‘The Square Hole Initiative’ – A scheme to make the Creative industries more accessible for neurodivergents (Insert Sponsor Here)

THE PROBLEM:

Representation of ADHD, autistic or dyslexic voices in the creative industries is disappointingly low. Unlike other marginalised communities, the way we are under-represented is exacerbated by the very thing that makes us different: our brains. They don’t work in the way neurotypical producers, commissioners and agents are used to. So just introducing quotas isn’t going to fix it…the solution is more nuanced…

In ADHD, the pre-frontal cortex part of the brain that should handle focus, organisation and navigation is deficient in dopamine (so more of a pre-frontal vortex). Our brain has no air-traffic-control, so all the thought-aeroplanes keep crashing into one another. As a result, emails and meetings with TV producers often end the same: them feeling tsunami’d, and telling you ‘just pick what idea you want and focus on it…’ or ‘Whittle it down to your best three ideas’ or the lexical kryptonite: ‘less is more’ – which – respectfully – is like telling a blind person to walk in a straight line, on a zipline!

The creative industries are not built to welcome ideas from new writers who may talk a little too much, send long emails, miss social cues, or have four hundred ideas a second.

(IF YOU NEED IT SPELLED OUT LITERALLY, IT’S LIKE THE PICTURE BELOW)

When you have a ‘square peg’ brain that doesn’t fit into the ‘round hole’ of commissioning, simply saying ‘we welcome applications from ND writers’ isn’t going to fix the shortfall. The solution is more nuanced. If commissioners genuinely want more ND ideas through the door, they need to overhaul the entire mechanism of the door. They need to understand what it is about our invisible disabilities that hold us back, even when we have a foot in.

3 Invisible Barriers to entry for ADHD writers:

No inner editor – Structuring/prioritising/editing is extra-hard for us. Our thoughts run at lightning speed, in all different directions at once. We see the connection between things, as well as the things themselves. When we write a script, our brain goes down every eventuality of every path of storyline, climbs every branch, every twig. So we can’t always see the wood for the trees – or for the forest, let alone the ‘log’-line…
Social Cues – We sometimes outstay our welcome when speaking, and we can’t always wait our turn. We don’t always understand small talk or the ‘silent no’.
Organisation, time management, admin – all are a struggle. And yet, DDND application forms look the same as those for able/ neurotypical programmes. Upload forms are a world of pain. They time out half way through and have word counts you don’t find out ‘til the end – these can all be challenging when you have a learning disability. Our executive functioning impairments make it so, so much slower. (Side note: More detail of these problems in this article )

TLDR: Just saying ‘please apply’ to ND writers isn’t going to fix the deficit. While quotas can help improve inequality for other underrepresented groups, they aren’t enough here. The solution is more nuanced. We also need to build a ramp. Or to put it another way (because one is never enough with ADHD), if commissioners genuinely want more neurodivergent minds through the door, they need to overhaul the mechanism of the door.

SO HOW DO WE FIX IT? INTRODUCING THE SQUARE HOLE INITIATIVE (INSERT SPONSOR HERE) –

A Mission to get more square pegs into screenwriting! (and publishing)

We are a movement to help increase representation for Neurodivergent (ND) writers in the TV industry, by breaking down invisible systemic barriers – much like Comedy 5050 has done for women. The Square Hole initiative comprises a mix of written principles, tangible actions, and educational workshops to increase the representation of neurodiverse writers in TV, Radio & Film.

WHAT’S SQUARE HOLE, AND HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?

We offer practical changes, training and consultancy. One of the Square Hole prongs is acting as an advisory service, and we already have multiple clients we are helping out across production companies, agencies and broadcasters. We are able to review and offer first-hand ideas for how your course/scheme can be more ND friendly, with a particular focus on ADHD because we know from research and personal experience that this is one area that is under-represented – for good reasons. To find out our rates, email us today at Loreleimathias@gmail.com

WHO ARE WE?

We are a small team of ND and award-winning writers and a producer
We have worked in professional writers’ rooms from BBC to ITV, and we have experienced existing development schemes funded by the BBC (even ones aimed at DDND writers). We understand why they didn’t always work effectively for us and many other writers whom we interviewed during our research.
Founder Lorelei is a neurodiversity speaker and industry commentator for Broadcast, Chortle, British Comedy Guide and The Guardian. She’s a 2 X Edinburgh TV Festival finalist, supported by BBC Talentworks, and won the TV Foundation Bursary leading to mentoring from Rory Bremner and Victoria Pile.
Scarlett is a professional Access Coordinator who would act in this capacity to assess and negotiate reasonable access adjustments for writers to participate prosperously. She’s no stranger to campaigning: it was her that single-handedly made the case to Channel 4 that they re-enter a script allowance for d/Deaf, disabled and ND writers in their 4 Stories and 4 Screenwriting programmes.

If you’d like to help make ANY PART of this happen, please contact us with funding leads, sponsorship, or willing project managers 🙂

Or if you’d just like to know our consultancy rates, get in touch. We are already pretty busy but would love to help you! Get in touch in the ‘Reach out’ page above.

Hear me on BBC Radio explaining all this:

Copyright The Square Hole Initiative 2023 – A scheme to increase representation of neurodiverse writers – proposal by Lorelei Mathias (writer & ADHD-er) with Gemma Wright (Producer & ASD-er) and Scarlett Kefford (Writer & Access Coordinator with ADHD, ASD & mobility disability)