The Kitchen sheds light on Neurodiversity initiatives in the audiovisual sector

The Kitchen’s Director of International Sales, Julie Beneteau, has taken the strong and very much needed initiative of highlighting the challenges of Neurodiversity in the audiovisual industry in the recent CDSA summit, in London. She created a panel on Neurodiversity where actors, writers, production professionals, told their very personal history of living with a challenge, either one that they are personally facing daily, or that of their children or partner.

“Neurodiversity” is not a superpower,” Julie Beneteau explained. "It is a 'blind' disability. We all know that in the workplace, or in a concert venue, a person in a wheelchair would be accommodated. But how about someone who gets panic attacks or has sensory issues, or suffers from high anxiety?”

Living with a Neurodivergent family member, Julie and the panel, that included many industry colleagues, believe that the Neurodivergent brain thinks outside of the box and therefore, many creative people, they believe, are Neurodivergent, without a true diagnosis. “Talking to clients and partners from different countries, Neurodivergent individuals are known to struggle at school and in a work environment as well. How can we, in the media and entertainment industry, help them to make their voices heard? How can we encourage our colleagues to produce content representing Neurodiversity, played and voiced by actual Neurodivergent actors?,” Julie added.

The CDSA panel was a breakthrough event. Julie has since been contacted by dozens of colleagues to create some support groups within the audiovisual industry. Better support will mean more understanding and better productivity in the long run.

“The Kitchen has colleagues, family and friends who have been affected by the Neurodivergent differences that affect so many of us,” Julie concluded. “We are working with numerous groups in providing answers and expanding knowledge overall. The audio description and closed captioning services that we offer, in all languages, are good examples of what we believe is necessary to expand viewership globally. We look forward to working with content providers as their characters own individualities are expanded.”