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In historic role, an autistic actress will play an autistic character on new TV series

"I felt that nothing on television represented me," says Geffen Kaminer, star of the upcoming series.

israeli actress with autism plays autistic character

Reason #302 why representation is important

Actress Geffen Kaminer is making history for Israeli television: being the first autistic performer to play a character with autism.

The Times of Israel reported that the eighteen year old will appear in the upcoming series “East Side,” starring alongside Israeli actor and model Yehuda Levi as his beloved daughter Maya.

Other Israeli shows have featured autistic characters, such as the acclaimed comedy series “On The Spectrum,” which centers around three roommates on the spectrum (hence the title) trying to navigate life and love. However, until Kaminer, these characters have always been portrayed by neurotypical actors.

For Kaminer, winning the role was a fairly standard actor story. She saw an online casting call, signed up, and went through several auditions before getting the offer. The role was simply a perfect fit.


Even though she was diagnosed with autism at age 6, Kaminar’s parents were advised not to tell her until the age of 9. She noted how this made childhood particularly difficult. “It’s really frustrating to be autistic, especially during adolescence,” she told The Times of Israel. “Basically, I don’t feel like everyone else. I don’t know what’s different for me because I don’t know what’s happening with them.”

Despite having a passion for acting, Kaminar felt that “nothing on television represented [her.]” So to play a character who was also on the spectrum seems to be a dream come true.

More authentic representation of neurodivergence in television is a growing trend worldwide. Amazon Prime’s “As We See It” follows a very similar storyline to “On The Spectrum”: three twenty somethings who are on the autism spectrum live together as roommates. Only this time, the three characters are actually portrayed by actors who are autistic.


Show creator Jason Katims told Forbes that the mindful casting choice was “important…because I wanted to get it as right as we could” adding that the attention to detail didn’t stop with the casting. “It was also really important, for the same reason, to have people on both sides of the camera who identify as on the spectrum."

Similarly, in 2020 Disney came out with an animated short film titled, “Loop,” which not only featured a non verbal character as the lead, but is also played by non-speaking actress named Madison Bandy.

These efforts do much more than add a layer of accuracy. When most of our understanding of autism comes from fictional stereotypes, we run the risk of forgetting the nuance and complexities that come with individuals. Authentic representation can be a power educator to help us understand the real life experiences of those on the spectrum, on an empathetic level. Which can, in turn, help aid against discrimination, abelsim, and oversimplification of the disorder. As Altogether Autism contributor Rachel Wiltshire writes, “a better understanding of autism means it is safer for autistic people to come out. And when autistic people can live authentically autistic lives, they can flourish.”

Whether casting neurodivergent actors like Kaminar to play autistic roles, or placing more storytelling authority in the hands of neurodivergent individuals, the result is more likely than not to result in better representation. And that makes for not only more engaging entertainment, but entertainment that inspires us to value different points of view.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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Representative Image from Canva

Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

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One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

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Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

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Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

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Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

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