Blog Post 6 - Inhuman?

Before I really detail Kylie as a character (As in picking out her traits), I want to get more into her internal conflict. Many people with neurodivergence struggle with feeling non-human. Whether it be due to backlash they’ve received from their environment, or a struggle to connect with their peers, they feel no sense of belonging and don’t “fit in” with what is socially acceptable as human. 

Heck, ever heard of a changeling? In European mythology, there are stories of changelings in relation to neurodivergence, especially ASD. The story goes that if a baby is left unattended/unbaptized, they have the possibility of being stollen away by the Fae and replaced with one of their own kind, called a changeling. The changeling supposedly will shape shift into the stolen baby in order to trick the family. Their common traits? Strangely fast or slow development, strange fidgeting tendencies, challenges/resistances with learning things such as math and reading, mischievous, and excelling in talents. Yeah, those sure does sound like some neurodivergent traits.

Even worse, many families believed in these tales and as a result, believed what was most likely just neurodivergence in their child, as changeling behavior. So how do you get a changeling out of your house? Burn them. No, this is not a joke. There are accounts of families burning alive their children for the sake of getting rid of the changeling. Changeling children was used as justification for child abuse of disabled children… And guess what? (While maybe not using the changeling excuse) Parents still get away with in this day and age.

(A very detailed article called "Changelings and the Folk History of Autism" by Kayley Whalen)

So theres already a horribly strong link between being neurodivergent and being inhuman. As stated before, in Kylie’s case specifically, she feels more connected with cats. She feels that there must be something wrong with her for not acting “human enough.” To resolve the story of my short film, she needs to be able to overcome this idea, at least enough to create some development. What better way to do this than give her a human friend? One like her.