DiversiD Diaries Issue 1
DiversiD Diaries - Issue 1 - Adam Fowler
What’s up, my name is Adam, I have autism and I’ve been part of DL models for over 6 months and this is my experience with fashion and autism. In my world, I have been put down and let down so many times, I’m on a mission to change that to share that anyone with autism can do anything!
This month I want to talk about something that has affected myself for the past few weeks and days, I have autism and recently I’ve been getting a lot of rejections in the fashion industry as a model and even an actor/extras in projects. And how it’s been effecting me and my mental health.
Sometimes they go with someone else rather than myself which is understandable, but if you think I put in the time and effort to be at one’s casting, it happened to me last week, was on a standby for a project then to be told that we were not gonna use you, it really wasted my time and energy, after that I was really depressed, it made me think, “why on earth this day and age that they wouldn’t use someone with autism”
Even when you apply for castings or Photography work, ether the person who ran the article wouldn’t bother to reply back, again it puts me off from applying in the first place, people assume when I have autism - oh he can’t do the job we want him to do or he can’t do this. You know? You can’t assume I won’t do it.
A few weeks ago I went to a fitting for another project and the people they were understanding and they told me everything that they were doing which I really appreciated and this exactly how it should be ran and it really puts me at ease, they told me every step that they were doing and they told me exactly what the process of what a fitting was and what will happen.
How do I deal with the rejection? I just carry on doing what I do, I don’t get beaten down or thrown dishearten, I just carry on and being who I am. There’s a quote from a song I always stick to “Finding flaws in our design” I just use the lyrics to finding the flaws in my design to keep doing what I’m doing as an person. Knowing that the good stuff will come my way very soon
In conclusion whenever it be a fashion show where I can walk the runway like there’s no tomorrow or doing something that to me is in the unknown, it’s time that people with autism in fashion or even acting who wants to put their foot in the door and do something that they want to do - accept people with autism and help them get to where they want to be!
You can connect with Adam on his socials:
https://www.instagram.com/adamdoesmodeling
For more information about DL Models and how you can get involved, check out our website:
