#eva erickson

Eva & Joe, Survivor 48

I had been wondering how someone like me would do on this show, as I have a lot of sensory issues and they can cause meltdowns. Seeing someone navigate through a format that I know the way that I go through my own life was so validating and relatable on a level that I hardly ever get to see. To push through that in an environment that I get uncomfortable just seeing on screen sometimes (the mud challenges would make me cry really badly), is just so admirable.

Seeing the other players meet Eva where she was at and truly incorporate her into their miniature society gave me so much hope. People like Joe allow neurodivergent people to not only be cared for, but to succeed in their own right. The kind of support shown this season was an excellent example of letting a neurodivergent person dictate their own support needs while surrounded by a loving community. The fact that both Kyle and Joe understood the pain of a meltdown to the point where they considered giving up their own opportunities was so moving.

At a time where people like us are being told that the way we are is a disadvantage, that we will never amount to anything, it was so refreshing to see Survivor tell the story of a real, accomplished autistic person. It just goes to show that when we embrace autistic people, we all flourish.

seeing in real-time how people talk about autistic people:

What is this, a crossover episode?

Likes purple? Check. Really enjoys hockey? Check. So I just had to draw these two meeting.

Before I start, hi, I'm Sapphire, I was diagnosed with ASD in 2010 when I was 14 years old, and I've been a Survivor fan on-and-off since Panama. Survivor has also indirectly been my gateway to fandom culture if you think about it, for those of you who have been with me for over a decade.

Anyway, I want to start off saying that originally, I was going to skip over this season because of how boring and predictable 47 was (I barely remember much of what happened that season tbh). However, I saw on Britini D'Angelo's Instagram (yes, I follow Britini D'Angelo on Instragram, fucking sue me, but she's the only Big Brother contestant I can tolerate) that we have the first openly autistic Survivor contestant, I had to check this season out.

Eva's story moved me from the getgo, and seeing her struggle emotionally in the fifth episode went down as one of my favorite moments in Survivor history, not just in the New Era. Seeing Eva's growth and journey from start to finish was one of the biggest moments watching this season for me as an autistic fan myself and went undiagnosed for the first five years of me being a fan.

Originally, seeing how amazing of a game Eva has been playing in the first couple of episodes of the season alone, I predicted that her Survivor journey was going to be another Noelle situation. I originally predicted that Eva was going to make the merge and everyone was going to catch on to her being a threat and she would be voted off a couple of episodes before the finale. This alone was a big win because most disabled contestants that are this good at the game normally are out before the finale.

With Eva being the first openly autistic Survivor contestant AND being the runner up of this season, I can only imagine how my younger self would have felt to see someone like me in a show they've been watching since they were ten years old. And, as unpopular of an opinion this apparently is, 48 has come on to become my favorite New Era season of Survivor for moments like these. So many other autistic fans like myself have seen Eva make it as far as she has and will start to realize that they can do whatever they can put their mind to, and they will.