Actress and Broadcaster Madison Tevlin Tells it Straight About How Assumptions Can Become Reality 

Last year in 2024 Canadian Broadcaster and Actress, Madison Tevlin made a video which has done the rounds on YouTube and has been met with lots of positive responses. I should know because I’m one of those people who have seen the video and posted a comment. I’ve seen it several times, mainly because I believe it to be a very bold message and one that deeply resonates with me.

The caption in the video is Assume That I Can, Then Maybe I Will and is about challenging and ending negative stereotypes. Though Madison herself has Down Syndrome the meaning of the message can be applied to many people within the Disability Community. 

To give you an example of assumptions I’ll start with my own experiences;

When I was much, much younger both my parents and medical and clinical specialist realised that I had problems and it was because of these that assumptions were made. The assumptions were that I’d never be able to read or write properly, drive a car, do things for myself or have any form of independence. Basically because of the assumptions I was written off. However seeing as I’ve written this column just goes to show otherwise. I can also do the following;

Drive a car

Travel independently (travel in a commercial airliner)

Hold down a job 

Get a qualification…

…. and a degree 

Making plans for an additional qualification

Making plans another degree in the long-term future 

Help support vulnerable adults 

Pay my bills and car tax including insurance 

Organise medical appointments 

Oh, and engage in sexual activity 

(Yes you read that last one correctly)

Not bad for someone who was written off before their 8th Birthday because medical and clinical ‘experts and specialists’ made assumptions.

I only really discovered the two videos during a training session as part of my job and the main basics is about challenging people’s attitude towards Disability and Genetic Conditions. Unfortunately, and even as I have sadly discovered, is that when you have a Disability, and especially one that’s visible and recognized people ultimately begin focusing on what they think you cannot do. I have always found this annoying, not to mention both patronizing and deeply insulting. For example, whenever you look at an adult with Down Syndrome why’s our first thought to both speak to them and treat them like a child? 

I can also speak from experience here because in one of my lines of work I made no secret of my Autism, and was completely open my previous work in. Unfortunately the attitudes I came to encounter was that because of my ‘condition’ I wouldn’t be able to cope in an In Patient area. For someone like myself who has long been aware of how Autistic people in the workplace are perceived you can imagine how i took to it. Basically because of some negative stereotypes surrounding Autism they were of the belief that I wouldn’t be able to cope. This was their understanding of a ‘reality’ that was born from their ‘understanding’

Their own assumptions turned into a reality, and it was because of this I had to live with the consequences of what they understood based on their thoughts. You can imagine how frustrating and disappointing it is when something that the assumption is born from is also used as a weapon against you.

I’ll give you an example just to give you an idea; you go for a driving lesson and the Instructor learns that you have a Disability or Genetic Condition and it’s because of this they don’t teach you how to drive so you never learn how to. The Instructor also hears of some negative examples of people with a similar Disability to yourself and because of this think you’ll be the same. And it’s because of this they won’t give you a chance. Assumptions and Negative Perceptions have now become a reality

Like many others out there, I am still battling people’s assumptions and negative perceptions and I can quite honestly say that it’s not easy and there are times when I just feel like giving up and finding another way. Very much like that infamous English proverb 

“If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain”

According to the charity organization, Scope, approximately 75% of people have the assumption that Disabled people in general need caring for. 35% of people have the assumption that Disabled people don’t have the same levels of productivity as non-disabled people. If people really can’t stop making assumptions then they should try making positive ones rather than negative, they’ll be surprised at what they find. 

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