Writing a character with autism/aspergers
If there was a book that had a character with Autism/Aspergers, how would you want to character to be portrayed? what traits/symptoms would you want the character to have? how would the other characters react? how would the characters on the outside feel about meeting said character in public?
Rich Purnell from The Martian book (not movie). The best portrait of Asperger's I've seen in fiction. I like the movie character, too, but in the movie he's more ADHD than Asperger's
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Let's not confuse being normal with being mentally healthy.
<not moderating PPR stuff concerning East Europe>
Typical Anime Trope Aspie Troupe:
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I would want it to affect the narrative. Often when characters with disabilities are introduced into films, books, et cetera their problems are "covered up." A character with a wheel chair will have a super high-tech one, so that they don't have any mobility issues. A character with Aspergers will have hyperfocus, but it's purely beneficial. They can pull back when they need to and their interests are always useful. The disabilities become merely decorative in these depictions. I would want the actual disability to serve the narrative somehow. Fuel conflict, further the plot, something. I'm really tired of depictions that only highlight the positives, which are not a given by any means with a disability, and neglect the core attributes of the condition, which are - obviously - disabling. There's frankly no reason to have a character with a disability in your story if you never show them being disabled.
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I have not the kind affections of a pigeon. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Loved that in the book. Hopefully not a spoiler, but in a way he's the hero of the book because of his Aspie-ness
I would find this more interesting as well. I agree with you.
There was some detective series of which I checked a book out at the library last year and the private investigator protagonist had Asperger's and the traits were overly stereotypical (e.g. the hyper-focus as a super power kind of thing that someone mentioned). I read maybe the first quarter of the book and that was it. I thought it was boring and don't even remember the title or author.
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