Autism Awarness Month: Is the Media's Representation of Autism Actually Good?

It must be annoying to hear another person complain about representation in media. I get it, trust me, I hate talking about it as much as people hate listening to it, arguably even more because people hate listening to it. Representation is important though, it matters to people, it used to not matter to me because I internalized my ableism thanks to years in a school system that tried its best but was still not as accommodating as I needed it to be in hindsight. In recent years I have been better at accepting, accommodating and adapting with my Autism, I have found comics and graphic novels to be a good alternative to traditional novels, I'm finding new stim-toys that I enjoy, and I'm doing what I can to educate people about autism.

I think ultimately, the answer I can give is "No, but yes, but absolutely not, but kind of, but really I don't know" and that is sadly the straightest answer I think you'll get from me. The media representation of autistic, and really most other neurodivergent people, has never been particularly favourable, with one end of the spectrum being cases like Forrest Gump and Rain Man, the character who is not very smart except for one or two very specific interests, typically some form of mathematics or science, not socially bright, usually needing someone beside them to get them through life, you may also notice that these characters tend to be on the scrawnier, beanpole-ier side of physical builds. This kind portrayal is usually offensive to those in autistic communities, but on the other end of the spectrum, you get things like Music. The problem is, those are cases where the characters are confirmed, or heavily implied to be on the spectrum, it really is sad when the best representation autistic people have comes from characters who are not canonically autistic.

I did a blog last year where I talked about characters that I related to, and the sad thing is that not a single one was canonically autistic, but they had so many traits and characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorder that, canon or not, they resonated with me, and some of them have resonated with other people as well. It really does make me question why autistic traits can be given to characters who are not officially autistic. I have to wonder if the creators of these characters were undiagnosed or knew undiagnosed people, which would not surprise me because... well something you may notice about "Hollywood Autistic" characters is that a good number of them are white men. Media does not reflect reality, it reflects ones perception and opinions of reality, and the perception really does seem to be that only certain people get autism, and sadly, people are not helping the perception.

Something that really bothers me is the "Cutie-fication" of autism, largely because it plays on another big stereotype of autistic people, infantilization. It really does feel like a lot of people want to focus on the "cuter" parts of autism, you know the plushie collecting and the stimming and hyper-fixations and the like, rather than the uncomfortable parts. The parts like not being able to sleep because every piece of physical stimuli is causing you agony, emotional outbursts and the mountains of unfinished projects that you never got around to finishing because your hyper-fixation lasted less time than you anticipated and now you're obsessed with something completely different. If I were to hazard a guess, I would assume that this is a response to all the "Autism is evil and a disease" rhetoric that groups like Autism Speaks have been spreading over the years. So instead, let's focus on aspects of autism that are not that harmful, adorable even, stuff like the ability to build Minecraft mega-builds in an hour or "Autism Nests", because we don't want people to associate Autism with the bad stuff.

It's kind of a horribly imbalanced scale, because in media representation, Autism representation is terrible, and I haven't even listed the worst examples, I don't even want to dignify Music or The Good Doctor, but on the other side is people going too far in the opposite direction. It reminds me, on some level, about portrayals of disabled people, how they're often made to be super competent despite their disability as some kind of inspiration, or on another hand are made to be bad guys because of their disability. I remember one journalist being mad at Detective Pikachu because the antagonist of that movie was a disabled man in a wheelchair, and his entire plot revolved around him being a disabled man in a wheelchair. I think to me, the problem lies in the fact that for disabled people, including neurodivergent people, there really is no in-between, it's either one end of the character spectrum or the other, with very little in between. Sure wheelchair users have Joe Swanson, Professor X or that episode of Little Clowns of Happytown, but they also have Elijah Price from Unbreakable. It's either, "this character might as well not be disabled" or "This character's arc entirely revolves around being disabled".

I guess the deeper issue here is that media representation of all disabilities is kind of awful, so I guess the next question is "what do we do?", and the answer to that is really simple. People like to think that getting into media creation is difficult, and yes it can be, if you're aiming to be a Steven Spielberg. The thing lots of people don't really talk about is how much media is created by independent, underground and smaller creators, we all like to dog on Kevin Smith but he was an independent film creator when he made Clerks. I want to give this advice to everyone who says things like "Hollywood should tell this story" or "There should be more of these characters", tell those stories and create those characters yourself. It's kind of harsh advice, I get it, but it is the truth, you can't just wait until business folk decide that this super-niche story is worth telling.

To wrap this up, I guess it is only fair if I do my part and point you all into some directions of autistic creators. My go to recommendation for autistic and neurodivergent content creators is usually Animation reviewer TheMysteriousMrEnter, and as he is the first person I learned about Autism Speaks from, I think his video is a good place to start. YouTube user I'm Autistic, Now What? also has a video about Autism Speaks, and a video about Hollywood's representation of autism, full disclosure I haven't watched these videos, but that latter video came upon my feed and seeing the title gave me the inspiration to write this. Paige Layle also has a video about Autism Speaks, PhantomStrider has a video about busting myths about autism, and to wrap this up, Amethyst Schaber also has a video about Autism Speaks, yes it is a very popular topic amongst autistic people. This is by no means a complete list, but it should be a good start. I think proper education is always the first step in fighting any adversary, and while the media might not represent autistic people very well, we can at least do our part to change that.

Autism Awareness Month; the characters I relate to

I think the most difficult thing about being an autistic person really is just going through life in a society that was not intended to aid those with neurodivergencies of any kind, I remember having meltdowns in classes and not being able to deal with them properly because not only did I not know how to solve the problem, nobody who worked with me did either, probably just assuming I was fussy and ill-tempered, never knowing what spurred the meltdown, never knowing how to control it, going through school like this was probably a big contributor to why I hated myself in later years. What made it harder was that it really felt like I was the only one going through these experiences, none of my friends or classmates were like me, if any of them were autistic they masked really well, and I didn't have many fictional characters that I could escape from reality with. It felt like I was alone, and it wasn't until I met my friends in Art College that I truly believed that I wasn't alone, and it was around that time that I started to really understand what autism really was, and how to better control myself, and identifying it in my favourite characters.

In recent years, I'd like to say we have been getting better. Social media has allowed people to share their experiences and that can help many people recognize neurodivergent behaviors in others, but social progress is only as fast as people are, and there is still a lot of progress to be made.

Autism is media has never been portrayed very well in my opinion, at least, not with characters that are actually stated to be neurodivergent. Rain Man is a movie I refuse to watch because of how I feel the portrayal of neurodivergent people is, Forrest Gump is another movie that, while I do like, is kind of in the same category. Then we have the stereotypical side of it, the non-verbal people, the obsessive compulsive, always making some noise and ridiculously intelligent to the point of being almost silly, and that's the better side of the stereotype. I'm not saying that people like this don't exist, but they aren't the autistic characters I want to see, honestly, I actually think the best Autism representation in media, actually comes from characters who are not even confirmed to be neurodivergent and are just heavily implied or coded to be.

For this post, I wanted to list off some characters in media that I really did relate to, even if they were never stated to be autistic or even implied to be. Feeling like there wasn't anyone else like me in the world was hard for a kid and teenager, and when you couldn't really explain those feelings because you never knew you had those feelings, it makes it harder, and I hope this post can reach out to others, to look into their favourite characters. Here are six characters, that I have found I've gelled with a lot, and have found traits of autism within them.

1. SpongeBob SquarePants

I'm gonna start with one that, most people already know is probably autistic. SpongeBob has been seen as autistic for many people, even Tom Kenny has made comments about it. I think a large reason that SpongeBob has been such a beloved icon is because so many kids related to him, and still do. SpongeBob is the Pee-Wee Herman of the 2000s, playful, childish, just loves to have fun. I think SpongeBob was also a lot of kids first exposure to autistic coded characters, I mean, SpongeBob has very defined special interests, hyperactivity, and doesn't always get social cues. I think it's partially because of SpongeBob that autism is becoming less stigmatized, lots of kids identifying with SpongeBob and learning that what they thought autism looked like, wasn't entirely accurate. When I was a kid, SpongeBob was one of my favourite characters because he was silly and full of nautical nonsense, but as an adult, he is still my favourite because I see a part of me in him, that part of him that can name every Jellyfish and knows the Krusty Krab employee guide front to back is not that different from the part of me that can name all the Muppets and knows some songs so well I can sing them without the music. SpongeBob is a reminder that it's okay to be silly with the things we love, and to that I drop on the deck, and flop like a fish.

2. Boober Fraggle and Wembley Fraggle

Really any member of the Fraggle Five can be on this list, and while I love all the characters equally, when it comes to relating to them, I find myself relating a lot to the timid Boober and the indecisive Wembley. Boober is someone who very clearly has sensory issues, disliking excessive noise, and loves the calm repetition of monotonous tasks, like doing the laundry. He too also has special interests, notably in medicine, superstitions and cooking. For a lot of autistic people, it can be tough to really come out of their shell, I know it was tough for me for a long while. Thankfully, Boober has a couple really close friends that can show him that it's not so bad outside of the comfort zone, friends like Wembley.

Wembley is almost the exact opposite of Boober, while Boober loves the quiet, it is implied the Wembley likes noise more, often singing to himself, which I also do a lot, and he's even the siren for the Fraggle Rock volunteer fire department. Wembley is a lot more active than Boober is, and it can come off like he is stimming. Where it's tough for some autistic people to come out of their shell, for others it's a bit easier, and I think having both Boober and Wembley be very autistic coded, but both very different kinds of autistic it important. Actually, Boober and Wembley remind me a lot of my friend and myself, with my friend dragging me to new experiences and pushing me to exit my comfort zone, and I much preferring to stay in calmer, quieter spaces, but also loving to share my niche interests. I also very much relate to Wembley's indecisiveness, sometimes I am just a Wembelin' fool.

3. Pretty much everyone from DuckTales 2017

I can't quite remember at what point I watched DuckTales and thought to myself "Webby is very clearly autistic", but that little thought led me to a very important realization; practically every major character in DuckTales is autistic. It was actually a fun little thing my family and I did while watching the show to ascribe character traits from the show to each other. Throughout the whole show, little things are shown that don't necessarily state the characters are autistic, but do hint at it. Pretty much everyone in the Duck family stims one way or another, Dewey does his little dance, Scrooge twirls his cane, Donald used to sing, it's all right there and all real ways that people often self-stimulate.

As an aside, I know terms like stimming and self-stimulate sound a little dirty, let us please be adult about this.

If I had to pick the characters I relate to the most, Webby is probably up there, her board of McDuck family connections is honestly not to dissimilar to a Duck Family Tree I made and posted on Tumblr. Huey is also up there, his love for learning things, and his tendency to put things in his mouth when he's stressed or angry (I have bite marks on my 3DS), Dewey does a lot of physical stimming which I also do a lot of, Donald has emotional outbursts, which I'm sure many autistic people can relate to and also relate to it getting them in trouble. Some of the side characters can be a little on the stereotype side, Violet's first impression does give off the "Emotionless and intelligent" stereotype, but as the series goes on she is shown to be a lot more excitable. Boyd is also kind of a take on character types like Data or Spock, the non-human autism representation, which I personally don't have much issue with, especially in Star Trek, but I get why others do take umbrage with the trope, however DuckTales gets away with it with the episode Astro-B.O.Y.D., which pretty much gets this story type down perfectly. One of my favourite bits is in the season one finale where, to distract Magica De Spell, Huey asks her how her magic works, and Magica does actually seem eager to explain for a little bit.

I think DuckTales was not just the show that got me into comics, but it was also the show that made me really learn to identify autistic and neurodivergent traits in my favourite characters. Frankly, I can't thank the crew behind this show enough.

4. Dr. Julian Bashir

Star Trek and Neurodivergence representation has been... rocky, in fact most people would argue that Star Trek's disability representation has always been rough. I already talked about the trope of the non-human character being the most Autistic coded, and on some level, Dr. Bashir does fall slightly into that category. If you are not familiar with Deep Space Nine, I will give you a spoiler warning now, I am going to spoil Dr. Bashir's backstory and a some of his character arc. Honestly, if nothing else, you should take this as a sign to watch Deep Space Nine, it is arguably the best Star Trek series, The Original Series and Next Generation are the most popular, but the writing and acting of Deep Space Nine is just top notch.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Dr. Bashir is a human, but not entirely so, he was genetically engineered as a child, this enhanced his physical and mental prowess. As he himself claims, "Everything but my name was altered in some way". This gave Julian some baggage, and not just emotional either. I feel like a lot of autistic kids can relate to feeling like they're not good enough for their parents, like they're a disappointment, I think that is ultimately what I relate to the most with Bashir, but there are some other traits of his that do code him as autistic. At the start of the series, it's clear he doesn't quite get social cues, except maybe for Garak's, but that may just be wishful thinking for me (Garashir OTP), and he is very excitable. Later in the series, it's even revealed he still has his childhood teddy bear, pretty much a comfort item. A lot of his arc is about his relationships with his friends, Miles, Garak, Dax, and it does feel like this is a natural arc for this character to have.

I should mention the... other augmented characters that appear in Deep Space Nine, honestly I think Steve Shives discussed why they don't work quite as well. I don't hate them personally, but I have to admit my experiences are different from other peoples, so I can't really say much more. Though maybe most of it was the episodes they were in and not necessarily the characters themselves.

Bashir is probably the weakest representation on this list, remember this show was made in the late 90s, but I still think he is an important one for me, and if nothing else, I got to talk about my favourite Star Trek series, so win-win in my book.

SPOILERS END

5. Basil of Baker Street

Well, I should end with another very recognizably neurodivergent character. I really should get into the classic Sherlock Holmes stories, but The Great Mouse Detective is a fairly good substitution. Basil is excitable, eager to share his observations, very much not entirely comfortable with physical stimuli, and gets quite emotional, and when I say that, I want to emphasize that I don't mean he has emotional outbursts, I mean that when he feels and emotion, he feels that emotion. When he feels Ratigan has in fact got the better of him, he's not just sad, he is destroyed, when he's mad, he's enraged, when he's happy, he's practically overjoyed. I did hint at this in my original review of The Great Mouse Detective, but it does bear repeating that a lot of the way that Basil acts are heavily autistic-coded.

To add to that, I'm hearing a lot that other people are identifying autistic traits in Sherlock Holmes himself, which makes me curious, did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle know what he was doing when writing the character? When writing the original Uncle Scrooge comics, did Carl Barks know that Scrooge's hyperfixation on money gives him some autism coding? I wonder if a lot of this coding is intentional, or if they just pick character traits they associate with these kinds of characters.

To wrap this up, I want to give quick shout-outs to Ray Stantz from Ghostbusters, and Nimona. Ray Stantz would have made this list, a lot of his character is just Dan Aykroyd, but I got lazy. I also would have loved to put Nimona on this list, but Nimona is arguably more trans coded than autistic-coded, so I'm not going to argue who should have the rights to identify with Nimona. Frankly we should all stan the Gender Fluid Neurodivergent Monarch, and I hate using the word "stan".

I don't want this blog to come off like "You must identify with these characters, because I do", because I don't think all neurodivergent people need to identify with the same characters. Frankly, I don't even think they need to identify with solely neurodivergent and neurodivergent-coded characters. Having a whole spectrum of characters we like, can relate to and inspire us is a good thing to have, even if we don't look or sound or even act like the characters, but I digress. I wanted to highlight some characters I could identify with, and hopefully this will help someone identify these traits in them, and their favourite characters.

With how more widely accepted and known neurodivergencies are becoming in this world, on the one hand I am kind of bitter that I never really got a lot of the acceptance that other people now are getting, but on the other, much bigger hand, I am very happy that we are becoming more educated on this topic. We still have a long way to go, don't misunderstand me, but the fact that we're even getting there at all is amazing, and I hope I can help others on their journey in some way.

This is the part when I say that Autism Speaks is a terrible organization and you should not donate to them.