presentation about changing views of ASD folk

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Hi!

I'm new to this forum, but am learning A LOT already in the little while I've been lurking.

I'm planning on doing a presentation about how Aspies are represented in popular media, with the general theme being one of hope and increasing acceptance. Specifically, I was going to look at Sheldon from Big Bang Theory (of course!) and Bones. Both of these seem to be good examples of characters who are really successful and content professionally/socially. And, as a bonus, Bones is seen as sexy (or so I'm told by my guy friends). I see this as a changing paradigm in many ways that I hope to explore in my presentation.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions about what else I should look at? Any other characters in media that might fit the bill? I'd be grateful for any input.

I don't know if the term has come up on Bones, I've only seen a few episodes, but Sheldon has never been clearly identified as having AS, it's one of those things that's obvious if you recognize the behaviors, but to everybody else he's just an annoying geeky nerd. The only times I've actually heard AS mentioned on a sitcom its been to ridicule the phrase Ass Burgers or make Rainman-like jokes about eye contact. I wish the BB writers would out both Sheldon and Leonard as having AS, as I maintain that Sheldon is based on the DSM criteria for children, while Leonard acts more like a young adult Aspie.

Bones, yet, is a fully mature Aspergian (relatively speaking, as parts of our brains never fully mature). I find it amusingly punny that Bones often behaves so much like Spock.


In some sense though, I think the gradual acceptance of the nerd started back in the eighties with that series of Revenge of the Nerds films, but was firmly cemented in Western society by the advent of the desktop PC. When IT experts became a vital necessity for survival on every level, suddenly geeks weren't just for ridiculing and venting on any more. Not too smart to beat up the guy who may one day be the only person in the building who knows how to program your ventilator.

That's an interesting topic. Do you have any peer-reviewed research to back yourself up? Also check out the show Criminal Minds. I remember that in one of the first episodes (maybe the pilot) somebody said something about Reid seeming autistic.

Willard,

Why do you think Sheldon behaves as a child with AS? He's borderline AS at most. The other two you mention are just geeks.

Because the DSM is written primarily for DXing children and many of Sheldon's personality traits are taken straight from the DSM (like his obsession with trains, which the DSM uses only as an example). Also the fact that he (especially in earlier seasons) was shown as having no clue when he transgressed socially and not much concern when it was pointed out - this is not often the case with Aspies once they pass ten or twelve - most do want to fit in socially (and I base that on remarks constantly posted to this site). Even now, as Sheldon is being portrayed as attempting to learn what's socially acceptable and what isn't, he still doesn't seem to care - its just an experiment to him. That's much more like an Aspie child than a post-adolescent. And Sheldon's asexual nature reflects a pre-adolescent more than an adult as well.

And if he's only borderline, why is it that even though AS has never been mentioned on the show, internet chatter from the very beginning has pegged Sheldon's character as being a classic Aspergian - both by many with AS and by Mental Health professionals who work with the autistic? I said to my wife while watching the debut episode "That guy acts like someone with AS", to which she, shrugging, replied: "He acts just like you."

If you think Leonard is only a geek, you're not on the same website I am. This place is full of teens and twenty somethings whining constantly about how they'll never get a girlfriend and bemoaning their social awkwardness to the point of parody. Mostly I think that because throughout my own teens and twenties I WAS Leonard. Only better looking. And yes, even though I constantly worried that I'd never make a connection with a human female again, I nailed a Penny once in awhile.

And where exactly did you think geeks came from? We don't sprout from under cabbage leaves...if you sit down and compile a list of all the qualities that define a classic geek, you'll pretty much have the description of AS.

I'd go so far as to say that even Raj and Wallowitz seem on the spectrum to me - Wallowitz clearly of the less introverted "tries too hard" variety, and of course Raj's eye contact is fine until he encounters a female - but then, even Sheldon doesn't seem to have much eye contact problem, although I do notice Parsons lately doing more of the look-and-glance away, which is more authentic. But he didn't always play Sheldon that way.

I'm sorry Willard but I have to disagree with you about Raj. You and everyone else who talk about Raj being an aspie seem to be forgetting something very important. Raj is from India and while they are a bit more relaxed about letting people of the opposite sex interact, there are still enough (mostly unofficial)rules that it would still be awkward. But if Raj was from the US, I would agree with your assessment.

Whilst the DSM is usually applied to children (as children are usually diagnosed), it does also have specific age related changes in the expanded section (which people, professionals included, seem to forget), which pretty much says the course stays the same, except that some will have an interest in getting to know people despite their obvious problems in doing such (it says "some", rather than the majority. I'd trust their studies over a group of people on a 'net forum).

He's borderline for the simple reason of how he behaves socially; he has fairly decent social reciprocation, i.e., he can partake in the give and take of social interaction, even if he is rude and dismissive. Adults with run-of-the-mill AS don't have this (they talk in a predominately one-sided manner without care for the other person's involvement. Sheldon listens to what people say). Source: Wing's paper (and about a zillion others).

Leonard doesn't have the slightest sign of AS (it's within normal boundaries to have problems finding a partner).

Well I guess if the characters aren't explicitly identified as being aspies, not a good idea to diagnose them yourselves for the purpose of paper on media representation since you don't know if the writers meant it.

There have been several movies where there have been characters with aspergers--"adam", "mozart and the whale" as well as the surgeon on "Grey's Anatomy" (the woman that was also on Battlestar Galatica"

I'm grateful for all the thoughtful replies and apologize for not being here to read them as they came about...life gets in the way sometimes...especially when your power gets knocked out by snow for a few days, then the DSL wire is shredded by the melting ice! Argh!

Thanks for the tips about 'Criminal Minds' and 'Grey's Anatomy'. I, too, had considered the main character on 'House', but he struck me as more narcissistic than AS, and not exactly a personification of the positive direction I want to go in with my presentation.

There is very little peer-reviewed material out there, with the exception of one nicely-done paper about Napoleon Dynamite.

My direction, although I haven't hammered out the details yet, is to be that perhaps a beginning of acceptance of those with alternate social reception/interaction is being portrayed by popular media. In short, is this the Age of the Geek? Are we, as a society, MAYBE turning toward acknowledging talents in a way separate from social smoothness or beauty? Giving those who are considered "odd" a second look and thereby discovering characteristics that are likeable/loveable?

Lol! Exactly!

Or, like I tell all the teenage girls who've had their heart broken by the sultry "bad boy" type: "Get yourself together first. Then, when you're ready to date, DATE A NERD!"

Hell, it worked for me...I MARRIED one!

How about a movie about an autistic Mod or hippie. There are lots of autistic Mods and hippies. Not all of us are nerds. How about a movie about an autistic Punk Rocker? We need more of a variety of personality types to be represented in the realms of Hollywood.