Fictional Characters With Undiagnosed Aspergers or Autism

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She wasn't literally diagnosed then, just implied. Cool--I think that episode is on a DVD with one of the movies.

Does anyone know the comic strip "Pre Teena", about a 10-year-old girl and her family & friends?
http://www.gocomics.com/preteena/

There is a character in there, a girl called Stick, who is the main character Teena's best friend and almost certainly Aspie.

-She takes things literally.

-She seems more naive than the other kids.

-She dresses weirdly sometimes--neither she nor Teena like wearing dresses, but one time Teena's mom made her wear one and she asked Stick if she would wear one too so she wouldn't feel so self-conscious. Stick came in dressed in a period costume from, I believe, the late 1800's.

-She spins a fantasy about what could happen, like other kids might do, but she almost seems to believe it.

-The other kids (except Teena and one or two boys) pick on her. Teena's silly, self-centered teenage older sister calls Stick a "freak".

-She is even allergic to gluten. (Or is that just a disproved theory, that gluten is a problem for autistic people?)

Teena isn't super-popular either, but is mostly just very smart and sensible and probably would be considered just one of the kids that get better grades and fit in and do OK socially. She seems to get social cues, etc. Not all NT's fit into the most popular group. Stick is very smart too but stands out--part of it is she's extremely tall and skinny, hence her nickname, but it's also that she really is different.

Regarding the Star Trek series, I disagree on Spoke and Data in that for Spock, it is the normal traits of his Vulcan side and for Data, (it) is a programmed machine, designed to learn human traits at a very high level - and that trait learning is a central tenet of (its) character and the show's ongoing plotlines.

OTOH, Reginald Barclay is Aspie through and through - and I often felt that 'that is me!' when seeing him.

Mike

Huey Freeman from the Boondocks. I'm not the type of person who would diagnose fictional characters, but he does broadly show tendencies of AS.

Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter have already been mentioned (between the two, I only subscribe to the Luna theory) but I think people are missing two important candidates:

Severus Snape. Aloof and socially awkward as a child (although he adapts fairly well by adulthood). Although he can love, he lacks empathy. Obsessive about the Dark Arts, evidenced by his lifelong attempts to gain the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Speaks in a low voice described often as "silky", although this could be a biased interpretation of a monotone.

Sybill Trelawney. Again, aloof and socially awkward. Occasionally described doing eccentric and odd things. Although not skilled fully at her subject, she obsesses over it regardless. She is theatrical, however, and not monotonous. She may have exhibited a lack of empathy by routinely predicting death and destruction.

Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

from the way Johnny Depp portrays him in the film, yeah... I think so. Not so sure about the book though.

Yes, definitely!

Introverted, reclusive, and extremely talented, I think Barclay has "aspie" written all over him.

Also, I second Sherlock Holmes.

I think that Meg Murry from L'Engle's books (A Wrinkle in Time, etc) is an aspie too. She shares Charles Wallace's intelligence, and is socially awkward.

Also, someone mentioned Travis Bickle, the main character (I won't say 'protagonist') of Taxi Driver. I'm not so sure that he's an aspie, but he is at least a schizophenic; he's totally detached himself from reality by the end of the film.

*has a sudden urge to watch Taxi Driver...*

Definitely!

Martha Horgan, main character in "A Dangerous Woman" by Mary McGarry Morris.

I'm not the only one who thinks so:

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/10/144307.php

Although in the movie that was made from this book, Debra Winger plays her more as a ret*d woman. But in the book it was made clear that she was intelligent enough, just had no social skills and many obsessions and seemed "weird" to people.

I'd say Monk, he has the social problems as well as sensory distress, an amazingly high IQ and memory. Probably conbined with OCD too.

I deffinatly second L, He has the social aspecg, as well as sensory, the high IQ and the obsession to solve crimes.

I disagree with the analisis of House, Grissom, ans Sarah SWidle. Yes, they have the social aspects, and a high IQ, but none of them have the sensory problems distinct to AS. House even drives a motercycle, which seems to be enemy of all those with AS.

Goche21 wrote:

Sorry, but I know a LOT of Aspie's who not only ride motorcycles but love them. Personally, the noise doesn't bother me in the slightest, but I won't ride because I consider myself too intelligent to risk being road pizza.... I put a bike down on dirt when I was 14, once is enough. Lesson learned.

While I know this is for fun and I hope I'm not being too picky, I disagree with the diagnoses of Dr. House and Huey Freeman. On the contrary, both have excellent social skills (as a matter of fact, House seems to always tell when someone is lying) and both can read people very well. Yes they're not social, but because they choose to be, not because they have a hypothetical condition.

Ah, but many can learn to tell when someone is lying. Although with House, he seems to assume EVERYONE lies LMAO....

I have a highly developed BS detector. My best friend is also an Aspie and he has NO clue when someone's lying to him. He's a programmer and I'm a Collections Officer. I learned how for my job, and if I hadn't been able to, then I would be terrible at it. I can't explain it, there are just certain things you can pick up. A hesitation in a voice, a shifting of posture, but NONE of it came easy and I had to LEARN to do it. Now it's almost second nature, kind if like parrying with a foil. If you have to THINK about doing it, it's too late.

I'm not saying that every person with Asperger's has poor social knowledge, but Huey and House's seemed so proficient that I see no reason to believe that they could have an ASD. Yes, they are obsessive, but that's about it, right?

My point is that it takes more than one aspect of a syndrome to diagnose someone with it. They don't stim, they don't have sensory problems, all they have are social problems.