Famous Autistic People
Part 1, For Unmasking Autisticly Aar. Sept 2022 by Aar Jae Williams
Fern Brady
Scottish comedian Fern Brady (She/Her) on tour with ‘Autistic Bikini Queen’ tour, first diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder while burntout and faces challenges with mental health, even then she knew herself it took til her mid thirties to get a diagnoses of autism in the coronavirus pandemic and in lockdown her symptoms she felt were then reason for a formal diagnoses. For women and girls misdiagnoses and denial by medical professionals can be reason for a late diagnoses and reason why she wasn’t diagnosed in her teens. Brady is openly bisexual.
Brady is writing her memoir that is expected to be published in 2023 with titled ‘Strong Female Character’ her memoir set to be focused on the sexism and ableism that surrounds autism in women and girls citing the book will be “This is a book about how being a woman gets in the way of people’s expectation of what autism should look like” Brady states, exploring social norms, autism masking and sensory overloads and meltdowns. Not an easy write being the comedians most personal work. Reflecting the consequences and challenges of mental health woman and girls may face on her psychiatric care experiences. She also reflects on her experiences as a stripper whilst studying Islamic History at Edinburgh University. Strong Female Character will convey Brady’s ‘voice as a neurodivergent, working class woman from scotland to bring issues such as sex work, abusive relationships and her time spent in teenage mental health units, a sledge hammer to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope which mistakenly applied to neurodiverse women’
You can pre order her book to be released in 2023. She is starring in the up and coming series of Taskmaster on Channel 4
Ria Lina
Ria Lina is a comedian, actor and writer who has appeared on satirical topical programming Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and Radio 4’s The Now Show. Lina a mother diagnosed later in life with being autistic her three children are also diagnosed autistic. An Fillipina, German, British Comedian her facebook biography introduction describes her as a ‘Comedian, Virologist, Autistic, Mother’ then quoting ‘fearless, provocative and very funny’ words from the Scotsman newspaper. Recently she piloted a Radio 4 comedy ‘The Ultimate Choice’ described as being ‘Some seriously funny minds try and find definitive answers to the great, era-defining questions of our age. Or not.’ you can find her pilot on BBC Sounds and appeared on the ‘Neurodivergent Moments’ podcast.
Jack Monroe
Jack Monroe (They/She) is a queer, disabled, chef, writer, author, journalist, television personality and food poverty activist and campaigner, mother. Monroe has told their story and their story is at the essence of everything Monroe does and is driven by shaped by their identity. A non-binary transgender parent who is autistic and ADHD about their gender they stated that ‘I want want to be treated as a person, not as a man or woman’ pronouns ‘She’ is something she is ok with. Starting out as a food blogger online with originally ‘A Girl Called Jack’ now ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’ a blog which focuses on people in relative poverty and suffered consequential financial hardship of austerity which the government of the time justified with the economic recession. She was motivated as to do food poverty blogging and cooking tips and tricks as experiencing a move to poverty and financial struggle from relative affluence. Monroe experiences accute arthiritis and was only made aware until adulthood but was as a child diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD.
She is known to widely comment on politics criticising privilege of the government in the cost of living crisis applying pressure to do more. Quoted in The National Scotlland’s pro Independence paper ‘I’m happy to come campaign for indyref2 anytime’. She continues to ramp up her support and advice when people need it as they need it now as prices sour and income doesn’t go up, Monroe still scarred by her experiences in poverty and its left lasting fear and anxiety.
Monroe is the voice of a leftie liberal, disabled queer neurodivergent, working class from a period of poverty as one of the voices in mainstream media afforded the platform to speak when few are afforded the voice.
Mostack
Known under the rapper alias MoStack real name Montell Samuel Daley (He/Him) a rapper from South London from the british rap scene. In an interview on Capital Xtra in June 2019 with now suspended disgraced long-term rap radio presenter from the network, whilst The Tim Westwood Rap Show was still on air before the damning allegations of sexual assault and rape of minors came out. Unreported then, Mostack sat down to talk with Tim Westwood for his first radio interview around his debut album ‘Stacko’, an in-depth interview and his first time he ever discussed his autism, in the interview he was asked about life on the road and unsurprisingly to Westwood’s sleazy character he asked about his dating life. MoStack known for wearing big puffy jackets in the indoors and sunglasses. He hopes to be an isnpiration in the british rap scene as an openly autistic rapper. He does little interviews and publicity, so theres not much I can find on his experiences with autism. It’s because of his autism why he doesn’t engage in interviews and does little in public chatting preferring to communicate to his fans and those who listen to his music through his lyrics and rap. If you want to know more about MoStack its through his music. He is to have an up and coming album his current singles are ‘Cant Forgive’ and ‘Fake Fake Fake’.
Holly Smale
(She/Her) diagnosed at 39 with being autistic not long later she was diagnosed with dyspraxia, also. ‘Congratulations, She’s autistic’ after almost 40 years of being autistic undiagnosed in an allistic neurotypical world giving her a new perspective on her very autistic childhood. You are born autistic, so you would always be autistic and that will always show but the word autistic never came up ‘sensitive’, dramatic’, ‘fussy with food’ came up for late diagnosed people in particular women and girls before autism comes up such labels come before. She wrote about her diagnoses in The Sun. Speaking frankly she states ‘Had I been a boy in the eighties, I suspect I’d have been diagnosed with autism and dyspraxia in my first week of school’
Smale is the writer of teen fiction novel series which I know my sister grew up reading ‘Geek Girl’ was a ‘Geek Girl’ that reflected Smale’s own character on reflection she realised her character was autistic and dyspraxic, traits shawn through. Describing book child the geek girl Harriet Manners is something she is proud of is autistic too, a ‘smart, socially inept, painfully sensitive bullied teenage girl’. Harriet made Holly feel less alone by writing a character that reflects much of her and fictionalises traits of her character in Harriet.
Coming May 2023 ‘The Cassandra Complex’ her first adult fictional novel a book on the complexities of relationships when they end. Her character in this book is Cassie fired from her PR job for ‘not being a people person’ and her relationship ending with her boyfriend as he breaks up with her. She has a gift but is she cursed? she can travel back in time to wonder what she could’ve done differently adding a fantasy taste to the romance and working life struggles for Cassie with chances to make things right. ‘The Cassandra Complex’ could be a story of the over analytical mind of relationships and social interactions within the social neurotype umbrella of traits.
She is one that supports neurodivergent issues on twitter and instagram connecting with her communities at @holsmale on twitter and instagram. Making her thoughts felt, sharing her personal stories, experiences as an autistic and dyspraxic person with her platform sharing what she wishes people knew about neurodivergent issues.
She’s a surprising inspiration for dyspraxic people and the neurodivergent community intellectually genius, but made to feel ‘dumb’ with illegible and rambling handwriting. Not knowing she was dyspraxic she found means of giving herself the support she needed of course not all fortunate to do so. It changed her life with writing eleven and counting novels that surprised her psychatrist, something that breaks her heart. Support she should have had from school and all dysrpaxic children should have thinking like herself they are ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’. Continually trying to expand her knowledge on such issues
Greta Thunberg
If you leave out Billie Eilish, Greta Thunberg (She/Her) autistic and with ADHD is one of the worlds most influential and famous young woman a voice for a generation, Generation Z. In her social media profiles she refers to her diagnoses as Aspergers Syndrome the condition I was diagnosed with at the time of diagnoses but now I’ll only use autism to refer to my diagnoses post 2019 due to the links with Hans Asperger the one who coined the term for the condition apart of Nazi Germany and the facist regime that lead to genocide and the conditions links to functioning labels trying to hail intellectual superiority ableism within the autism community that has been labelled ‘aspie supremacy’.
Warning the world with alarming phrases ‘build back better, blah, blah, blah’, You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”, “My message is that we’ll be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”, warning in wake of the climate crisis for people to wake up and recognise that ‘Our house is on fire’ its climate activism what Greta is famous for and is voice of a generation of eco-anxious Gen Z folk.
Autism is her ‘superpower’ thats what she says. Autism in experience myself, Smale, Brady and many other autistic people would say is nuanced theres positive great things and challenges and difficulties. Like everyone else our mind is our mind it is us and her diagnoses makes the placard carrying Friday school ditching, saving the world at UN meetings, Green Peace, Friday’s For Future Greta that is made on her autism. “When I felt the most sad, I didn’t know that I had autism,” she explained. “I just thought, I don’t want to be like this. The diagnosis was almost only positive for me. It helped me get the support I needed and made me understand why I was like this.” She says understanding knowing of her autism has been a great benefit “I have Asperger’s syndrome and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And — given the right circumstances — being different is a superpower.”
Why she fights for climate change and is driven and motivated on such an issue “A lot of people with autism have a special interest that they can sit and do for an eternity without getting bored,”“It’s a very useful thing sometimes. Autism can be something that holds you back, but if you get to the right circumstance, if you are around the right people, if you get the adaptations that you need and you feel you have a purpose, then it can be something you can use for good. And I think that I’m doing that now.”
Its her purpose her focused interest its her intent to do and her persuit “I know lots of people who have been depressed, and then they have joined the climate movement or Fridays for Future and have found a purpose in life and found friendship and a community that they are welcome in.” before getting involved in activism the worry and anxiety of the climate change and the consequences on humanity and on the natural world caused issues with eating loss of appetite and being constantly depressed and anxious as a child becoming mute and mental illness affecting physical illness to find happiness this is her calling. Get to know more about Greta check out the ‘I Am Greta’ documentary
