scholars of human expression | “I had to learn to understand body language, behaviours, facial expressions that sort of thing, I had to study them and from doing that, I think it’s made me in to a better actor.” Pro R |
| “I just sort of … really developed this catalogue, this encyclopaedia of facial expressions and body language.” Pro K | ||
| A detail-oriented approach | “I possibly just generally pay a bit more attention to the detail than other people might.” Pro L | |
| “There are characteristics of autism that seem really great for this kind of work, which is the attention to detail, and the determination to get things exactly right which is brilliant.” Emp M | ||
| High engagement with the work | “Once I get into a project I can just sit down and I will do it all day.” Pro K | |
| “Hyper-focus is a bit beneficial for that, so I get really involved and I am like – yes so long hours don’t particularly bother me.” Pro J | ||
| Seeing the world differently | “I think Asperger’s lends itself to creative thinking, that you see the world a bit differently, and that is actually quite a useful talent for the arts!” Pro J | |
| “They’re really creative.” Emp C | ||
| “Autistic people in acting, there’s a boldness in trying things.” Emp A | ||
| A challenging profession | The workplace can be overwhelming | “I will be the person that’s likely to meltdown and loses it because I can’t hold it in, or I get too stressed.” Pro I |
| “Walking into a new space she’s never been to, she gets real sensory overload.” Emp B | ||
| “The lighting in some parts of the building can be a real barrier to autistic people. Sometimes, unfortunately, that’s the only space that we can do certain things.” Emp F | ||
| Auditions can cause extreme anxiety | “Auditions I hate. I do not do well with auditions.” Pro O | |
| “Massive anxiety around auditions. And I do mean massive anxiety!” Pro I | ||
| Struggle adapting to last minute changes | “Things do change last minute, and I find that really difficult, I find that really stressful internally.” Pro K | |
| “I understand that last minute changes to arrangements, which I am afraid does happen in this industry, can actually cause a bit of disquiet.” Emp M | ||
| A need for clarity in communication | “The most difficult thing with dealing with people, is when they are sometimes a bit indirect with their language.” Pro L | |
| “It is that point of why haven’t they understood what is being asked, or just the processing I think.” Emp K | ||
| Socializing at work can be taxing | “Even one interaction with one person in an hour sometimes can be exhausting.” Pro I | |
| “They do their best to be very, very sociable, but it seems to obviously be a bit more of a struggle for them than for someone who isn't on the spectrum.” Emp H | ||
| Miscommunications can happen | “I don’t communicate as well as I should with people I kind of assume that people know what I’m talking about, when they have no idea.” Pro G | |
| “Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, needing certain information in a way.” Emp C | ||
| Networking is challenging | “People will want to go out for drinks, I usually do because it is networking and you are supposed to, but I find that period really tough.” Pro K | |
| “There is a lot of ‘let’s sit around and have a drink’, so after a meeting I am a bit ahh! I am peopled out, but I feel like I have to do this so I will.” Pro H | ||
| Mediating the responses of non-autistic colleagues | “I think where the problem occurs is when the non-autistic people can’t relate to the autistic people and then they start shouting and screaming or they start having little bitchy sessions or whatever and then it affects the whole dynamic…But it’s never been the autistic people that have created that.” Emp I | |
| “Occasionally I will just say something or do something that people find really weird, and I didn’t realise it was weird! And there will be some social misunderstanding that I need to deal with.” Pro J | ||
| Peers in the industry are often scared to make a mistake | “Most casting directors who are concerned about that, are concerned about saying the wrong thing and embarrassing themselves probably… there is definitely a fear of how to speak to people, whether they can speak to people directly, and all sorts of things really.” Emp M | |
| “People will be basically shitting themselves not quite knowing what to say or do and in practice you just say or do the normal range of things that you normally do but sometimes with a few extra pointers.” Emp A | ||
| The majority of problems can be overcome | “Never anything that was like a major obstacle, never anything that couldn’t be very easily solved.” Emp L | |
| Not all want to disclose | Will I be judged negatively? | “Just concerned, that is before someone even meets me, they are going to see me as being needy.” Pro K |
| “The real barrier and the real thing I struggle with is just other people’s perceptions, and other people’s misconceptions.” Pro H | ||
| Pigeon-holed to autism-specific work | “Yes, I have Asperger’s Syndrome, but you have to remember, it doesn’t define who I am.” Pro Q | |
| “I don’t just want it to tie me down to just doing autism related work, or autism related theatre work. There is other stuff I am interested in.” Pro B | ||
| Out and proud | “I’m deliberately quite ‘out’ about it, because I don’t have any problem with it.” Pro I | |
| Employers aren’t always being told | “I’ve never seen an actor’s profile on Spotlight with a mention of autism. I don’t know if it’s something that is widely documented if an actor does have autism that they put it on their CV as someone with a disability would.” Emp H | |
| “Actors don’t disclose their disability and it’s not a part of the show so you would never know. So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know, but it’s not a visible thing.” Emp B | ||
| A desire to fit in | “It’s a bit infantilising to have to ask for help sometimes.” Emp A | |
| “They feel they can’t say it because they feel they want to just pass as being normal or they feel like it’s too awkward to ask or they’re embarrassed or something.” Emp B | ||
| Support necessitates disclosure | “They just became more understanding…. I could be honest about the fact that something was a bit loud.” Pro I | |
| “I’m not shy about coming forward and saying, ‘I’m autistic. This is what I need.’” Pro M | ||
| “In order to ask for help, you have to disclose.” Pro P | ||
| A need for individualised support | It starts with a conversation | “It’s very much what are you access needs, how can we best support you? Having an open and honest conversation and making sure there’s a system in place.” Emp B |
| “It’s about having that frank conversation and seeing how far that frank conversation goes.” Emp F | ||
| Greater understanding can be enough | “The only support I would want is for people to understand why I do certain things and don’t judge me.” Pro N | |
| “On set no, not extra support as such, just an understanding.” Emp I | ||
| Allowing different modes of working | “We have to make sure that he gets his script a good week in advance, so he's got proper preparation time.” Emp G | |
| “The director was really aware of that and then would check in with me about light and sound levels in the room and how exercises were going and stuff.” Pro K | ||
| “It might be that hours are different, to avoid packed trains, which is something we’re looking into, because it’s not just about arriving. If you arrive and you’re completely broken because your journey was impossible, then there’s no point being at work.” Emp F | ||
| Support from others | “A mentor would be amazing.” Pro G | |
| “What you need is somebody to see you, who is not necessarily part of the company, somebody who goes, “Yes, I can see the difficulty you’re having” and maybe you’d talk to.” Pro P | ||
| “We took the decision to employ a chaperone.” Emp N | ||
| “They discuss their support needs together with that person…they might say, you know, “My support needs are this, this and this. I would like you to work with me in this way.” Emp B | ||
| “I feel like internally we have a number of people who are very plugged into being… you know, it’s their job to be up to date.” Emp J | ||
| “I would love it if there was a person to speak to about it.” Emp H | ||
| No time for training | “Well, when are we going to have time to train, attend training?” Emp C | |
| “The kind of training that has got live people in it is not desired by the film industry, where of course you’ve got a lot of freelance people working so how can you get them because people get together on a project by project basis so how can you all get them in a room at one time? You can’t.” Emp A | ||
| “You spend your life on Google, and training courses!” Emp E | ||
| Support can be inconsistent | “We will find our production in last minute places and often, certainly for the offices and studios, the cheapest places, some of them don’t necessarily have the access requirements or the areas to relax.” Emp N | |
| “The provision is very very patchy… they will say oh sure we can do that, and then unless you pursue it, nothing actually comes of it.” Pro J | ||
| I will learn when it’s relevant | “If I were to be in a position where I was working regularly with someone with autism then I’d make sure—or if any of my staff were in that position, when they have been in that position, I’ve made sure that they've had training.” Emp D | |
| “I think online resources, with the best will in the world, people either pay lip service to them or they go looking for them when they need something as opposed to being trained pre-emptively.” Emp N | ||
| A lack of confidence | “I don't feel that confident personally. If the situation arose, where without time to prepare, without time to receive any awareness training, where I was required to work with work extensively with someone with autism I'd probably be quite uncomfortable with that.” Emp D | |
| “I think a lot of what, me and casting directors would find daunting about learning more about this, is not wanting to get anything wrong, being able to examine your own insecurities, hesitations.” Emp R | ||
| Unaware of resources | “I do not know where to point any autistic employee if she felt or he felt that they needed more help.” Emp F | |
| “I wouldn't be able to point someone else in the direction of information outside of the organisation. I don’t know if they're entitled to any kind of right to work support.” Emp D | ||
| The burden of advocacy | “I do wish they knew more, because you spend a lot of time and a lot of energy having to explain yourself, and that’s really hard. Everybody else doesn’t have to do that.” Pro I | |
| “Most of the time, people just don’t really know what it means, they don’t really know what to do with the information because they don’t really know how [autism] affects you.” Pro R | ||
| An openness to learn more | “I would like to know more about that and also if there’s a way of engaging with autistic actors certainly a lot more than I have done.” Emp H | |
| “It would be wonderful to know how I can make my rehearsal process and my rehearsal rooms and my auditions and meeting actors and things more accessible so that I can meet the best people working whether they are autistic or not.” Emp L |