To think that Sensory Trauma is behind the Strictly allegations against Giovanni?

[kikir]

Sensory trauma is a concept from the Autistic community - autistic people describe things like a sudden loud noise (eg a door slamming) or being exposed to overly bright lighting as often being a source of extreme distress, where they would likely be no more than a mild irritation to neurotypical people. Autistic people have often been shamed their whole lives for their "overreactions" when in fact their reactions are entirely proportional to their lived experiences.

I'm not autistic, but I am disabled by various other conditions and experience something very similar myself. Having spoken to others with ME/CFS in particular, I believe we as a group experience sensory trauma or something like it too. Some say that things they would've easily taken in their stride before getting ME/CFS (like their boss shouting at them at work), became intolerable and sources of extreme distress, once they'd got the illness, often leaving them shaken for days and needing to take time off to recover.

I'm now wondering if sensory trauma is in large part what's behind the Strictly/Giovanni debacle. It does not appear that there was any physical or sexual assault as that would have resulted in immediate dismissal and also no verbal abuse so bad it would have constituted misconduct. The media are reporting that there is no smoking gun. Which leaves me wondering if this man was just very explosive - erupting with rage at his celeb pupils, who were in a state of extreme exhaustion having been forced to train so hard and so intensively. And thereby causing actual trauma from the assault on the senses while too depleted to be able to cope with it. Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

I guess we may find out later on today unless the report has been delayed.

If so, do we need to revise our understanding of emotional/psychological abuse? I've personally experienced trauma from only a few short weeks of very intense psychological abuse and it's been with me for 20 years now. It's frustrating to read people talk as if it takes years and years of such abuse for any damage to be done. I think Amanda's story and those of several of her colleagues suggests psychological abuse/bullying can do far more damage far more quickly than most people realise.

What on earth are you talking about? It was reported that two people saw video footage of Giovanni kicking & hitting ZaEven if that wasn’t the case - “erupting with rage” is unacceptable also.

That was Gaziana not Giovanni.

Graziano was paired with Zara and apparently there is footage of him kicking her.

Giovanni was partnered with Amanda Abington, who has accused him of bullying and abuse. I think this may be what OP is referring to.

So it's the (alleged) victims fault for interpreting the situation too sensitively?

Hmm no. I think that these (or at least some) professional dancers have been brought up and socialised in a pretty nasty competitive world. They've learnt that the way you train involves aggression and chastising people to get the precision required. Combined with the intensity of strictly and the gaze on them as professionals, the risks to their career and the potential for embarrassment, I suspect that all culminates in them bullying and being aggressive.

“no verbal abuse so bad it would have constituted misconduct.”

“just very explosive - erupting with rage at his celeb pupils”

What constitutes verbal abuse in your world?!

It was claimed that he spat at people.
Its ok to hold men accountable for their actions without trying to blame everything on the nearest woman.

Erupting with rage at another person Is unacceptable. This has nothing to do with autism or sensory trauma

No, I don't think you are correct in this case. I'm autistic and certainly have been upset by incidents that most other people genuinely didn't notice. But this case to me seems to being taken seriously by neurotypicals, which means it must have passed their perception threshold of upset.

Again you appear to be confusing Giovanni with Graziano?

Some say that things they would've easily taken in their stride before getting ME/CFS (like their boss shouting at them at work), became intolerable and sources of extreme distress, once they'd got the illness, often leaving them shaken for days and needing to take time off to recover.

What? You think only autistic, disabled or ill people are upset by someone shouting at them?

I haven't the foggiest who the people are you're talking about. I've never seen the programme and don't know what everyone is talking about. But your post just reads like nonsense waffle to me.

Oh fuck off.

Generations of autistic (yes, NHS diagnosed) in our family, including me.

'Erupting with rage' is not an autistic 'thing'. It is an asshole thing.

Vast majority of people wouldn't recognise an autistic meltdown in an adult if it smacked them in the face. Which it wouldn't do.

What on earth are you talking about??

Seriously?

My trauma is people going off on tangents and making no sense whatsoever.

Did you understand the post?

I have no idea what the hell OP was talking about.

I think this is an interesting point OP.
Whether neurodiversity plays a part or not, there could certainly be a difference in the way different celebs have experienced the same training.

She's not saying erupting with rage is an autistic thing at all.

Whether or not a person has sensory difficulties, exploding with rage at them isn’t acceptable. It’s not normal for bosses to shout at employees either. None of this should be normalised.

An absolute wonder shot at victim blaming. So the problem isn't the spitting screaming man making lewd remarks at multiple female partners over a prolonged period of time but it's the women for just being too sensory sensitive?

I have ADHD and sensory processing disorder - mostly audio - so someone screaming at me would be torture but I think that's the case for most people.

YABVVVU.

Bullying is rife in the UK particularly in institutions like the BBC and NHS.
DA abuse also.
It's been minimised for far too long and the " man/ woman up" argument relies on blaming victims of abuse for their reactions to it.

Absolutely sensory trauma exists but you are mixing up sensory trauma i.e touch, sound, smell with a normal reaction to emotionally and possibly physically abusive behaviour

" You are too sensitive"

Classic Abusers line

I can’t work out if you’re trying to suggest that the man’s behaviour is ok because the woman is being too sensitive, or if you’re saying the man’s behaviour is ok because he’s autistic?

Either way, explosive behaviour is not ok, however you look at it.

Can we please stop excusing male behaviour like this? It’s getting a little tiring.

I don’t read the original OP as victim blaming at all.

It’s proposing a possible explanation for why the same stimulus (being shouted at) might result in a different reaction from different people (bouncing back vs genuine trauma).

I’ve no evidence for whether there’s truth to that. But even in my own life experience (neurotypical as far as I know but with some history of anxiety) there have been times when I’ve been more resilient and at other times less resilient to the same / similar circumstances. So I can imagine there are differences between people.

So could different personality types, different histories of abuse, different training histories in other sports or arts etc.

If he was verbally erupting at people in the workplace, that's not ok and it doesn't matter what the contestants brought to the table that may or may not have made that more upsetting for them.

Unfortunately your post does come across like victim blaming,

No one should be verbally or emotionally abused.

When people are verbally or emotionally abused, their experience shouldn't be minimised in the name of them being "too sensitive" and "overreacting".

I'm ND and have CFS...I find what's implied in your post quite offensive and ignorant to be honest. But you'd probably think I'm oversensitive and over-reacting.

I just think oppressive bullies should be held to account and victims supported adequately. You can't go around constantly exploding at people and then excusing the fall out of that sort of behaviour as the other party being over-sensitive to stimuli.

That's interesting, because I didn't read it as victim blaming - I read it as "it's wrong to shout at some people but not at others". Which is also bullshit!

It certainly seems like a subjective post!

Either way, it seems like yet another attempt at letting Giovanni off the hook for his behaviour.

And apparently the "norm" should be "taking it in your stride if your boss shouts at you" rather than your boss just not shouting at you because that's an unprofessional, unacceptable way to behave and the reality is they should be held to account if they do.