Chloé Hayden

When I told my best friends that I was autistic, she looked at me with fear in her eyes, took a big step back from me and said, can I catch it?

My other best friend, a friend of six years, the longest I have ever had a relationship, by the way, sent me a text.

Hey, we can't be friends anymore.

People are probably going to tease me because I'm friends with someone that's autistic.

Because of the fear that we have on autism, I have lost countless massive acting opportunities, casting directors and producers specifically telling me it was because of autism.

When I was 16, I decided I was going to start a blog, because the story that I was being told wasn't the story that I was going to live.

I also have ADHD, I'm stubborn as hell, and I was not going to let that story define me.

I also knew that I wasn't that special.

If I had crash-landed on an alien planet, surely there was other people on that rocket ship with me.

In 2022, I made history as becoming Australia's first ever openly autistic actress.

My character, Quinny in Heartbreak High, made history in her own right as being one of the first ever autistic characters to actually be played by an autistic person.

I find this really interesting because you guys are clapping, and it is incredibly exciting, but doesn't it also make you feel a little bit sick that it's 2024 and only two years ago we got some of the first correct representation?

How come ...

Correct autism representation is seen as so inspiring, is seen as so history-making, is seen as so groundbreaking.

Quinny was history-making.

I know for a fact if I had Quinny when I was a teenager, my entire life would have been different.

And I've received thousands of messages from autistic people saying that they got their diagnosis because of her, and thousands more messages from people that have said that they now understand their students, their peers, their children better because of Quinny.

Quinny has undoubtedly shaped our perception of autism.

But I do think it's really important to note that Quinny was so well received because she's palatable.

Quinny is, for better or worse, a variant of manic pixie dream girl autism.