Sometimes, art imitates life – as is the case with Josh Thomas and his Stan original Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.
WATCH: Everything’s Gonna Be Okay | Trailer | Josh Thomas
On Monday night, the beloved Australian comedian, actor and writer, revealed that while working on the show, which follows him as the older brother turned parental guardian of his two young sisters (one of whom is autistic), something clicked: he is autistic.
“I have known for a while now that I’m autistic,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s been a nice experience for me, figuring it out.”
Josh continued: “I’ve learnt to understand myself better and it’s helped people around me do the same. There’s been a lot of emotions but the most dominant one has been relief.”
“I’ve decided to share this with everyone because the range of Autistic people and characters we see in the media is very slim, when the autism spectrum is huge and varied. So, here I am, another version of an Autistic person for people to see.”
“Hopefully this helps further colour in, and add texture to society’s idea of what an Autistic person is.”
As one admiring fan wrote in the comments, “It’s crazy, ever since I watched Please Like Me I’ve always related to you in some weird way. Then I found out I was autistic about a year ago. It’s weird how the world works, but I’m happy ❤️.”
“Dude I’ve known ever since I saw you in Please Like Me,” added another fan who identifies as autistic. “We recognise our own.”
WATCH: Josh Thomas puts Bob Katter in his place about homosexuality.
Last year, the Talking About Your Generation star revealed to The Guardian that he was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 28, an experience he said at the time led him to writing characters that weren’t neurotypical.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Josh confessed that his realisation that he is on the autism spectrum helped him pinpoint what appealed to him about comedy in the first place.
“I could plan what I wanted to say, and then it would go the way that I wanted it to go, and people could see that I was interesting,” he said of stand-up, adding that scripted television afforded even greater control.
“I can, word by word and frame by frame, go in and control the meaning and intent of what I’m trying to say. I can be better understood that way than in on-the-fly social interaction.”
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