A KIND OF SPARK

In June 2020 during the first coronavirus pandemic lockdown, Elle McNicoll was nervous. Her first children’s book was about to launch, dotted with her personal experiences as a neurodiverse child weaved into a fictional story. Three years later, the book has been adapted for TV, airing on CBBC and BBC iPlayer, and is being shown in countries around the world

AKind of Spark follows Addie, an autistic 11-year-old who wants to memorialise the women once tried as witches in her local village, supported by her friends Nina and Keedie. Addie knows there’s more to their stories, just like there is to hers, and as the plot develops, she thrives on self-advocacy and takes pride in who she is.

“It is about sisterhood, family and history, mystery and adventure and it does of course have disabled characters in it,” explains Elle. “They are passionate and proud, and they have a tonne of agency and autonomy, plus in the show they are played by the most incredible neurodivergent actors.”

Escape

Despite its popularity, A Kind of Spark was never meant to be read by anyone but its creator. Elle was writing a dissertation about the lack of neurodiversity representation in children’s books when it was created.

“I hate academic writing and having to write essays, so I was writing the book alongside for myself as a kind of escape,” admits Elle.

After she graduated, Elle began meeting with publishers about increasing authentic representation of neurodiversity in children’s literature. During this time, she met with Knights Of, an inclusive publisher focussed on bringing underrepresented voices to the forefront of children’s books.

“I said look I’ve done all this research, if you ever need an editor or a consultant on your first autistic book, I’d love to do that and they said we don’t have one, but if you’ve written one we would love to read it and that’s really how it happened,” reveals Elle.

Personal

Originally created as an outlet for Elle, the book is influenced by her own experiences.

“I wrote it for me, for the younger version of me, where the main character has a disability, they are autistic and they are quite neutral about it for the most part,” highlights Elle. “They’re not going on and on about how it’s this horrible thing that they hate, they don’t feel sorry for themselves and they also aren’t saying it’s the most incredible thing that’s ever happened or that it makes them a genius.

“She’s quite neutral about it until she faces real prejudice, then she stands firm and says I’m proud of being autistic and I’m proud of this disability, you are the ones who don’t understand.”

The process allowed Elle to create a character who she both relates to and looks up to, but it was also terrifying to share such personal experiences with the world.

“The neurodivergent aspects are my experience, and I hadn’t ever spoken about them or written them down before,” explains Elle. “Sadly, I think if I had a crystal ball when I first met with the publisher and I knew this show would be on TV around the world, I probably wouldn’t have done it because it’s very exposing and scary.”

Despite how nerve-wracking this journey has been, Elle has no regrets, and the reward has been giving the world an accurate portrayal of autism and how di erent this can be for each individual.

“It’s how I experience sensory overload, overstimulation, social di culties,” o ers Elle. “There’s also an element of showing that autistic people do have agency, imagination and empathy, and we can be the main character.”

Authentic

Just four months a er the book was first released, there was already interest to make it into a TV series, but Elle had one condition: the cast and crew had to include neurodivergent people or she would walk away.

A er a host of meetings, the rights to the show were bought by 9 Story Media Group, and it was then greenlit by the BBC. In summer 2022, filming began, and in April 2023, the show dropped in the UK on BBC iPlayer and then on CBBC. The result of Elle’s condition wasn’t just a good show, it was one that deeply resonates with people of all ages.

“One of the things people are connecting to are the autistic actors who play our main characters, and the cast is so peppered with neurodivergent actors, many of them are not playing autistic characters,” reveals Elle.

Impact

The impact of the show goes deeper than what’s on screen, it has infiltrated an industry that needs more disability representation both in front of and behind the camera.

“Without authentic representation, we’re cu ing such a huge talented and marginalised group of people out of the creative field,” stresses Elle.

The chance for neurodivergent actors to play neurodivergent characters also gave them agency to bring their own traits to the show.

“The girls were encouraged to bring their own experiences to the roles and one of the sweetest things we’ve seen are kids ge ing in touch on the CBBC Fan Chat saying ‘oh she stims like I do, she moves her hands like I do’,” reveals Elle. “I saw one girl saying ‘she’s just like me, I have this as well’ and the comments are like wow that’s so cool.

“It’s unfathomable to me to be 11-years-old and be brave enough to say I am autistic and have your peers say that’s so amazing. When I was young that would never have happened, it was an insult on the playground.”

Originally, this was a story for children, but it has become a source of joy for people of all ages, whether they are neurodiverse or non-disabled.

“The book is aimed at eight to 12-year-olds but I get le ers from people in their 70s, people who are in their 40s, people who say this is the book I wanted when I was younger, this is me healing my inner child,” enthuses Elle.

SELF-BELIEF

For Elle, this incredible response resonates with the key messages she wanted to get across: that autistic people are not alone, that they are valued and should have self-belief despite what anyone else thinks.

“My joy has been seeing how many people it has spoken to because it makes me feel less of a fraud, less afraid, less alone,” reveals Elle. “Addie has been underestimated by just about every person she’s ever met: her doctors, teachers, her own parents, yet she knows she has this inner spark that says you’re fine.

“She knows she is smart and capable, that she is kind and doesn’t need to worry about what other people think. That’s what I hope kids get from the story.”

Now, there’s one question Elle is asked every time she logs on to Twi er or TikTok: when can we expect season two?

“I would love there to be season two, I’m definitely looking to write more in the book world about Juniper,” enthuses Elle. “I guess it all depends how this goes, it would be amazing and I’m all for it.”

For More Information

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll is published by Knights Of. Watch the TV adaptation now on BBC iPlayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer).