Jody O'Neill: 'In the arts, more and more people are presenting as neurodivergent'
Jody O'Neill is theatre-artist-in-residence at Cork Opera House and UCC.
Playwright Jody O'Neill describes her diagnosis of autism at the age of 39 as an overwhelmingly positive experience. Recently appointed as theatre-artist-in-residence at Cork Opera House and UCC, O'Neill says her new role is incredibly important in terms of promoting a better understanding of autism. It also offers an employment opportunity in a society where 80% of autistic people are estimated to be underemployed or unemployed.
While O'Neill emphasises the positives in her diagnosis of autism, she admits it hasn't all been a good experience. "That's not to say I've always been happy every second since I found out I'm autistic, but in terms of the tools it gives me to navigate my life and the choices that I make, I have no regrets about seeking a diagnosis."
O'Neill, whose plays include What I (Don't) Know about Autism, and Yellow, was researching autism on account of her son's diagnosis in 2016 with the condition. She became fascinated with the subject and saw similarities between herself and her child. She was also concerned at the way autism is treated, which led her to complete a course on it.
Now, the sometimes actor says autism has affected her life in that she understands herself better. With a lot of deadlines at the moment and a lot of interactions with different people, O'Neill is conscious of finding the right pace.
"It's a situation I find myself in repeatedly. Before, I would have been more likely to crash. But I knew this week was going to be hectic. Therefore I just spent Saturday at home, in my pyjamas reading a book someone gave me by Sara Baume. I took the time out to bank my energy. That's the kind of thing I can do now. And I can make better decisions in the work that I take on and the work I don't take on."
O'Neill, who like many females with autism had an eating disorder as a teenager, welcomes the fact that more people are being really open about their autism. Well-known people like the writer/broadcaster Stefanie Preissner and podcaster Blindboy have come out as autistic.
"Sometimes when you say you're autistic or your child is, people go 'oh I'm sorry.' And you go, 'I'm fine actually. I'm not sorry and that's OK'," says O'Neill.
"However, society is slowly making progress. "There's more of an understanding of autism as being a fundamental part of somebody's make up. In the arts, more and more people are presenting as neurodivergent. But I do think the prevailing language in the media is about disabilities. There is a long way to go and I hope I can find a way to be a part of that change because it does have to happen.
"We are denying people the right to education on the grounds of disability. We're still categorising people as having special needs. But there's nothing special about us. We are all as human beings entitled to an inclusive education and we should have access to employment."
O'Neill says she doesn't see labels or diagnoses. She sees humans. But she concedes that labels are useful for providing a gateway to services. But she would like to eradicate any sense of shame around conditions such as autism. Instead, O'Neill says it's crucial to find out how we can support the diversity and abilities we have within our culture.
The Cork Opera House residency in conjunction with UCC's department of theatre is worth €20,000. O'Neill hopes to establish a peer group of autistic artists. "We can maybe present work-in-progress and do development workshops. Also, I think in terms of actually making our venues more accessible, we have a lot to learn. We need to engage with people who have a lived experience of feeling uncomfortable in a venue and seeing what venues can do to shift that."
O'Neill, who does a lot of advocacy work around autism, says people with the diagnosis have a really significant contribution to make to the arts and other areas. "It's up to employers to shift their practices and to become more inclusive," she says.
