Lucy Bronze, Autism and Superpower Headlines

Media narratives centring 'Autistic or ADHD superpowers' are becoming more frequent and we need to talk about it

England footballer Lucy Bronze bravely opened up about her autism and ADHD in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport this week, yet I could not shift a sinking feeling after seeing some of the headlines that followed.

The 33-year-old spoke honestly and powerfully on growing up “misunderstood”, struggling to talk to her England teammates in her 20s, and using her symptoms to her advantage on the pitch.

Bronze has undoubtedly touched the lives of many Autistic and ADHD individuals, their friends, family, and carers by helping to normalise and raise awareness of these stigmatised conditions.

However, the framing of her story and other neurodivergence and disability stories, in and out of sport, matters too. Headlines have the power to shape public attitudes towards these issues.

Out of a 6-minute nuanced conversation several mainstream publications and social media outlets chose to centre Bronze’s comment that AuDHD is her “superpower.”

“Training every day is amazing for me. Even now the girls are like, ‘Are you sure you’re 33 because you don’t stop!’ I’m like, ‘It’s just my superpower,’” she laughed.

For hundreds of thousands of readers and social media users this headline, known as the ‘hook’ of a story in the journalism industry, will be the first, and potentially only, words they read.

Then, when it is shared across private messaging platforms and group chats to friends and family it will be those keywords again that are consumed and start conversations.

While athletes should be able to express their personal, sensitive experiences using their preferred language without being policed, the potential consequences of the media’s focus on the ‘superpower’ trope should not be ignored.

Though intended to be empowering, there are fears the elevation of the superpower trope results in unrealistic expectations and oversimplified narratives about living with a disability, especially when coverage does not simultaneously affirm the importance of access needs.

Neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals may internalise the idea that Autism and ADHD come with special enhanced abilities that also mean they don’t deserve or require support and accommodations.

Failing to conform to this superhuman narrative can lead to feelings of inadequacy, which is particularly concerning given the relatively high prevalence of mental health problems among the neurodivergent population.

The stakes are uniquely high for athletes in professional environments who might not disclose a diagnosis or seek accommodations out of fear of repercussions on match selection, and by extension, their careers.

The preliminary results of the Professional Footballers’ Association survey on neurodivergence show that 60% of professional footballers who have reported they have certain neurodivergent traits have not disclosed them to their team or club.

And when these words are chosen to represent the stories of neurodivergent and disabled voices across society time and time again, the argument that the media is only reflecting individuals’ testimonies grows increasingly weak.

Journalists, editors, and producers aren’t immune to societal norms, or, dare I say, wider political agendas.

The superpower trope is perhaps more palatable and lucrative to elements of the media whose main priority is clicks and views, but also compatible with the increasing right-wing media narratives that disabled people are “undeserving” of benefits.

It is not hard to see how the superpower narrative could be weaponised against neurodivergent and disabled people to justify the current egregious inequalities and lack of support.

Avoiding the “victim” or “burden” stereotype is important in improving coverage of neurodivergent athletes, but does not necessitate going from one extreme to another by relying on the “supercrip” stereotype.

As Bronze alluded, being AuDHD is not black and white. There are some goods and some bads that show up differently for every neurodivergent person. It doesn’t make them worse or better than neurotypical people, just different.

Several written and social media outlets did well to listen to Bronze and reflected her nuanced experiences through headlines and captions like “Lucy Bronze opens up about her autism and ADHD diagnoses” and “Having autism has worked to my advantage in football – Bronze.”

Do we not owe that to her and future neurodivergent athletes who speak out?