Characters not explicitly Aspie are better

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After looking through posts about Aspie TV characters, looking for characters I can identify with I've come across some
people complaining that if they don't say it explicitly there not. But it was been my experience that the characters that I think
are Aspies but's not stated are better. eg:

Sheldon Cooper (big bang theory)
Temperence Brennan (Bones)
Parker (Leverage)

Compair that to:
That guy from boston legal.
The doctor from greys anatomy
Abed from Community (love the character but I don't think he's accurate)

I think a lot has to do with the fact the the characters where's it isn't stated it's just part of the character and they don't want to be hobbled by the diagnostic criteria. While characters like the one in greys anatomy are the diagnostic criteria with no other personality.

I'm a fan of Spencer Reid, from Criminal Minds. I guess there's no way to be sure he's autistic, but I read somewhere that the actor who plays Reid believes Reid has Asperger's and/or traces of schizophrenia.

I read an interview with a Big Bang Theory writer and he said that's exactly why they never say Sheldon is autistic. It frees them as writers to have him do various things without having to worry if they are being true to the DSM criteria.

There's a good reason for this: The diagnostic system is crooked by bigotry and self-justification.

Whenever people make a character that is 3-dimensional and he's 'autistic' they try not to make the person actually an aspie because thanks to rude society an aspie or autistic is a 2-dimensional cutout that has been manufactured in to a cruel stereotype worthy of 19th century democrats: An annoying, psychotic, ret*d little squib who uses their condition to excuse every bad action they make who needs to be corrected or kicked in the ass to be normal. It reminds me very much of evil men in south africa who think that raping lesbians will somehow cure them.

An aspie can never have a sense of humour/be caring/not just be the butt of cheap laughs because of course certain groups of Standard Humans with no actual reason to be proud of themselves need to feel superior through gutless humour.

Obviously there are many exceptions but many of them are scared about rocking the boat.

I'd say most of humankind barely cares.

What they should do is make an explicitly Aspie character who is not a stereotype.

I like Abed. I'm A LOT like him. Sometimes I think they based him on me. That show made me have a meltdown. I related to Abed so much that became very emotional and nervous.

Too many explicitly autistic characters are caricatures, not individuals.

I know some people don't but I love bones because it shows a lot of the positives too. She's not shown as weak and it makes a point of how she seems cold at first but isn't underneath. It was the only mainstream show to have two aspies at different levels of functioning, one mentoring the other. And it's about the be the only one to show an Aspie as a parent, I suspect a good one. I'd really love it if they came out with it in the last episode.
I don't generally read fan fiction but I did read one written by a psychologist about her coming out about it, it had me hooked. Ok, enough of me hijacking my own thread.

I've made people watch Community so they can see Abed and understand me better. Remarkable portrayal. He isn't explicitly autistic. In the D&D episode the narrator called him 'undiagnosable'.

Why did you have a meltdown? How did a guy being like you make you feel emotional or nervous?

Yes, I do the same. I've never seen a better representation. Community is easily my second favourite show; and Abed is the best thing about it.

That they fear mentioning Aspergers, Autistic etc is a negative to me because it reminds me what negative connotations these words still have. Besides it is not saying what you mean.

What do you think of Scorpian where all the characters but one is labeled genius but socially awkward. The one non genius is the mother of a child genius. They help her understand her son and she translates the normal world for them. Words such as "us" "them" "different" are used regularly. I think they are wasting a great premise. Lately it is getting annoying as the show seems obsessed with "celebrating" little steps towereds typicalicality.

I used to like Bones but she's so unrealistic. She has some Aspie traits: takes things literally, poor understanding of humor or sarcasm, difficulty in understanding others' feelings, attention to detail and focus.

But she's like an Aspie super-hero. She can do everything. There's almost nothing she can't do better than everyone else. She has so many qualifications and special interests that it's almost impossible to master that many things in so many years.

It's just not a realistic portrayal of the actual struggles people have. It only shows the positives, and makes the negatives more like little funny personality quirks.

I love Sheldon and Abed and House M.D. but I'm obsessed with Sherlock.

And on that one Watson actually says "Asperger's?" one time - to LeStrade, talking about Sherlock.
(in the Hound of Baskerville)

Me too! I love Sherlock. My wife says I'm a little like Sherlock and about 70% like Sheldon, but somewhat less obnoxious unless I just can't hold the Snark back anymore (I definitely want to call people "idiot" a lot). Benedict Cumberbatch did say he thought Sherlock was a "little bit autistic" in a Season 1 interview, but backed away from saying that in later years or denied it. It's probably for the same reasons--to keep the character from getting stuck in a stereotype or tied to a diagnostic manual.

Truth is, I see so much variety on the spectrum that I think one could have a very complex character that is explicitly Aspie and capable of lots of interesting things and relationships. I think a character can have a cognitive disability and still be a series lead capable of deep development. I thought DI Joseph Chandler on Whitechapel was a great example--he had OCD really bad, and not in a cutesy, humorous way like Monk. It was both socially limiting and part of what made him excel at his job as a detective.

What do you think of Fiona on Elementary? They've recently introduced an explicitly ASD female romantic interest for Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock.

I've never been completely sure about House! Socially awkward, no boundaries (It cracks me up how he'll help himself to anyone's food, even patients!) and an obvious topic of interest. So yeah, maybe he is! Gives me a justification to watch reruns!

Watson does say "Aspergers" on the show, though.