Autistic Person rates Autistic Characters in Media
In this post, I will be rating some autistic characters in media (specifically TV and movies) based on how well represented I feel by them as an autistic person. Keep in mind that this is thus a subjective list since autism is very individual and no two autistic people will have the same experience or opinions. I would also like to add that I am what would be considered a Low Support Needs autistic person, seen that I can generally live without too much assistance or accommodations, which means that my experience is going to not be relatable to autistic people with higher support needs than mine. On that note, also please keep in mind that “low functioning” and “high functioning” are harmful labels and that they are not the same as “low support needs” and “high support needs”. Also, obviously, since this is subjective, I am not saying that nobody else on the spectrum can’t like or relate to any of these characters; this is my own opinion, not a purely objective rating. Finally, whilst I will be rating these characters on a scale of 1 (worst) to 6 (best), I will not be ranking them in this post.
This list includes characters that are explicitly named to be autistic or that are widely accepted to be autistic, for example because the creators or actors confirmed it in retrospect or because the canon very strongly implies it and the creators have not spoken out in denial of it. Also I can obviously only rate the media I have actually seen so if your favourites aren't on this list, this is why.
CONTENT WARNINGS THAT APPLY: mentions of antisemitism (briefly), mentions of Autism Speaks, mentions of ableism, mentions of an autistic male character acting creepily towards women.
I will be signalling Pros/positive points with a + sign and Cons/negative points with a – sign.
Dr. Isidore Latham (Ato Essandoh) – Chicago Med (2/6)
- “curing autism” theme in the episodes centric on his personal experiences
- usage of the outdated and antisemitic term “Aspergers” over “Autism” (this is especially harmful considering Dr. Latham is Jewish)
+ Black autistic representation (which is rare seen that most autistic characters tend to be White) and Jewish autistic representation
+ whilst Dr. Latham is shown to not be the most social man and to be very direct, he isn’t outright rude or unprofessional
- as far as I could find out online, the actor is allistic (it is always better to cast a disabled actor for a disabled role)
Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) – The Good Doctor (0/6)
- the show collaborates with Autism Speaks, who are known to be a hate group not actually looking to help or listen to autistic people
- extremely stereotypical in its portrayal (extremely antisocial, no friends, always literal, no social awareness – even though autistic people struggle with allistic tone patterns, usually they would be able to pick up at least somewhat what other people consider rude behaviour and would try to avoid it, something Shaun never seems to do)
- transphobia from the one autistic character, implying directly that autistic people are unable to understand the concept of a transgender identity (when in truth, studies show that many people on the spectrum also often identify as not on the gender binary or as transgender)
- Autistic Savant trope (portraying autistic people as geniuses when in fact, less than 5% of all autistic people are a Savant and even if we are very interested in a topic such as medicine, we still need to learn and study just as allistic people)
Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) – The Community (4/6)
+ writer of the series is on the spectrum
+ PoC autistic representation
+ whilst not clearly being labelled as autistic, the character is recognizable as an autistic person without hitting all the stereotypical tropes such as being antisocial, never joking, always being literal or being a “genius” without ever studying etc.
- allistic actor
- whilst generally not labelling a character as autistic is not a bad thing, it makes it harder for autistic people to definitely say “this character is autistic”, meaning that allistics can ignore the coding if they wish to cling to their own, often stereotyped idea of what autism “looks like”
Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (3/6)
- stereotypical, but not as badly as other portrayals
+ avoids the trope of autistic people not having emotions, instead showing Alfred’s struggle expressing and understanding tone and emotions
+ generally good portrayal of a special interest being made part of the life via the job (salmon and fly fishing)
Music Gamble (Maddie Ziegler) – Music (0/6)
- creator Sia has openly shown ableist behaviour, putting down autistic people, not listening to autistic voices and criticism etc.
- collaboration with Autism Speaks
- extremely stereotypical portrayal and infantalization of autistic nonverbal people
- harmful techniques such as restraining being shown on screen
- graphic meltdown scenes being shown
Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) – Atypical (1/6)
- in-universe infantilization of autistic people (via Mother Elsa)
- having the autistic character act dangerously, for example locking someone in the closet because they annoy him or borderline predatorily pursuing his therapist, sheds a harmful light on autistic people
- as far as is known, no autistic people were included in the production or writing process
- many instances show autistic-related habits or traits, for example wearing noise cancelling headphones, but frame it in a way that the audience is supposed to find it funny or laugh at the protagonist
- instead of making Sam sympathetic, he is largely just shown to make everyone around him uncomfortable
+ the ongoing portrayal of Sam’s special interest is generally well-done
- an ongoing theme is Sam’s girlfriend Paige restricting his info-dumping and by extension his special interest (something autistic people get active joy from) to three “dumps” a day so he can act “more normal” – this might teach allistic viewers that this is something they can do to their autistic friends
Sara Eriksson (Frida Argento) – Young Royals (5/6)
- usage of “Aspergers” both in the show and by the actress
+ actually autistic actress
+ autistic traits like mirroring, struggling with social context or tone and directness/bluntness as well as a special interest (horses) are shown whilst tropes like Sara being entirely unempathetic, rude and antisocial being avoided
Isadora Smackle (Ceci Balagot) and Farkle Minkus (Corey Fogelmanis) – Girl meets World (2/6)
- the original title of the episode centric on autism was “Girl Meets Normal”, implying autism is something abnormal, which is a potentially very harmful rhetoric
- autism is shown as something bad, with Farkle’s friends actively trying to fight over him being not autistic, insisting he is “normal”, generally treating autism as something they don’t want their friend to be associated with – a very harmful take in a show for kids and young teens
+ Smackle is a major, long-term autistic character rather than a One Episode throwaway character, even though she is generally quite stereotypical (but given that this show generally has every character act over the top and often fitting in specific categories this is not as bad, it just makes her fit in the framework of the show; she is not the only one who is largely stereotypically portrayed)
+ actor Ceci Balagot is themselves autistic (according to their twitter that is)
Renee (Madison Bandy) – Loop (6/6)
+ PoC nonverbal autistic character portrayed by a nonverbal autistic voice actress
+ in production, an active effort was made to make the actress feel comfortable, so that her experience working on the film would be accommodating and positive rather than unnessicarily stressful
+ generally very well-done portrayal of both sensory seeking and sensory overstimulated behaviour and the experience as an autistic person
Matilda (Kayla Cromer), Nicholas (Josh Thomas) and Drea (Lillian Carrier) – Everything is gonna be okay (6/6)
+ autistic actors playing autistic characters and autistic writer
+ very realistic portrayal of autism and how it differs in different people, as well as how it can affect interpersonal relationships (also having the sister mention that she thought she understood autism as a whole but later realized she only understood her sister's autism specifically because it is so individual)
+ realistic portrayal of sensory overload, stimming, communication between different autistic people etc.
+ queer autistic people – gay and asexual autistic main characters
+ autistic people joking, showing emotions, humour without the autistic people being the butt of the joke
+ empathetic portrayal of an adult realizing they might be on the spectrum and the denial and questioning that comes with that
+ portrayals of autistic special interests and autistic joy
Quinni (Chloé Hayden) – Heartbreak High (5.5/6)
+ autistic actress playing an autistic character
+ autistic queer representation
+ themes of ableism are included but dealt with sensitively and without making the ableism seem harmless
+ realistic portrayal of stimming, struggle with abrupt change of plans, overstimulation, meltdowns, autistic joy, info dumping etc.
+ autistic character having genuine friendships and friends who support her and know her sensory needs etc.
- because it is set in high school, this is a very specific group being represented so it is possible that the largest part of the autistic community won’t see themselves completely accurately portrayed, but chances are they can relate to Quinni nonetheless at least in aspects.
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