ADHD and the dubbing / subtitling dilemma on Netflix

The current research aims to analyze people with ADHD and their role as the audience of Netflix, focusing on the practices of subtitling and dubbing. Considering the rise in ADHD diagnosis also due to the high exposure to media content, this study showed another nuance of the ADHD community. Previous research has demonstrated a gap in the topic of ADHD as members of the streaming services, investigating other aspects of the relationship between individuals with ADHD and media, for instance, addiction. In light of Netflix's global success and its extensive and easily accessible catalog, neurodivergent individuals are eventually a portion of its subscribers. The internationality of series and films on Netflix pushes for the adaptation of an audiovisual translation, usually a practice between dubbing and subtitling. Netflix as well as other streaming platforms have adopted dubbing and subtitling to give access to foreign content, allowing their audience to enjoy international content. However, as one of ADHD's main patterns is inattention, having a strong effect also in adulthood, some people with ADHD can prefer either subtitling or dubbing. Therefore, the current research focuses on the viewing experience people with ADHD have on Netflix, and specifically their approach to dubbing and subtitling. The study is qualitative research, consisting of ten in-depth interviews with young adults who identify as ADHD (18-26), later transcribed, and analyzed. The interviews explored ADHD, the personal experience of participants, the influence of social media, stigma, hyperfocus, concentration, and screen size, and finally focused on their viewing experience, particularly subtitling and dubbing. The data collected provided new information about Netflix subscribers with ADHD about their viewing experience and the role of subtitling and dubbing. Although subtitling can be distracting due to the presence of both texts and visuals, it was found to be well-received by the audience with ADHD. Overall, the ten people interviewed agreed on their preference for subtitled content due to its authenticity, proximity to the source culture, and the interest the young generation shows for foreign culture as an effect of globalization. Furthermore, the interviews provided unknown insights into the general viewing experience people with ADHD have, from the hyperfocus feeling to the screen size choice and the preferred genre. Some topics discussed during the interviews have been inserted in the ‘future research’ chapter, showing other gaps that can be further studied.