Lack of ethnic diversity in fictional autistic characters

Post Reply New Topic

One thing I've noticed about fictional characters with autism that many people probably haven't noticed is that autistic characters in fiction are severely lacking in ethnic diversity. Almost always, autistic characters in fiction tend to be non-ethnic white people (i.e. WASPs). I'm Italian-American and I've actually never seen an autistic Italian-American in any work of fiction. In fact, I've never seen an autistic character with a strong ethnic identity, period. It's even worse for autistic people who are black, Hispanic, Asian, or other minorities since a lot of people forget that autistic people of color do in fact exist. This attitude implies that autism is an inherently white disability and contributes to further marginalization of autistic people who don't fit the media's image of autism.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I only have only encountered two autistic characters in fiction. Both in movies. One an adult White guy, the other a White British boy. The first was Rain Man in the Eighties, the other was a child on the Moors in the British Sixties film "Upon the Wild Wind" (something like that).

Actually I read a childrens book back in the Sixties about a Black boy who a jazz trumpet savant or something who seemed a bit aspie.

I dont know where you are encountering huge numbers of "autistic characters" in fiction. So your lucky to run into any of any skin color.

But in real life White people get more access to mental health resources so in real get a disproportionate proportion of diagnosis.

The recent autism comedy series “as we see it”

One of the fictional characters violet is Asian American and autistic.

In fact I believe all or some of the characters are autistic in real life

I would highly recommend watching it as it’s a good portrayal of the struggles autistic people have.

There should be more ethnic minorities shown in fictional portrayals I agree

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_See_It

Entrapta in the relatively recent She-Ra reboot is rather dark-skinned; I've seen people interpret her as Central Asian, though due to being animated it can be hard to tell. She was written to be explicitly autistic, but Luz Noceda from the also animated The Owl House is Afro-Dominican-American and only confirmed to be neurodivergent, with no specification. People are split on whether she's autistic or ADHD. There's also a canonically autistic POC character in Dead End Paranormal Park and The Ghost and Molly McGee respectively but I don't know much about those shows. It seems it's easier to make diverse characters in animation because the only live-action POC autistic I know off the top of my head is Abed Nadir in Community, but I don't know much about that show either.

A couple of Indian movies: Barfi and My Name is Khan.

Also, the popular television show Community.

I remember having seen an American movie about a black man with Asperger's Syndrome, but I can't remember the name of it.

I think part of the explanation to the lack of ethnic autistic fictional characters is that characters that are members of some kind of minority or marginalized group are somehow supposed to be representive for that group. "Are the filmmakers saying that hispanic people are autistic?!" How many fictional seriekillers of colour, pedophiles in wheelchairs or blind psycopaths have you seen? Even female characters are often viewed as a statement about women in general. On the other hand a fictional white male is often viewed as a portrait of people in general.

Where does Astrid et Raphaëlle [2019–?] fall in things?

French Autistic. Not French-American Autistic. French-in-France Autistic.

P.S. Good show! And except for her being a "her" and being French, I and my bride see many commonalities between me and Astrid. (Her workplace would be heaven for me!!)

Actually, you don't see fictional French-American characters in general (who aren't Parisian-accented waiters at French restaurants), even though there's many people of French descent in Louisiana and New England. But that's a whole different discussion.

People shouldn't see fictional characters as representative of ethnicities. I feel like an autistic Hispanic character isn't suggesting that all Hispanic people are autistic, it's suggesting that autistic Hispanics do exist.

Having just one 'ethnic' character display symptoms of autism might back-fire.

Imagine a movie wherein the only autistic character is of African or Asian ancestry.

Imagine the backlash from African or Asian communities.

Unless the movie was about a group of ethnically-diverse heroes, each with his/her/their own version of an ASD, there would likely be protests.

Yes. In a majority White country White is still the default setting.

So...either have a bunch of folks of a particular minority... say...Black ...characters, with one who is autistic. Like an autistic sibling in a comedy or drama about a Black family.

Or...
have a gang of autistic protagonists...who are of various ethnic groups. And they interact with NTs who are also somewhat diverse.

It would be kinda weird to have an all White cast...except for the one minority person also being the one autistic person.

You're so right; especially in the mainstream, neurodivergent characters are almost always white and the ones that aren't are simply "coded" as ND and aren't in very popular shows. Ex. Community, IT crowd (IT crowd isn't very popular in the States at least)
It's hard enough getting canon and accurate autistic rep in media, but they all seem to think they're non-verbal little boys or genius prodigies (god, i hate Young Sheldon) and since they're already so "different", making them POC seems like overkill.

The only 'ethnic' character of neurodiversity who made a positive impact (imho) was Steve Urkel -- nerdy, quirky, but also a genius. He would have given Young Sheldon a challenge -- steel sharpening steel, so to speak.

Havent thought about Urkel in a long time.

He wasnt created to portray a ND person. Not sure WHAT he was supposed to be...but the "joke" was the he was the rare nerdy/dorky unhip Black kid. Or something. But yeah...he could be read as being an "aspie".

Maybe they should get someone to recreate the Urkel character for a cameo on "Young Sheldon".

Norma Khan.



I liked Dead End. A shame it ended so soon.

African American here. I would welcome seeing a black character that isn’t a gangster, drug dealer, prostitute, mammy, angry black woman, etc…You get my drift. Honestly do not believe there would be an uproar if a black character were to be shown as a vulnerable, complex human being grappling with autism or other mental issues. It’s in the delivery.
On social media there will always be troublemakers. They don’t represent all black people.
I know you’re not talking about human characters but a change would be refreshing .

Last edited by Eyeselation on 07 Jan 2024, 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Chris in Everybody Hates Chris appears to have Aspie traits. He's African American.