'We wanted to incite change': How production practices on 'A Kind of Spark' can Make television better for all of us.

This month the University of Stirling published the largest ever study of autistic people’s research priorities (Cage, E et al, 2024) finding that they wanted research to focus on mental health and support rather than ‘cure’. In other words, autistic people want their lives to be valued and supported as they are, not to have the sides shaved off their square pegs so that they will fit into a round hole. This is a point made with joyful eloquence in the BBC Children’s drama, A Kind of Spark (2023), which tells the story of Addie, a teenage autistic girl determined to gain justice for the ‘witches’ in her village who were killed for being different centuries ago. Based on the award-winning novel by autistic writer, Elle McNicoll, the story is about ‘sisterhood, neurodiversity and standing firm in the face of the mob.’[1] Addie faces bullying from children and adults in the show but knows that her neurology is her strength not her burden.