Sara Gibbs

Last updated

Sara Gibbs is a British comedy script writer and autism advocate [1] with credits on the British television shows HIGNFY , Dead Ringers , The News Quiz , The Now Show and The Mash Report amongst others. [2] She is the co-founder (Elsa Williams being the other) of The Daily Tism, an on-line satirical comedy sketch in the guise of a news site. Marketed as being by and for autistics, it is produced by Turtle Canyon Comedy. She variously serves as composer, executive producer, writer, and ensemble actor. [3]

Contents

She grew up in East Grinstead, England in a culturally Jewish (which sustained her socially) [4] New Age family who made occasional shul visits, and was given a Waldorf education. She is a graduate of the National Film and Television School's Writing & Producing Comedy course. [5]

She was diagnosed with autism spectrum at thirty. [6] She regards her diagnosis "like returning to my own planet" and explanatory of much of her lifelong behaviour and idiocyncracies. [7] [8] [9] Her 2021 memoir Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful labels was well received. [10]

Personal life

Gibbs lives with her husband in southeast England, and identifies as bisexual. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Williams</span> Australian writer (1963–2017)

Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel and as Polly Samuel, was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autism rights movement</span> Disability rights movement for autistic people

The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with the disability rights movement. It emphasizes the neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally occurring variations in human cognition, a disability with both strengths and weaknesses, rather than as a disease to be cured or a medical disorder, diverging from but not opposing all aspects of the medical model of disability.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to autism:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Societal and cultural aspects of autism</span>

Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps; the autism rights movement and the pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katy Wix</span> Welsh actress, comedian and author (born 1980)

Katy Victoria J Wix is a Welsh actress, writer, author and artist. Her television roles include Carole in Stath Lets Flats, Mary in Ghosts, Barbara in Ted Lasso, and Jules in Big Boys. She has also appeared as a series contestant on Taskmaster and as a recurring character in the science fiction mini-series Torchwood: Children of Earth in 2009. She has written two series of her own: a sitcom for BBC Radio 4, Bird Island and a sketch show for Channel 4, Anna & Katy. In 2017, her painting was chosen for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. She has written two books of monologues and in 2021 she published her first memoir, Delicacy.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by repetitive, restricted, and inflexible patterns of behavior, interests, and activities; deficits in social communication and social interaction; and the presence of high or low sensory sensitivity. A formal diagnosis requires that symptoms cause significant impairment in multiple functional domains, in addition to being atypical or excessive for the individual's age and sociocultural context.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.

<i>The Reason I Jump</i> 2007 biography book by Naoki Higashida

The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism is an autobiography attributed to Naoki Higashida, a largely nonspeaking autistic person from Japan. It was first published in Japan in 2007. The English translation, by Keiko Yoshida and her husband, English author David Mitchell, was published in 2013.

Fern Marie Brady is a Scottish comedian, podcaster and writer. She achieved fame as a stand-up comedian at competitions such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was then invited on to panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats. In 2020 she co-created the podcast Wheel of Misfortune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Smale</span> British writer (born 1981)

Holly Miranda Smale is a British writer. She wrote the Geek Girl series. The first book in the series won the 2014 Waterstones Children's Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013. The final book, Forever Geek, was published by HarperCollins in March 2017.

Emelia Rachael Rusciano is an Australian comedian, podcaster, television and radio presenter, singer, author and entertainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Novellie</span> South African Manx comedian

Pierre Novellie is a South African-born comedian and writer.

<i>Atypical</i> 2017 American comedy-drama television series

Atypical is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. The series takes place in Connecticut, and focuses on the life of 18-year-old Samuel "Sam" Gardner, who is autistic. The first season was released on August 11, 2017, consisting of eight episodes. The 10-episode second season was released on September 7, 2018. In October 2018, the series was renewed for a third season of ten episodes, which was released on November 1, 2019. In February 2020, it was renewed for a fourth and final season, which premiered on July 9, 2021.

Rosie King is a British writer, public speaker and autism advocate. She has featured in a BBC documentary on the subject, and is a prominent contributor to the Pablo TV series.

Naoise Dolan is an Irish novelist. She is known for her novels Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023).

Paige Hennekam, better known as Paige Layle, is a Canadian ADHD and autism acceptance activist and author. She is known for discussing her experiences with ADHD and autism on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube since 2020. Her first book, But Everyone Feels This Way: How an Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life, was released in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autism and LGBTQ identities</span>

Current research indicates that autistic people have higher rates of LGBTQ identities and feelings than the general population. A variety of explanations for this have been proposed, such as prenatal hormonal exposure, which has been linked with sexual orientation, gender dysphoria and autism. Alternatively, autistic people may be less reliant on social norms and thus are more open about their orientation or gender identity. A narrative review published in 2016 stated that while various hypotheses have been proposed for an association between autism and gender dysphoria, they lack strong evidence.

Chloé Sarah Hayden is an Australian actress, author, podcast host, social media personality, and an activist in the disability rights movement. After gaining early attention on social media, she became known for her performance of Quinn "Quinni" Gallagher-Jones in the Netflix comedy drama series Heartbreak High, for which she won an AACTA Award and was nominated for a Logie Award.

Dinosaur is a Scottish comedy drama television series set in Glasgow. It premiered in April 2024. It was renewed for a second series later that year.

References

  1. ↑ Sherwood, Harriet (27 June 2021). "'We don't need to be cured or fixed': writers speak out on autism" . The Guardian . Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "Sara Gibbs". British Comedy Guide.
  3. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (16 December 2024). "The Daily Tism launches autism-themed sketch show". British Comedy Guide.
  4. ↑ Gibbs, Sara (12 October 2018). "What It's Like Being the Only Jew in Town". Hey Alma. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Sara Gibbs". The Soho Agency. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  6. ↑ Odell, Michael (17 June 2021). "I was diagnosed with autism at 30 — I want to save other women the same struggle" . The Times . Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  7. ↑ Gibbs, Sara (7 February 2019). "'Knowing I am autistic has set me free to be me'". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "I think theres a lack of understanding of how autism can present in girls, who are often socialised differently". National Autistic Society . Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "What It's Like to Get an Autism Diagnosis After Years of Being Called Difficult, Dramatic and Lazy". Pocket. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Comedy writer Sara Gibbs pens autism memoir". British Comedy Guide. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  11. ↑ Gibbs, Sara [@Sara_Rose_G] (2 November 2022). "I've always felt weird about saying this, like I'm being dramatic or something & I realise now how much of that is the biphobic idea that if I'm with a man, I'm not bi enough. So just for the record, I'm bi. And I wish it hadn't taken me into my thirties to understand it" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023– via Twitter.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.