Autism spectrum disorders in the media

Updated on Sep 30, 2024

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Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations.

Since the 1970s, fictional portrayals of people with autism, Asperger syndrome, and other ASCs have become more frequent. Public perception of autism is often based on these fictional portrayals in novels, biographies, movies, and TV series. These depictions of autism in media today are often made in a way that brings pity to the public and their concern of the topic, because their viewpoint is never actually shown, leaving the public without knowledge of autism and its diagnosis. Portrayals in the media of characters with atypical abilities (for example, the ability to multiply large numbers without a calculator) may be misinterpreted by viewers as accurate portrayals of all autistic people and of autism itself.

So much about Abed Nadir's alleged (heavily implied but never confirmed) Asperger's rings true that one is left to simply marvel at Danny Pudi's performance. The obsessively detailed expertise in specialized subjects (in his case, popular culture), the flat emotional affect, the awkward physical gestures and tendency to either make too little eye contact or too much. All of those quirks are fantastic, but the moment that best captures the Asperger experience occurred in the very first episode. After series protagonist Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) admits to the rest of his study group that he is too lazy to pass an upcoming Spanish exam, the rest of the members use facial expressions and body language to subtly communicate to each other (and not Jeff, who is feeling sensitive) that they intend to help him out. Then Abed, uncomprehending, blows the moment by bluntly asking, "What's going on?" That's Asperger's in a nutshell.

Fiction

Since the 1970s, characters have appeared in film, television, and print that could be qualified as "on the [autism] spectrum." Characters have been presented as being described as openly autistic in canon, or have been designed with one of many ASCs in mind.

Literature

Mark Haddon's 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, examines the world of its teenage autistic narrator, Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy who has memorized every prime number through 7,057.

Trueman Bradley, by Alexei Maxim Russell, published in 2011, was the first work of fiction to portray an openly Autistic private detective and the first work of literature which sought to portray Asperger Syndrome as a different way of thinking, with certain benefits over neurotypical thinking, and therefore not necessarily a disability.

Simple Simon, a novel by Ryne Douglas Pearson, features an autistic protagonist who has the mathematical ability to crack NASA security codes.

The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon, explores the possibility of a cure for autism and its effect on autistic people.

Margaret Atwood's novel Oryx and Crake has a university labeled Asperger's U, where almost every student appears to have Asperger's syndrome or autism; people in the university refer to non-autists as neurotypicals and seem to view them as something altogether different to themselves. The novel features an autistic character who uses his atypical reasoning to topple society.

Film

Temple Grandin (2010) is a biographical dramatization of the well known autism advocate Temple Grandin.

X+Y (2014) is a film whose protagonist Nathan Ellis is based on mathematical genius Daniel Lightwing who has Asperger syndrome.

The Big Short (2015) is film about the 2008 recession which focuses heavily on the hedge fund manager, Michael Burry, who plays a leading role. Burry himself believes himself to be on the autistic spectrum with Asperger syndrome. During the course of the film this is never revealed but rather it is greatly implied.

Television

Television programs featuring characters with ASCs or characteristics stereotypical of autism spectrum disorders have become commonplace, most notably in sitcoms.

The SyFy series Alphas features an autistic character, Gary Bell, portrayed by Ryan Cartwright as one of its main characters.

Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds shows behaviors which imply he has minor Asperger's Syndrome, a fact which was commented on in season 8 of the series. Actor Matthew Gray Gubler, who has portrayed the character since 2005, stated in an interview in 2006: "Reid is 24 years old with three Ph.D.s and one can not usually achieve that without some form of autism."

Community has received critical acclaim for its depiction of Asperger's in the character Abed Nadir., with Matthew Rozsa, a journalist diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, saying that:

In the television series Arthur, Carl has Asperger syndrome.

In the BBC2 television miniseries The Politician's Husband (2013), the impact of Noah Hoynes' Aspergers on the boy's behavior and on his family, and steps Noah's loved ones take to accommodate and address it, are prominent plot points in all three episodes.

In Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy, the recurring character, Virginia Dixon, is a visiting doctor who has Asperger's syndrome.

Max Braverman, on Parenthood, is at first a child and then teenager with Asperger's.

In the FOX show Touch, the main character, Jake Bohm, is autistic.

The parallel universe version of Astrid Farnsworth on Fringe has Asperger's syndrome.

Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock shows qualities which would imply the character has Asperger's syndrome, but this is not confirmed or denied.

The Boston Legal semi-regular character, Jerry Espensen, was a middle-aged autistic, nicknamed "hands" due to his lack of hand gestures and habit of frequently resting them on his body as he walked.

Sugar Motta from Glee is regarded as a highly offensive stereotype; one commentator said: "the dismissive humor with which Glee treats Asperger's and its symptoms is worthy of rage. The character's deliberately obnoxious behavior and lack of personal accountability feed into the prejudices people with Asperger's face every day." One episode in particular, where the character says, "I have self-diagnosed Aspergers, I can do whatever I want," caused an uproar in the autistic community, as many believed the show had crossed the line—especially in light of the fact Glee has been progressive on many other issues, such as LGBT rights.

Bob Melnikov (Dmitry Chepovetsky) from ReGenesis is stated to have Asperger's Syndrome.

Rebecca Blithely of Strange Empire is autistic. Described as having a brain too large for her head, she is extremely talented in the medical field and makes very accurate diagrams of the human body.

The Israeli drama series Yellow Peppers and its British derivative The A Word deal with a young boy who is on the autism spectrum and how their respective families cope with this diagnosis.

Det. Sonya Cross of The Bridge has Asperger Syndrome. While it's not openly stated in the show, Sonya's Aspergers diagnosis is specifically acknowledged by the show's producers, and the production team included a specialist on AS as a consultant, Alex Plank, who has AS himself.

In Venezuelan soap opera The Perfect Woman, Micaela Gómez (the main character) has Asperger syndrome. In the first episodes of the show, it is clear that Micaela has a condition, although neither Micaela or her family know what is it. She has a great memory for details and numbers, enjoys telling statistics and fun facts about football, and fails at understanding sarcasm and maintaining visual contact. The show focuses on the obsession that some women have with beauty, cosmetic surgery and the need to become the perfect woman, something Micaela fails to understand.

Chicago Med Dr Latham a gifted CT surgeon is portrayed as having Aspergers syndrome and experimenting with TCM ( trans cranial magnetic therapy )

Video games

River Wyles of To the Moon is diagnosed in game with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder and much of the game's story revolves around her husband Johnny and her peers adapting to it. Josh Sauchak from Watch Dogs 2 has been confirmed to have Asperger's Syndrome.

Film, television, and print

Children of the Stars (2007) is an award-winning documentary about children with autism in China. The film examines hardships experienced by parents of children with autism and the lack of international resources for these families.

Autism: The Musical (2007) is a documentary about the lives of autistic children and their families, while the children write and rehearse a stage production. The film won several awards, including two Emmy Awards. The film centers around The Miracle Project, a nonprofit organization focusing on providing a creative outlet for autistic children.

The Horse Boy (2009) is a book and documentary (both released the same year), which follows the Isaacson family on their journey to Mongolia to help their autistic son.

Chicos de otro planeta (2013) is a documentary about young adults with Aspergers in Chile. The film is narrated by Chilean actor Grex.

The Autistic Gardener (2015) is a Channel 4 series.

Girls with Autism is a documentary following three girls at Limpsfield Grange, a specialized school in the UK.

MMR vaccine theory

The MMR vaccine was the subject of controversy resulting from publication of a (now retracted) 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield et al. In 2010, Wakefield's research was found by the General Medical Council to have been "dishonest"; the research was declared fraudulent in 2011 by the BMJ.

A March 2007 article in BMC Public Health postulated that media reports on Wakefield's study had "created the misleading impression that the evidence for the link with autism was as substantial as the evidence against". Earlier papers in Communication in Medicine and British Medical Journal concluded that media reports provided a misleading picture of the level of support for Wakefield's theory.

PRWeek noted that after Wakefield was removed from the general medical register for misconduct in May 2010, 62% of respondents to a poll regarding the MMR controversy stated they did not feel that the media conducted responsible reporting on health issues.

A New England Journal of Medicine article examining the history of antivaccinationists said that opposition to vaccines has existed since the 19th century, but "now the antivaccinationists' media of choice are typically television and the Internet, including its social media outlets, which are used to sway public opinion and distract attention from scientific evidence".

The role of the media in the sensationalization of the MMR vaccination issue was discussed by the BMJ:

The original paper has received so much media attention, with such potential to damage public health, that it is hard to find a parallel in the history of medical science. Many other medical frauds have been exposed, but usually more quickly after publication and on less important health issues.

Concerns were also raised about the role of journalists reporting on scientific theories that they "are hardly in a position to question and comprehend. Neil Cameron, a historian who specializes in the history of science, writing for The Montreal Gazette labeled the controversy a "failure of journalism" that resulted in unnecessary deaths, saying that 1) The Lancet should not have published a study based on "statistically meaningless results" from only 12 cases; 2) the anti-vaccination crusade was continued by the satirical Private Eye magazine; and 3) a grapevine of worried parents and "nincompoop" celebrities fueled the widespread fears. The Gazette also reported that

There is no guarantee that debunking the original study is going to sway all parents. Medical experts are going to have to work hard to try to undo the damage inflicted by what is apparently a rogue medical researcher whose work was inadequately vetted by a top-ranked international journal.

Autism diagnoses in notable individuals

Media speculation of historical figures on the autism spectrum is based on reported behavior and anecdotal evidence rather than any clinical observation of the individual. Fred Volkmar of the Yale Child Study Center has remarked that "there is unfortunately a sort of cottage industry of finding that everyone has Asperger's". Professor Michael Fitzgerald's research, which portrays many historical figures are autistic, has been heavily criticised, and described by some as "fudged pseudoscience" and "frankly absurd".

Additionally, media speculation of contemporary figures as being on the autism spectrum has become popular in recent times. New York magazine reported some examples, which included that Time magazine suggested that the intensely awkward Bill Gates is autistic, and that a biographer of Warren Buffett wrote that the Oracle of Omaha, with his prodigious memory and "fascination with numbers," has "a vaguely autistic aura." New York magazine also reported that on Celebrity Rehab, Dr. Drew Pinsky deemed Dennis Rodman (selectively hyperfocused, socially obtuse) a candidate for an Asperger's diagnosis, and the UCLA specialist brought in to make it official "seemed to concur". Nora Ephron has criticized media diagnoses by portraying them as "a wildly over-diagnosed thing that there used to be other words for." Thomas Sowell has criticized Time's diagnosis of Bill Gates as autistic, saying that the people diagnosing him have not seen him personally. Paul Steinberg has also criticized the literary portrayals of Warren Buffett and Tim Page as autistic, writing these men are able to compensate more completely than a truly autistic child or adult whose language deficiencies and cognitive deficits can often put him at a level of functioning in the mentally retarded range.

References

Autism spectrum disorders in the media Wikipedia

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