Autistic Reclaimed Characters Masterlist
Iām getting back into making reclaimed characters/OCs by reclaiming autistic characters from media.Ā
Characterās name (full name, if given): Christopher John Francis Boone
Apparent age: 15
Gender: Cis boy
Source material (and why itās bad, this part is optional): The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (which is a best-selling mystery novel and a drama/mystery play) and it's bad because it is ableist (the author did little research about autism and autistic people), normalizes the abuse of autistic people, and the book has a stereotypical depiction of autism. Mark Haddon portrayed the protagonist Christopher as elitist, intolerant, dismissive, unconcerned for others, unsympathetic, remorselessly violent, and not noticing or responding to insults and abuse. He is ableist towards other disabled kids at his school and looks down on them while also looking down on non-disabled people. Christopher is mistreated (abused, neglected, abandoned, deceived, gaslit, and insulted), often by authority figures like his parents and most other characters either overlook or actively attempt to justify this. His father Ed lied about his mother Judy being dead to him for two years. Ed also killed his ex-girlfriend's dog Wellington with a garden fork and receives no consequences for doing so except for causing a rupture in Christopher's relationship with him, and he tries to pressure Christopher to repair it by focusing exclusively on how much he is hurt by Christopher. Haddon also portrayed Christopher's parents in a sympathetic light even though the novel is from Christopher's point of view and despite Ed and Judy being abusive and neglectful to Christopher. Siobhan (Christopher's mentor and teacher) is only present in the early parts of the book and absent from the rest of the book without an explanation; the author could have used her to show that Christopher does not deserve to be abused and neglected, but he did not. The novel presents the autistic protagonist as responsible for his parent's divorce and being mistreated by others while showing that he is unaffected by this mistreatment, and portrays abuse, abandonment, and gaslighting as normal and justified.Ā
Pictures of character:Ā
Birthday: August 11
Sexuality: Mspec graysexual neuroromantic/echoromantic/arovague (queer acespec arospec for convenience)
Personality: Christopher is intelligent, sensitive, perceptive, naive, arrogant, and tends to come off as aloof. He has a very self-centered point of view, values logic, tends to be literal-minded, and is sometimes clueless when it comes to social norms. He takes pride in his intelligence and views himself as rational and logical though he can be insensitive, cold, reckless, irritable, irrational, and illogical at times. He tends to have emotional outbursts, lash out, bottle up his emotions, and split due to trauma, but he is working on expressing his emotions in healthier ways. Christopher used to be violent, break into people's houses and vehicles, steal, vandalize property, and have an ableist and elitist attitude before he got the proper help he needed. He cares about the people he is close to, treating them with kindness and is protective of them. His samefood is strawberry milkshakes. He prefers to use a stress ball or something similar to stim. Christopher is a trauma, physical/verbal/emotional abuse, and emotional neglect survivor. He is autistic and has PTSD/possible C-PTSD, NPD, conduct disorder, BPD, depression, chronic boredom, low empathy, abandonment issues, and violent intrusive thoughts and impulses.Ā
Likes: His special interests are math, prime numbers, countries, capitals, detective fiction, mystery novels and movies, thriller films, autism/disability rights, astronauts, and Steven Universe (he especially enjoys Steven Universe: The Movie and Steven Universe Future). He also likes Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, his pet rat, his service dog, Siobhan, strawberry milkshakes, puzzles, computer games, Tetris, and everything being in order.
Dislikes: The colors yellow (when not kin shifting to Peridot) and brown, yellow things (when not kin shifting to Peridot), brown things, dirt, gravy, wood, blood (squick), being lied to/deceived, his birth parents (his birth dad, in particular), authority figures who are ableist and invalidate him, crowded places, noisy places, being made fun of, his chronic boredom, saying he can't feel or doesnāt have emotions, romanticization/glorification of cheating/affairs/infidelity, being called "a handful", everything not being in order, and being touched during a meltdown, shutdown, or flashback.
Fears or triggers: Animal death (especially dogs, trigger), garden forks (trigger), his birth dad (fear/trigger), him or autistic people being blamed for divorce (trigger), being threatened to be or saying he should be institutionalized (trigger), being abandoned (fear/trigger), loud sudden noises (fear/sensory trigger), angry yelling (trigger), being threatened with physical violence (trigger), and being called a "specimen" or other dehumanizing things (trigger).
Relationship status: Taken (Aki--QPP/zucchini and chosen person, and Clover--girlfriend and favorite person)
Friends: Other autistic reclaimed characters
Extras: He is demipansensual, panalterous, panqueerplatonic, cupio-aplatonicflux/neuroplatonic/aplatonicvague (aplspec for short/convenience), demipanaesthetic, and demipan- in other attractions. He is Peridot kin (SU), Spinel kin/IDs with Spinel (SU), Steven synpath (SU), and Jotaro Kujo hearted (JJBA). His favorite persons are Briony and Clover, and his chosen person is Aki.
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Characterās name (full name, if given): Caitlin Ann Smith
Apparent age: 10 (going on to 11)
Gender: Cis girl
Source material (and why itās bad, this part is optional): Mockingbird (which is a young adult novel and a theatre play) and it's bad because there were multiple moments when the main character Caitlin's behavior is too textbook, the author's writing clearly leaned to a clinical view of autism spectrum disorder, and it was written particularly for a neurotypical audience. Kathryn Erskine preferred the clinical research over the thoughts, feelings, and writings of autistic people. Caitlin's epiphany is problematic because it did not feel like her own, it was inspiration porn due to her having to "learn" empathy, and it feels like the epiphany that ableist organizations like Autism Speaks and neurotypicals who fail to understand autistic people want autistic people to have. While the book was written with good intentions, Erskine regurgitated the "no empathy" myth, people around the autistic character are constantly trying to "fix" her and this is shown to be a good thing, and the book ended up being inspiration porn for neurotypicals.
Pictures of character:
Birthday: In the book, her birthday is unknown so I'll make it November 20
Sexuality: Questioning
Personality: Caitlin is intelligent, cheerful, socially awkward, pedantic, often blunt, and comes off as arrogant without meaning to. She tends to get excited and passionate about things she enjoys. As a result, she tends to infodump. She has black-and-white thinking, hypermorality, and fluctuating empathy. Caitlin can come off as tactless at times due to being brutally honest, but does not mean to hurt people's feelings and will try to clear things up if there are any resulting problems. She also does not always understand social cues and expectations, but she tries her best. Caitlin is more caring than she appears to be. She is autistic and is recovering from depression that is caused by the death of her mother who died of cancer and PTSD that is caused by the death of her brother Devon who died in a school shooting and being bullied in school.
Likes: Her special interests are drawing, dictionaries, and To Kill a Mockingbird. She also likes art, making charcoal drawings, pastel colors, the colors black and white, black and white TV shows and movies, cartoons (especially Disney), Bambi, her friends (especially her best friend Michael), small spaces (they bring her comfort), hiding under a dresser (her "hidey-hole") and bed, and stuffing her head under couch cushions.
Dislikes: Bright colors (neon colors especially), saturated colors, bright lights, noisy places, maintaining direct eye contact, dirt, bugs, wool clothing, fuzzy clothing, live-action TV shows and movies that are not black and white, saying that she does not have or needs to learn empathy, people not communicating with her, bullying, school shootings, and school shooters.
Fears or triggers: Really loud noises (sensory trigger), lights buzzing (sensory trigger), wool clothing (sensory trigger), fuzzy clothing (sensory trigger), gunshots (trigger), and being called "weirdo" or "freak" (trigger). No fears, but she gets uncomfortable when talking about school shootings and school shooters.
Relationship status: Single
Friends: Other autistic reclaimed characters, Michael Schneider (best friend), Josh
Extras: She is Scout kin/IDs as Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Bambi kin (Bambi), and her comfort characters are Jem (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Atticus (To Kill a Mockingbird).
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Characterās name (full name, if given): Rose Howard
Apparent age: 11 (going on to 12)
Gender: Cis girl
Source material (and why itās bad, this part is optional): Rain Reign (which is a children's novel) and it's bad because the author Ann M. Martin wrote it in Autism Voice, the narrative is stereotypical, and Rose is explicitly framed as other due to being portrayed as overly literal and the book's constant focus on her obsession with homonyms, numbers, prime numbers, weather patterns, and rules. It also stereotypes autistic people as not experiencing emotions, unfeeling, uncaring, unable to be hurt, and overly rational. In general, Martin denied Rose emotional agency and wrote a story about an autistic character for a neurotypical audience.
Pictures of character:Ā
(Rose with Rain)
(Another picture of Rose and Rain)
Birthday: In the book, her birthday is unknown so I'll make it September 20
Sexuality: Questioning
Personality: Rose is intelligent, level-headed, brave, determined, polite, socially awkward, and a rule-follower. She loves homonyms and tends to blurt out when she hears one. Rose is caring, patient, and undertakes the role of peacekeeper. She is autistic, has OCD, panic attacks, and hypermorality, and is recovering from depression that is caused by her mother leaving her and her father (she is dealing with her feelings of guilt over it) and PTSD that is caused by her father's past alcoholism.
Likes: Her special interests are weather patterns, homonyms, and numbers (especially prime numbers). She also likes her dog Rain, her uncle Weldon, wordplay/puns, meteorology, the weather channel, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, The Incredibles movies, The Secret of NIMH, and being on her routine.
Dislikes: People not explaining things to her, people not listening to why she is upset, being made fun of, being invalidated, and being off her routine.
Fears or triggers: Alcohol (trigger), hurricanes (fear), and being shaken (fear/trigger).
Relationship status: Single
Friends: Other autistic reclaimed characters, Rain
Extras: Her comfort characters are Madame Foster (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Helen Parr (The Incredibles), and Mrs. Brisby (The Secret of NIMH).
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Characterās name (full name, if given): Willem Edward Smith
Apparent age: 12
Gender: Cis boy
Source material (and why itās bad, this part is optional): How to Fly with Broken Wings (which is a children's fiction book) and it's bad because the author Jane Elson wrote Willem as stereotypically autistic without naming him as such. Willem seems to check off all of the diagnostic boxes of autism without having much of a personality beyond this. Willem isnāt always treated with respect or dignity, particularly when heās reduced to facts about airplanes and telling people that he can fly. In the middle of the book, Willem suddenly becomes a magical autistic detective by pulling out several pieces of physical evidence and lines of argument to prove that one person wasnāt involved in gang riots, although these abilities are never previously mentioned. Elson doesn't fully address him being mistreated at school. Sasha describes him in her first chapter as āone of lifeās special peopleā and regularly refers to him as her special friend as their relationship develops. Willem is relentlessly bullied at school and in danger at home, although no other characters do anything about this. Other kids make him jump off of objects or buildings and there are rival gangs in the area who are also interested in manipulating him. In class, his teacher frequently singles him out by requiring him to make two friends instead of completing equations for homework like his peers. The teacher tries to mix up students to get kids to interact with Willem and pulls each aside to say that she wants them to show him friendship, though she recognizes that forcing him to make friends in class encouraged him to interact with his bullies and put him in numerous dangerous situations, and she apologizes by the end of the book. The assignment led to Willem being deceived or put in dangerous situations more than once, and the author offers no clear condemnation of this. Willemās main bully apologizes for his actions a few times but immediately returns to hurting Willem, and when he eventually befriends him itās in order to gain favor with the girl he likes. Many adults apologize to Willem-- including his teacher, who recognizes that forcing him to make friends put his life in danger; not that her treatment of him was emotionally manipulative. Also, there is no further discussion of any emotional repercussions.
Pictures of character:Ā Ā
(Willem with a dog and holding hands with Sarah)
(Willem)
Birthday: In the book, his birthday is unknown so Iāll make it June 21
Sexuality: Questioning
Personality: Willem is shy and timid yet friendly and easygoing. He doesnāt believe that true friendships can be made by assigning people to be friends. He infodumps regularly and has trouble distinguishing when the other person has heard enough or when the conversation is over. Willem relates to people by using the colors of the traffic lights. He tends to take things more literally and struggles with understanding facial expressions. Willem gets very anxious in stressful situations. Willem gets very anxious in stressful situations. He stims by counting, rambling about anything, shaking his hands, and flapping his arms and hands. Willem is a trauma and physical/verbal/emotional abuse survivor. He is autistic, has anxiety, and is recovering from PTSD that is caused by being bullied at school by other kids, being emotionally manipulated by his teacher, and the trauma from the gang riots.
Likes: His special interests are airplanes (especially Spitfire planes), model airplanes, pilots during World War II, and flying. He also likes his dog Buster, Magic Man Archie, tea, digestive biscuits, cookies, his grandmother Gracie, Sasha, Peter Pan, Arthur (his favorite character is Carl Gould), and traffic lights.
Dislikes: Bullies, gangs, riots, being made fun of, being excluded/left out, people who are too close to him, Finn Maison and his gang the Beckham Estate Boyz, being assigned friends, being forced into a "buddy system", being manipulated or deceived, shouting, being kissed, and his food touching.
Fears or triggers: Bullying (fear/trigger), gangs (fear/trigger), riots (fear/trigger), Finn Maison and his gang (fear), falling (fear), death threats (trigger), being assigned friends (trigger), being forced into a "buddy system" (trigger), shouting (sensory trigger), being kissed (sensory trigger), and his food touching (sensory trigger).
Relationship status: Single
Friends: Other autistic reclaimed characters, Sasha Barton, Magic Man Archie, Buster
Extras: His comfort character is Carl Gould (Arthur).
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Characterās name (full name, if given): Colin Fischer
Apparent age: 14
Gender: Cis boy
Source material (and why itās bad, this part is optional): Colin Fischer (which is a young adult novel) and itās bad because despite being written by an autistic author--Zack Sentz--and Colin being likable, the book distances the readers from the perspective of him by othering him and casting him as incomprehensible and weird. Colin is rarely seen as anything but intrigued, confused, or panicked, and that reinforces the damaging, ableist notion of autistic people not having emotions. He is also depicted by Sentz and Ashley Edward Miller to be a super special autistic with āmysterious skillsā. Colinās brother Danny loathing him and their parents is portrayed with no nuance and no emotions from Colinās end. In the book, Aspergerās syndrome is mentioned as being ārelated toā autism rather than being part of the autism spectrum. His school is said to be supportive and accommodating, but there is not much proof to support this as the narrative appears to condone the ableist treatment of the protagonist. For example, when Colin is purposefully taunted in class and ends up barking from stress, the principal accepts that it wasnāt his fault, but she also threatens Colin with punishment if he āacts outā again. Another example is his gym teacher Mr. Turrentine ignoring a note from his therapy team that he can skip gym. He also aligns with the popular image of āhigh-functioningā autistic people as being a socially awkward, math/logic/train-obsessed, straight, white, middle-class teenage boy. His symptoms become less extreme at the end of the book, which is seen as a positive development; this portrays autistic traits as undesirable and negative.
Pictures of character:
Birthday: In the book, his birthday is unknown so Iāll make it September 22
Sexuality: Disordinebisexual biromantic, leans towards females
Personality: Colin is curious, inquisitive, and friendly. He enjoys being organized and tends to have meltdowns when not being organized. Colin has slow reflexes and activities like basketball, soccer, playing catch, monkey bars, riding a bicycle, and gym class are difficult for him while activities like jumping and bouncing are easier for him. He speaks in a monotone voice, but talks fast when excited. Colin is often very literal and has trouble detecting sarcasm. He stims by barking when stressed or overwhelmed, jumping especially when happy or excited, and making repeated clicking sounds. He usually has a hard time telling when people are upset because facial expressions don't come naturally to him, and does not always understand social cues and expectations. Colin pet regresses to cope with stress and being autistic, disabled, and otherwise neurodivergent. He is autistic, nearsighted, a dog regressor, and has gross motor dyspraxia and hypotonia.
Likes: His special interests are science, aliens, trampolines, SHAED (his favorite song is Trampoline), asparagus, Sherlock Holmes, and Star Trek. He also likes math, trains, jumping, bouncy balls, dogs, his notebook, repeated clicking sounds like pens, stacking things, and patterns (especially finding them).
Dislikes: The color blue, blue things, being touched if he does not initiate it or if he is unprepared for it, being touched when stressed, direct eye contact (he finds it uncomfortable), phones ringing loudly, the sound of the school bell, mushy foods, high-pitched voices, dolls, gym class, sports, perfume counters at store entrances, being made fun of or taunted, bullying, ableist people, having his infodumps be interrupted, his room and belongings being tampered with, Rudy Moore, and biphobes/bimisics.
Fears or triggers: Sudden loud noises (sensory trigger), phones ringing loudly (sensory trigger), the sound of the school bell (sensory trigger), perfume counters at store entrances (sensory trigger), high-pitched voices (sensory trigger), mushy foods (sensory trigger), and dolls (fear).
Relationship status: Single
Friends: Other autistic reclaimed characters, Melissa Greer (best friend), Wayne Connolly
Extras: He is alienkin and dogkin, and his comfort characters are Sherlock Holmes (BBC Sherlock) and Spock (Star Trek). He has reading glasses to help with his nearsightedness.
@luigiskidsā,Ā @connerskidsā, @mikus-oc-blogā, @asherschildrenā, @kirby-hates-pedosā,Ā Ā @vela-hates-creepsā, @ashisintheskiesā any thoughts?
