There is nothing Pryce Muller is more passionate about than the colourful costumes and animated dance moves of drag queens.
For his mother, Fiona, his obsession with drag is no surprise.
“[When he was younger] he would find his way into my stashes of heels, glitter, anything shimmery,” she said.
“I remember one day … he just came out in this stretchy, tight, floor-length, sequined blue gown.”
‘You’re not like us’
Pryce, now 21, was diagnosed with level three autism spectrum disorder when he was three years old and his older sister, Milabella, also lives with autism.
The family of three lives in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.
Fiona said that when her children were diagnosed with autism two decades ago, there wasn’t the same level of awareness about the disorder as there is now.
The memories of Pryce, who was mostly non-verbal growing up, being isolated by peers at school still bring tears to her eyes.
“This little boy at school one day, [was] handing out these birthday invitations,” she said.
“Pryce went up to wait in line … and the boy said: ‘You’re not coming to my party, you’re not invited, you’re not like us’.
“It still hurts … he might not be able to articulate it, but boy, does he take it in.”
Drag ‘lit a switch’
The Muller family have been watching the popular TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race together for more than a decade.
For Pryce’s 21st birthday, they organised a drag-themed party.
Fiona said drag “lit a switch” in her son and has helped her to communicate with him.
“He never used to really engage with me … I’ve still probably to this day never sat down and had a conversation with my son,” she said.
“But, the thing I can say to him is: ‘Who’s your favourite drag queen?’.”
She said Pryce’s love for drag has brought him out of his shell.
“For the first time, he wanted to participate in something, he wanted to dance,” she said.
“It’s just made him feel like he can talk to people … he never did that before.”
Benefits of supporting passions
Autism Spectrum Australia estimates about 75 to 90 per cent of autistic people have what is considered a “special interest” or “fixation”.
Fiona hoped that by telling her story, more parents would understand the benefits of embracing the interests of their children who live with autism.
Clinical psychologist Rachel Grove is a chancellor’s research fellow at the University of Sydney and has done extensive research on understanding autistic traits.
Dr Grove says supporting the passions of people with autism is vital for their wellbeing.
“Often autistic people are quite stereotyped in society, there’s a lot of stigma and discrimination,” she said.
“I suppose it’s a way that autistic people can really engage in something that they love and even connect with other people.”
Dr Grove said parents with autistic children might need to find different ways of connecting with their kids.
“I think there’s such a stereotype around all the kinds of social norms we put around how people should communicate and engage with each other,” she said.
“Sometimes that doesn’t often apply to how autistic people might want to engage.
“Autistic people are functioning in a society that hasn’t been … designed with them in mind.”
Redefining identity
University of Newcastle criminologist Dr Justin Ellis has expertise in LGBTQI+ representation in the media.
He said drag had become increasingly more mainstream over the past 15 years and it had allowed people to interpret identity in a different way.
“It’s an opportunity to step out of that framing, of whatever it is, whether it be autism or another diagnosis,” he said.
“It can humanise through the sharing of adversity, particularly when you look at RuPaul and the sections of the show where people are talking about their upbringing, how they may have been marginalised.
“It’s challenging stereotypes, also because of the targeting that can occur against drag queens.”
Fiona agreed and said the world of drag had given her son a sense of community, where he had not been accepted before.
“I was still finding my way, how to get into his world,” she said.
“I found the piece of the puzzle — for him, it’s drag.”