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 Tal Anderson has never needed a script to be memorable, but lately, the world is catching up to what so many of us have known all along. Through her role as Becca in The Pitt and her children’s book Oh Tal! Not Like That, Tal is helping reshape how autism is seen, not as a stereotype to be explained, but as a lived experience to be honored. In this conversation, Tal opens up about representation, misunderstanding, advocacy, and the joy of becoming even more herself. ALLIÉ: So, Tal Anderson, the woman, the wonder, the legend. I think that’s appropriate for you. Between The Pitt and Oh, Tal! Not Like That, you are helping people see autism through story instead of stereotype. What feels different when representation comes from lived experience? Let’s start there. TAL: You know, it’s different because it feels real. It feels real to me, even if the lived experience is not exactly the same. You know, like in The Pitt, Becca is very different from me, but because we’re both autistic, I can find a place to exist with Becca where we’re the same, and that makes it easier to understand her perspective when I bring her to life. Michael and I created the book for the same reason. These stories are real stories. We know that these experiences are shared by other kids out there because both Michael and I went through the same situations and feelings. You know, we’re 25 years apart. Authentic representation really matters.  ALLIÉ: Yeah, absolutely it does. Well, let’s talk more about Becca. With Becca in The Pitt, what did you want people to understand about autistic women that they don’t often get to see on screen? TAL: The whole concept of bodily autonomy that was written into Becca and Mel’s story this season was a big deal. It’s something disabled people have been battling forever because it’s way too common and accepted for people to infantilize disabled people. But in Becca’s story this season, she took a stand. Becca has a right to be part of making decisions about her life, especially when it comes to her sex life. She’s a grown woman, and she needs to be able to make choices about her own body, you know, like we all do. We never get to see this on screen. You know, it’s controversial, and there are people on both sides of the story, but the reason it’s so important is because it’s on screen. We can’t ignore it. We have to discuss it, and I think that’s the first step to changing it. ALLIÉ: Switching gears then to your book, Oh, Tal! Not Like That, which, as I mentioned, our son absolutely loves. It has such a beautiful, honest title. And also, let’s be real, a sentence many of us have heard and felt in some version. So, the question here is, what made you want to turn that feeling into a story for kids? TAL: So this book is part of a series, as you know, and I guess it comes from so many years of just being told what to do, especially when I wasn’t speaking. You know, things like, “Not like that,” “Don’t do that,” “Be like this,” all of those commands that basically say that everything you do and are is wrong. I guess that’s where the series came from, to call attention to that and those words, and to try to speak to kids directly to say it’s okay to just be you and to do things your own way. I wanted to write the book so kids wouldn’t feel alone, and Michael and I are qualified to do it because we are those kids.  ALLIÉ: And I love exactly how you call it out verbatim: “Not like that.” Your book carries such a familiar ache, that feeling of being corrected before being understood. Can you take us back to a moment in your life, Tal, when someone misunderstood you and what you wish they would have seen instead? TAL: Yeah. I mean, as a kid, just like in the books, people would assume that if I didn’t do something exactly the way they wanted, it was because I was being difficult or argumentative. But really, it was because I was interpreting what I was being told differently because of the way they said it. It’s a simple example, but I remember the teacher getting mad at me because she told me not to sit on the floor. So I got up and moved and sat down on the carpet. She yelled at me because she didn’t think I was listening. But when I told her I wasn’t sitting on the floor, I was sitting on the carpet, I got into trouble for talking back. I wasn’t. I thought I was following directions. Sitting on the floor, to me, was not the same as sitting on the carpet, but I couldn’t explain that to her. For the rest of the year, she just didn’t like me because she thought I was a troublemaker. There are a thousand examples like that, but I think my brain just hears things and processes them differently. I think if the teacher had understood me, maybe she would have been able to learn to give me directions that were more specific. You know, if she had said, “I need everyone to stay seated in their chairs. Please get off the floor and sit down in your chair,” I would have understood.  ALLIÉ: Yeah… It’s just things that are kind of lost in translation, right? You were trying to get it, and she was trying to say it. Well, so let’s get back to amazing, wonderful you, just being Tal, just being you. How do you carry the responsibility, perhaps, of advocacy without letting it steal the joy of just simply creating? TAL: I don’t think I set out to be an advocate. I just talk about what I think is wrong and try to share things that are right and good for the world and people. I think I’ve been really lucky to be able to have a small platform to say those things and have a few people listen and feel connected to the things I have to say. I can only speak for myself, my own experiences and opinions, but, you know, I hope that there are others who share my feelings and connect with them. And when they do, that brings me joy, especially when someone is helped by it. You know, I think all of the advocacy is very personal for me, as is my work. And my work is so important to me that I never let anything steal that joy from me.  ALLIÉ: I love that. That is your work, and doing this brings you joy. It’s not a chore. It’s a joy that you get to do this. So, one more question for you today. What do you want disabled or divergent kids, or any kid who is feeling other, who is feeling different, to know about the parts of themselves that the world may not understand yet? What do you want them to know? TAL: I guess I want them to know that doing things differently isn’t wrong. It’s not wrong. It’s just different. And there’s more than one right way to do things. Also, eventually what other people think won’t really matter to you. If you stand your ground and defend your right to think and be different, that confidence will make you strong. You know, being like everyone else is boring, so be yourself. ∎
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