Rebecca Faith Quinn is In Bed with Eva
Cripping Up Sex: On today's episode of In Bed with Eva we are talking to Rebecca! Tell us your name, pronouns, and a bit about what you do
Rebecca: My name is Rebecca Faith Quinn, my pronouns are she/her, and I am an actress/writer and content creator on TikTok
Rebecca: My content usually relates to being autistic, as I am an autistic woman myself
Cripping Up Sex: That’s awesome you discuss what it's like to be autistic! What prompted you to make these TikToks?
Rebecca: Well, I originally started because I had seen a thread on Twitter of people accusing certain autistic tiktokers of not being autistic
Rebecca: This is super common because people don’t understand all sides of the autism spectrum
Rebecca: So I jumped on with a TikTok talking about how autistic women are sick of hearing this stuff, and it just flowed from there
Cripping Up Sex: That's so fucked that other people are doing that. It's great that you decided to do something about it!
Cripping Up Sex: I know females (and people assigned female at birth) often get diagnosed later in life if at all. What are your thoughts on this?
Rebecca: Yeah, it's fucked but it's unfortunately super common for girls to be told they're not autistic
Rebecca: It's actually one of the biggest reasons I wrote my film that just premiered recently
Rebecca: So that people not on tiktok could have the opportunity to see Autism in another light
Cripping Up Sex: Ohh what's your film called and can you tell me more about it?
Rebecca: My film is called A. S.imple D.ate and it's all about an autistic girl Rachel becoming more comfortable with herself while on a first date with a neurotypical man
Rebecca: It's been a passion project of mine for about a year and a half, now, and it's one of a kind in the sense that it's about autism, written by an autistic woman and stars me, an autistic woman
Rebecca: Unlike most films surrounding autism, where they're written by neurotypicals and star neurotypicals
Cripping Up Sex: Wow how cool! I will certainly check it out! Yes there are not enough films about autistic women especially by and staring autistic women! So it's amazing you made that happen.
Rebecca: Yes! And it's completely free on Youtube! I didn't feel right charging autistic women to see themselves accurately portrayed for once
Cripping Up Sex: Awesome! That's so cool
Rebecca: We really hope to get it popular enough for Netflix to be interested in turning it into a series
Cripping Up Sex: That would be so amazing!
Rebecca: There are so many common misconceptions about disabled people in general that I would really like to work to dismantle, and I feel that a series would be the best way to help do that
Cripping Up Sex: Absolutely. Media is a great way to educate other people without knocking them over the head with it lol
Cripping Up Sex: Switching gears to a less positive subject. Let’s talk about the organization autism speaks; I know many people who do not like this organization because they feel it focuses on curing Autism rather than promoting awareness and resources. Also, I have heard it is mostly run by parents and not actual autistic people. What are your thoughts?
Rebecca: I am not the biggest fan of Autism Speaks. They have a nasty history of not only being run by neurotypicals, but they also have actively suppressed autistic voices in their own company
Rebecca: Several autistic members of their board have left because they weren't being listened to.
Rebecca: And their overall goal may have switched from curing autism to autism acceptance, but they still don't actually do that much to help autistic people
Rebecca: Whereas organizations like the Autism Self Advocacy Network or the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network actively help autistics to be able to advocate for themselves, instead of infantalizing us or treating us like we can't do anything ourselves
Cripping Up Sex: Yikes. That's bad! That sentiment of having nondisabled people running organizations for disabled people is sadly not just around autism but is a very common thing among disability organizations in general, unfortunately.
Cripping Up Sex: I am glad there are other awesome organizations out there doing the work that needs to be done
Rebecca: Exactly. I hate the idea that disabled people can't take care of themselves, when for many of us, no matter what the disability is, we are able to advocate for ourselves, just so long as we're given the proper accommodations
Rebecca: It's one of the biggest things that I hate when it comes to my career. Most disability related films do not star disabled actors, despite there being many disabled actors out there
Rebecca: And most of the time, the reasoning is because the production doesn't want to give the accommodations for the disabled actor
Rebecca: In literally any other business that would be discrimination, but for film and television it's seen as okay for some reason
Cripping Up Sex: That's so true and needs to change.
Cripping Up Sex: You use TikTok as a way to educate and get your message out there; why did you pick this platform?
Rebecca: I didn't necessarily pick it as much as I sort of fell into it. I made one video that a lot of people seemed to really like, so as my platform just grew and grew I leaned into it more
Rebecca: It's actually the main reason I was able to get the funding needed and get the word out about my film
Cripping Up Sex: Wow that's so cool
Cripping Up Sex: Like many people with disabilities, autistic people are often de-sexualized. Talk to me about why you think that is
Rebecca: I think that has to do with infantilization. People like to believe us as pure because they don't really see us as full adults.
Rebecca: There was actually a viral trend amongst the disabled community on tiktok about that very thing
Rebecca: We took an audio from an interview with Sia about her upcoming film "Music" where Sia had said that disabled people, or in her words, people with special abilities, have this inherent purity
Cripping Up Sex: Omg
Rebecca: So those of us on disabled tiktok took that audio and filmed thirst traps to it, where we dressed sexy and posed sexy for the camera
Cripping Up Sex: That's amazing!
Cripping Up Sex: I love that lol
Rebecca: It was really popular and we had a lot of fun doing it!
Cripping Up Sex: I bet! It sounds really cool.
Cripping Up Sex: I am curious, what are the unique challenges (if any) that autistic people face in regards to dating and sex?
Rebecca: So one of the biggest challenges that autistics face during sex is the sensory aspect of it
Rebecca: Some of us are hypersensitive to touch, and that can be overstimulating to some
Rebecca: For me personally, that hypersensitivity kind of makes it better
Rebecca: But at the same time it means I'm only good to go maybe one or twice before I'm too sensitive
Rebecca: The most important thing about sex is communication, and autistics often have trouble with that. I know I sometimes have trouble communicating my boundaries
Rebecca: Like if someone grabs my hair, which is super popular with Neurotypicals, it sends me straight into meltdown mode
Rebecca: And sometimes it's hard for me to communicate that, especially since I shut down during meltdowns
Cripping Up Sex: Communication is so important but can be one of the hardest things to figure out about sex for anyone! So adding things like being autistic or disabled definitely creates another layer we have to work with in order to establish good communication with our partners
Rebecca: Exactly
Cripping Up Sex: What would you like neurotypicals to know about autism in regards to sex and dating?
Rebecca: That we do it, and in fact we do it very well when people take the time to understand us.
Rebecca: I'm a very sexual person within a relationship, and when I have partners who understand and listen to me, they have proven to be wonderful and very fulfilling relationships
Cripping Up Sex: That makes sense!
Cripping Up Sex: Where would you like to see society’s views on autism go in the future?
Rebecca: I would love to see people genuinely treating autism in general as what it is, just a different neurotype
Rebecca: I would love for it to be normalized and have all disability seen as something that just needs to be accommodated instead of feared or pitied
Cripping Up Sex: I so agree!
Cripping Up Sex: Where would you like to see your work with film and TikTok go in the future?
Rebecca: For one, I would love to be the showrunner of a show that I star in. I actually have an idea for a show beyond A. S.imple D.ate that centers around disability in women in general, instead of just autism
Rebecca: I would love for it to star me, an autistic woman, a standup comedian with tourrettes syndrome, a woman in a wheelchair and a neurodivergent woman
Rebecca: And it would be about them living their lives and having normal sex lives
Rebecca: Kind of like Sex in the City, but with disabled women
Cripping Up Sex: Awesome, that sounds like an amazing project that is SO needed!
Cripping Up Sex: Well that was my last question Rebecca, and this has been such a pleasure! Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
Rebecca: A. S.imple D.ate is available for free for all to watch on the channel YoungQuinn productions! If they enjoy it I would love for them to consider signing our petition to get Netflix to consider it for a series!
Cripping Up Sex: Awesome! Well, so thanks for much for coming to chat with me today Rebecca!
Rebecca: Thank you so much for inviting me! I loved this!
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