The reality competition show Survivor has been around for decades. The most recent season was Survivor 48, offering viewers the 48th season of the show.
I watched the first few seasons of Survivor, but hadn’t really watched since then. Until this season. Being both a mental health counselor and having my own experience with late-identified autism, I was drawn in by the clips I saw on social media regarding a few of the players on Survivor 48. (This post does contain some details about the players and events in the last episode, but does NOT contain any spoilers about who won – just FYI.)
Survivor 48 – Brief Recap
This season included Mitch, a player who has a stutter. I saw a clip of the way that the host, Jeff Probst, interacted with Mitch early on regarding his stutter. Jeff asked Mitch what was helpful in communication – to offer suggestions of words or to allow Mitch to get to the word himself. I appreciated the way that Mitch’s stutter was acknowledged and that Mitch was given the opportunity to communicate his own needs/preferences in relation to this.
Another player who caught my attention in clips from early in the season was Eva, an autistic individual. I first became aware of her when I saw a clip from an early episode on social media. Eva entered Survivor 48 aware that she would likely encounter situations that were overwhelming and she sought out another player to entrust with knowledge of her autism and the specifics of what helped her regulate her emotions and body when overwhelmed. I had seen a clip of Eva sharing this information with another contestant, Joe. Then, I came across a clip of the moment she became dysregulated during a challenge and Joe stepped in to help her regulate, in exactly the ways she had requested, once the challenge was over.
That’s when I decided that I wanted to actually watch this season.
Now, I’m aware that many of the things that drew me to this season – themes of mental health, loyalty, support for one another above game play – are the very things that had long-term Survivor fans not loving this cast. But I want to fast forward to the final days of the competition and highlight something that caught my attention.
An Autistic Meltdown
As the days of the competition are dwindling, Eva is faced with the challenge of building a fire with limited resources. She is practicing this task on the island and is becoming increasingly more frustrated and dysregulated as she is unable to get a fire started. Viewers see her body becoming tense and hear her talking to herself in an attempt to regulate and focus on the task at hand. We hear this self-talk shift as the frustration increases. Then, her island mates hear her visceral groans, groans of someone in pain, accompanied by sobbing.
Eva is experiencing an autistic meltdown. What is an autistic meltdown? It can be described as “an uncontrollable response to overwhelming feelings; a physical reaction to an overwhelmed brain.” (Thanks to the autistic-led Reframing Autism for this description.)
An autistic meltdown may include crying, screaming, throwing things, pacing, clenching of fists or jaw, hitting oneself or others, running away, or zoning out. These meltdowns can last from a few minutes to more than an hour, and are a response that the autistic individual does not have control over.
However, autistic meltdowns can be experienced less frequently and resolved more quickly with adequate support in place. The specifics of this support varies from autistic individual to autistic individual and may look different for the same person in varying circumstances.
Eva was diagnosed with autism as a young child. I do not know the specifics of her experience, but it appears that she had access to supportive people and services to help her understand her autism and learn to advocate for her needs. Viewers saw Eva do just that when she spoke with Joe early in the season about her autism. She told him that when she is overwhelmed and dysregulated, it is helpful to have firm pressure (i.e. a tight, squeezing hug or firmly grasping her hands) and reassuring words spoken in a calm voice.
Joe was willing and able to offer both those things when Eva became dysregulated earlier in the season and when she was experiencing an autistic meltdown in the face of her fire-building attempts.
Joe even offered to take on the fire-building task for Eva. But Eva knew she was capable and she wanted to face the challenge herself. She just needed the appropriate support to be able to meet the challenge.
The Social Model of Disability
Having the appropriate support to be able to meet a challenge is at the core of what is known as the “Social Model of Disability.” This way of viewing disability (and many autistic folks do consider their autism to be disabling) views disability as the result of social and environmental barriers, as opposed to it being a problem within the individual. For example, a blind individual is going to experience more impacts of their blindness in an environment where there are no sound cues or options for interaction that are not sight-dependent than if they are in a space that is designed with multiple ways of interacting and taking in information.
The interaction between Eva and Joe shows one example of what can be possible when a person is able to recognize and communicate their needs in an environment where others are willing and able to create change to meet those needs.
When Needs Are Not Met
All too often, this is not the case. A person may have never had the opportunity to identify and learn about their unique way of being in the world and their individual needs for support. The context or environment may not offer a way to communicate these needs, or to have them met even when communicated. The person’s attempts to communicate their needs may be dismissed, overlooked, or ignored.
This leaves the individual in a situation where not only are they overwhelmed and in need of support to help regulate their body and emotions, but they are also left alone in an experience that can be both psychologically and physically painful.
Many autistic folks, particularly those who “don’t look autistic”, have multiple experiences throughout our lives where our needs are overlooked, ignored, or even cause for harassment. We learn that it’s not safe to acknowledge our needs or to communicate how we can best be supported. We learn to say everything is “fine” when our nervous systems feel like an exposed wound reacting to everything in the environment. We make choices to avoid certain events, situations, or interactions in an effort to protect ourselves from the exhaustion that follows intense dysregulation. Our existence can become focused on survival and the world misses out on so much of the beauty that comes with diverse ways of being.
For me, this season of Survivor was a display of what a difference compassion-filled conversation and a willingness to make accommodations can make!
What Next?
Do you find yourself resonating with Eva’s experience? Maybe you’re remembering times in your own life where the amount of overwhelm you felt was uncontrollable and accompanied by both physical and emotional discomfort? You may recognize yourself in the description of common reactions to having your needs dismissed and overlooked.
I am now scheduling neurodivergent-affirming assessments for adults (18+) in North Carolina to help you explore and understand the unique way your brain functions. Please complete this contact form if you’re interested in learning more about assessment options, and I will be in touch with you.
Michelle F. Moseley is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in NC. She believes ALL people deserve respect, compassion, and access to mental and physical healthcare. Michelle specializes in working with survivors of religious trauma, and with those who have body image concerns, finding there is frequent overlap in these areas. She also frequently supports late-identified neurodivergent individuals as they navigate the grief and relief of a new understanding of self. You can learn more about Michelle by visiting her website at MichelleFMoseley.com or following her on Instagram – @therapy_with_michelle
Sign-up for Michelle’s Monthly Email Newsletter to make sure you never miss a blog post