My Character's An Aspie and I Need Help With Him

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oddysseusthestrange
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07 Mar 2016, 11:29 am

I'm writing a story, and one of my two main characters is an aspie. I'm fairly confident in how to portray him, having AS myself, but I'd still like to try steer clear of some cliches I see so often with other aspie characters and try to show him work through some different issues. Does anyone have any suggestions on rarely addressed problems we deal with? I've hit a bit of road block and currently the only thing I have him dealing with is hyper-emapthy.

Also, if their are any NTs reading this who are good friends with, or romantically involved with an aspie, would you mind sharing what it's like to deal with us? Maybe talk about how you met, what your first impressions were, what drew you to them, why you like them, etc. Or if you have a child that's an aspie, talk about what's that like. The other character and the aspie's parental figure are both NTs and I want show both sides of what it's like.



Last edited by oddysseusthestrange on 07 Mar 2016, 11:46 am, edited 2 times in total.

TheAP
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07 Mar 2016, 11:32 am

- sensory issues
- meltdowns
- anxiety
- executive functioning problems.
- loneliness/trouble making friends



zkydz
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07 Mar 2016, 11:54 am

So many to choose from.

Here are a couple on top of the list presented:
1. Hidden disability, those in the uncanny valley
2. Social issues
3. Processing issues incoming and /or outgoing (sensory, as mentioned, or information)
4. Mischaracterizations by others because of the above


_________________
Diagnosed April 14, 2016
ASD Level 1 without intellectual impairments.

RAADS-R -- 213.3
FQ -- 18.7
EQ -- 13
Aspie Quiz -- 186 out of 200
AQ: 42
AQ-10: 8.8


kraftiekortie
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07 Mar 2016, 2:41 pm

Many times, Aspies only seem "Aspie" when under stress.

Just make the person into somebody who's struggling finding a job because he/she doesn't want to "play the game." The person should be more earnest about things than most people. Should, perhaps, be more idealistic than most people. The person, perhaps, should be a conservative dresser who would benefit from some help from more "hip" dressers.

I hope you make/her him get a job, though. Then you could write about the struggles the person goes through every day, struggling to make sense of people talking about the latest reality show all the time. Perhaps the person could correct somebody when the person says that Georgia is south of Alabama (yes, that actually happened with me!) Then there could be a comedic argument...where the "normal" person doesn't get why the Aspie cares so much about whether Georgia is east, or south of Alabama. Then the Aspie could give a good reason why geographical accuracy is very important.

Maybe the Aspie could go through life like Odysseus. Maybe there could be a Penelope (or some guy like Penelope for him/her to return to after going on the journey of life.



zkydz
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07 Mar 2016, 3:01 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
Many times, Aspies only seem "Aspie" when under stress.

Just make the person into somebody who's struggling finding a job because he/she doesn't want to "play the game." The person should be more earnest about things than most people. Should, perhaps, be more idealistic than most people. The person, perhaps, should be a conservative dresser who would benefit from some help from more "hip" dressers.

I hope you make/her him get a job, though. Then you could write about the struggles the person goes through every day, struggling to make sense of people talking about the latest reality show all the time. Perhaps the person could correct somebody when the person says that Georgia is south of Alabama (yes, that actually happened with me!) Then there could be a comedic argument...where the "normal" person doesn't get why the Aspie cares so much about whether Georgia is east, or south of Alabama. Then the Aspie could give a good reason why geographical accuracy is very important.

Maybe the Aspie could go through life like Odysseus. Maybe there could be a Penelope (or some guy like Penelope for him/her to return to after going on the journey of life.
Dayum!! <-----Southern expletive of respect


_________________
Diagnosed April 14, 2016
ASD Level 1 without intellectual impairments.

RAADS-R -- 213.3
FQ -- 18.7
EQ -- 13
Aspie Quiz -- 186 out of 200
AQ: 42
AQ-10: 8.8