Sonja Silva, known from the former music channel TMF, watched with annoyance the new autism show in which Youp van ‘t Hek was a guest. “It is one-sided and downright harmful.”
TV makers have found a new vulnerable group of people to make entertaining television with: autistic people. The first episode of A Extraordinary Conversation immediately had a very big name as a guest: Youp van ‘t Hek. TMF celebrity Sonja Silva was also in front of the TV last week, but as an autistic person she absolutely could not recognize herself in it.
Otherwise
Sonja explains in an opinion piece Het Paroolwhich she wrote together with editor Mirjam Groen, shows how disappointed she is. According to her, it is far too one-sided. “You would think that the editors of the program would be able to put together a diverse group – after all, there were no fewer than 32 participants.”
“When we saw the first images, our courage sank. Because there they were again, the stereotypical, classic autistics. There was clearly something ‘different’ about them: they talked ‘different’, their eyes looked ‘different’ and their motor skills and social skills were also ‘different’. Moreover, a significant proportion were clearly mentally challenged.”
Crazy people
The decision was made to confirm a stereotypical image, says Sonja. “Youp melted and most likely the viewer did too. What fun and wonderfully ‘crazy’ people!”, she writes. “But why so one-sided, why only the classic autistic person that we already know from films and series?”
Sonja herself is autistic and does not recognize herself as autistic. “What the makers of this program completely ignore, probably because it looks less entertaining, touching and above all less striking, is that there are also people with autism who you cannot see at all on the outside.”
Overstimulated
According to her, those people, like Sonja herself, should have been included. “These are people who are met with disbelief, because ‘you don’t look autistic at all’. Which are not taken seriously even by care providers, because they are not autistic enough to qualify for support.”
“We understand that An Extraordinary Conversation becomes less eye-catching with people who do not immediately recognize that they are autistic. Yet it would have made a huge difference to the image if the makers had also invited them.”