A Message to Neurotypicals

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For many people, the only things they will ever learn about Aspergians are what they see portrayed in fiction. Knowing this, if you were writing a novel, a play or a screenplay, what would an Aspergian character be like? What would he/she say to the Neurotypical characters about his/her identity? And what questions would an Aspergian have about the way Neurotypicals interact with the world?

In case your curious I consider myself a Neurotypical, but the more I read about Asperger's, the less certain I am about my status.

have you read curious incident or that dam rain man movie? those are pretty flawed portrayals for sure.

I haven't read Curious Incident. I did see Rain Man a long time ago. I'm interested in what you didn't like about those. You folks are the teachers, I am the student. Enlighten me!

what is wrong with rain man.that movie was my first diagnosis"sort of".when i was 14 and was sitting in class about 10:30 the teacher said i was wanted in the administration building.when i got there to my suprise there was the social worker.so she put me in her yellow ford escort and we went to worcester mass to the matinee at the cinama.we saw rain man.she was but a social worker and could not diagnos anyone but that day said a lot.i got the official dx 4 years latter

"House Rules," by Jodi Picoult. A pretty good portrayal of a young man with three problems: Severe Asperger's, a judgmental society with just enough knowledge to be dangerous, and an indulgent, overwhelmed mother who's doing her best but really doesn't know how to cope. I usually don't like Picoult's novels-- legal thrillers bore me-- but that one hit a nerve.

"Mockingbird." I forget the author. It's young adult fiction about an 11-year-old girl with mild Asperger's. It's a good portrayal. I saw a lot of myself in the child.

I don't know what I'd write, personally, myself. But those are some good things others have written.

Rainman isn't aspergers.

Aspergers is more like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.


There are plenty of people who have no idea they have aspergers and are diagnosed later in life.

"Normality" isn't really all that great. Don't beat yourself up for not being normal.

I have to disagree, but not the way you might think. Even though Sheldon is fictional, I agree Aspie is a good description for him.

However I think it is more accurate to say, "Sheldon is Aspie, but not all Aspies are like Sheldon."

Sheldon is a very extreme fictional representation of Asperger's Syndrome (that I happen to find plausible). You may one day meet an Aspie just like him or at least very similar to him, but you will also meet a LOT of aspies who are nothing like him at least from external appearances and observable behaviors.

It's been said, and it is VERY true. If you've met one aspie, you've met ONE aspie.

I was just giving a better idea of a fictional character of what aspergers appears like. Rainman is not aspie.

Of course not all aspies are like Sheldon. We're not all the same nor do we have all the same interests nor should we be confined into a box of limited interests. For example, someone with aspergers is really good at basketball but because of all of these lame stereotypes of what you're supposed to be interested thanks to these talking heads, you aren't allowed to play basketball because you are automatically supposed to be a failure in that area.

This is where people get autism messed up. They see something on tv then think, Oh all autistics like the same stereotypical hobbies.

This isn't my experience at all. Pretty much every adult I've mentioned AS or ASD to either knows,or knows of, someone who is autistic. I've found that most people have a pretty ggod grasp of what autism and particularly Asperger's is about.

Wow. I want to move to your world. I have met way too many people who only know what they learned from movies-- or worse, daytime talk shows-- who think we're all nonverbal sociopaths.

That perception is the reality I have to deal with. Daily.

I'd like to see it changed.

I am reminded of Kathy Lee Gifford and how she treated the autistic boy on live tv. He cried and they laughed. The one friend he has is a hero for befriending him. Seriously, do these people think they really have empathy?



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MwuJy07lQY[/youtube]

Ouch! I've had dental work that I enjoyed more than that Kathy Lee Gifford clip. No wonder so many Aspies are upset with NTs.

I wonder how Kathie Lee Gifford would feel if someone had her on their show to sing about what a narcissist she is or list reasons why her ex cheated on her.

(Imagine Opera voice)

It was 1997, when Kathie Lee heard the news
Her husband Frank was cheating, his wife was way too loose.
She should have known better when he also cheated on his last wife
Kathie was his mistress causing another woman strife

Everything was looking great, they had their own clothing brand
Crafted at their sweatshops by children's little hands.
Then oneday it happened, the miracle arrived
Frank woke up and cheated on his wiiiffffeeee!

It must really suck to feel like you are inadequate
Your vagina must be shriveled up like a dried plum pruny pit
It's really all your fault because you were his mistress
You thought he would stop cheating because you're the besssstttt.

Not many are fooled by your false Christian stamp
It's just a mask you like to wear to hide that you're a tramp
No matter how much lipstick you wear, it doesn't hide the fact
The miracle of karma is still in effeeeeeectttt!!

Too funny!

Thank you all for your opinions. Brilliant stuff I couldn't have heard anywhere else!

I just finished writing a novel with an Aspie protagonist. It didn't start out on purpose, but in hindsight I realized it was the story of an Aspie before diagnosis, discovering that he had theory of mind limitations. This was exactly the awakening I was having over the 6 years of writing it (though I had no idea at the time). Once I realized I had Asperger's, I went back and revised with this in mind. It was a fascinating awakening for me.

Has anyone read Confederacy of Dunces by O'Toole? I feel like he's Aspie. Antisocial, extremely smart, very moral, always clinging to the things that make him comfortable, deathly afraid of the workforce... He's not like the typical Aspie you see in movies and on TV. They're always the science or math geniuses with flat affect that don't seem to bungle up their own lives much. The Asperger's that runs in my family is very different from that. I'd love to see more diversity in fictional Aspies in general.