Orlando news anchor shares great response after trolls attacked his daughters over prom dresses
'I have always told my girls that I have their back and I think I've proven that.'

News anchor puts haters straight.
Picture it, 1984 in some poorly lit gym complete with hopefully nonspiked punch and teenagers dancing awkwardly in the shortest homecoming dresses the '80s could produce. Now, take that image and apply it to whatever decade you'd like, all the way up to today. No one would be shocked that teenagers going to homecoming would dress like teenagers, but when a proud dad posted pictures of his daughters dolled up in their party dresses, he was flooded with negative comments.
Orlando's News 6 anchor Matt Austin did what many parents did in October and shared a picture of himself with his kids, who were heading out for homecoming. The girls, Addison, 17, and Olivia, 14, both donned different versions of the short homecoming style dress most American teenage girls wore to their own school's dance.
But for some reason, instead of receiving an influx of supportive and kind comments, the news anchor received harsh criticism over his children's clothes.
One woman told Austin, "These outfits these girls are wearing are exactly what call girls wear." Another commenter said, "I do not understand how a parent could be comfortable with their daughter's crotches on display should they bend over or sit." The comment seemed to catch Austin off guard as he told the disappointed person that his daughters were wearing shorts under their dresses and he took a moment to express his confusion over the person's focus on his daughters' private parts.
No worries, because other parents jumped in to not only defend the dad but to compliment the girls and wish them well at their dance. The amount of negative comments was surprising because homecoming dresses are typically fairly short and schools still enforce dress codes at dances. These dresses clearly passed whatever the school's dress code is and were in style.
The comment section does a great job at displaying the double standard placed on girls. For some reason, girls are being placed as the sole responsible party for the actions and thoughts of people around them, namely men. Several commenters pointed that out.
Denise Massey wrote, "All those comments about their dresses is just sad. If parents raise their sons to respect women no matter what they wear the world would be a safer place. They look beautiful and I applaud you and your wife for raising them with the confidence to wear what they like. Hope that had a blast at Homecoming."
Austin told Today Parents that he was shocked his daughters' outfits would even be controversial. The negative comments put the news anchor in protector mode and he posted an amazing clapback to TikTok. His message was pretty clear: the most disappointing things his daughters could do would be to grow up to be the kind of adult that commented on teen girls' appearance on their parent's social media page.
@flnewsman A dad responds to Karens taking aim at teen daughters’ Homecoming dresses. #fashiontiktok #parentsoftiktok -#fypシ #hoco
The message Austin was sending seems loud enough for the naysayers to hear so let's hope they reflect on their actions. Teenage girls are not responsible for the thoughts and behaviors of teenage boys and grown men. Several commenters agreed by encouraging others to raise better men.
Thankfully, the good comments seemed to outpace the negative ones and while he teased that he would prefer his daughters wear Snuggies, the girls approved his message after they saw the messages. The bottom line is: be kind and if you can't be kind, be quiet.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.