Good autism representation not only makes people view autistic individuals more positively and realistically, but also helps autistic people have a character they can relate to. It can even make undiagnosed autistic people realize that perhaps the reason they’ve felt so different their whole life is that they are autistic—there’s an explanation for their differences, and a community of similar people.
Your writing an autistic character can benefit the autism community. Perhaps you only want to pain a realistic picture of diversity in your story by including an autistic character, but any good representation helps.
Bad representation, on the other hand, purveys the untrue and harmful assumptions about autistic people. It can lead to their misdiagnosis and mistreatment at the hands of allistics, or non-autistics, as they don’t have an accurate understanding of autism. There is much bad autism representation in media today.
But I’m here to help. Here are six common autism stereotypes/harmful tropes to avoid.
1. Stereotypical Autism
What it is: This trope is when an autistic character has stereotypical autistic traits—such as having trains as a special interest, being unable to understand jokes, and having rocking as a major stim. This also includes traits that don’t seem related to their autism, however—such as being white and male. These traits are nonetheless present in the majority of autistic characters, though.
Why it’s harmful: When all people see in media about autistic people is the same stereotypical traits, they think that autistic people must love trains or they’re not autistic, or that only white males, particularly white male children, can be autistic. The commonality of these stereotypes in media keeps real autistic people from getting the diagnoses they need, and influences how people treat autistic people who don’t show those stereotypical traits. If people, such as family members, don’t believe someone is autistic, they may not give them the accommodations they need.
What to do instead: Some autistic people really do love traits or have a hard time understanding jokes, or are white and male. However, we need more variety in autistic characters. Maybe your autistic character’s white, but a woman. Maybe your character only has a hard time understanding a certain type of jokes, or has trains as a special interest but also fashion and The Hunger Games, which are equally if not more important in their life. Try to avoid all the stereotypical autistic traits if you can, but if you really want to include some, that’s okay, especially if you’re writing from your personal experience. Just don’t just make your autistic characters all stereotypes.
2. The Eternal Child Trope
What it is: This is when the autistic character is pure, naive, innocent. They are mentally younger than allistic characters. Furthermore, this innocence is caused by their autism.
What it’s harmful: This trope contributes to the infantilization of autistic people—that they are like children and shouldn’t make decisions for themselves. This negatively influences how others treat real autistic people. Individuals may simply speak to autistic people with a high voice as if with a child, or even go so far as to take away their agency.
What to do instead: Don’t make a character innocent because of their autism. The easiest way to avoid this is to not make your autistic characters innocent, but if you really want to have an innocent autistic character, make another character be autistic but not innocent, and make sure that the innocent autistic character’s innocence can’t be tied back to their autism. In other words, their innocence is a personality trait or a result of their upbringing, not linked to their autistic traits.
3. The Savant Trope
What it is: This trope is named after savant syndrome, a real condition where a person has an extraordinary skill or knowledge while also having a disability that causes major challenges in their life.
In this trope specifically, said person with a disability is autistic. Their extraordinary skills or knowledge can be anything from playing instruments at a professional level as a young child to having medical knowledge that matches that of a surgeon with a Phd.
Why it’s harmful: Though autistic savants do exist, they are rare. The commonality of this trope makes some people think all autistic people must have an extraordinary talent and that those who don’t are lazy and failures. This can make people treat autistic individuals negatively.
What to do instead: I’d recommend staying away from the savant autistic person trope entirely, even if you have another autistic character in your story who’s not a savant, because the commonality of this trope is what’s harmful. Your autistic characters can and should have skills like any of your other characters, and will likely know much more about their special interests than most people, but don’t make them geniuses or prodigies. In other words, their skill/knowledge shouldn’t be magical or miraculous, but a natural outgrowth of their research like any professional in that field.
4. The Cold/Unempathetic/Emotionless/Non-Human Autistic Person
What it is: This is when an autistic character is cold, unfeeling. They don’t care about the people around them, and don’t experience emotions. This trope can sometimes go so far as to make the autistic character seem non-human, more robotic or alien.
Why it’s harmful: This trope makes autistic people seem incapable of caring for others, when they aren’t. Autistic people may show empathy in different ways than allistic people, and they may seem emotionless due to autistic traits like flat affect and flat tone, but most autistic individuals do care about others and feel things. In fact, many autistic people have hyperempathy, where their empathy is so heightened they feel the emotions of those around them.
Finally, insinuating autistic people aren’t human can make autistic readers feel more alienated from society than they already do. It can also make others see them as more non-human, causing poorer treatment.
What to do instead: Make sure your autistic characters aren’t uncaring or emotionless. Perhaps they appear that way at first, but after a certain conversation with them, the readers learn they’ve been trying to show empathy all along, and that they may not express their emotions in a way that’s clear if someone doesn’t know what they’re looking for.
Additionally, avoid making your autistic characters non-humans like robots or aliens, unless you also have at least one human autistic character or your whole cast is non-human. In those causes, it would also be good to have a non-autistic non-human as well.
5. Autistic Traits as a Source of Humor
What it is: This is exactly as the title says—other characters or the story as a whole make jokes about an autistic character’s autistic traits, such as not being able to understand allistic social cues. This is written in a way that the readers are supposed to laugh at the character’s autism—it’s played as funny by the author.
Why it’s harmful: It’s one thing if an autistic character is joking about themself, and another if those around said autistic character or the story overall are making fun of them. Mocking autistic people for their autism is just rude and offensive. Autistic people have to deal with enough bullying and ostracization without also the books they read and shows they watch also making sport of them.
What to do instead: Find some other form of humor to make the story funny. It’s okay if the autistic character jokes about their own autistic traits in a good-natured, in-on-the-joke way, but don’t have this be the main source of humor unless you know how to keep from going too far. Perhaps, if you do this, you even throw in some (also good-natured) humor at allistic people’s expense.
6. The Autistic Character Committing a Crime due to Their Autism
What it is: In this trope, the autistic character is not aware that crimes such as breaking into someone’s house or putting cameras in a bathroom are illegal and wrong due to their autism. They commit these crimes with obliviousness.
Why it’s harmful: This trope insinuates that autistic people are more likely to commit crimes and be creeps, which isn’t true. Autistic people are more likely to be the victim of crimes. While autism can make it challenging to know when you’re being “rude,” it generally doesn’t make you unaware that something so bad as breaking into someone’s house is wrong. The vast majority of autistic people can function as lawful citizens of society.
What to do instead: Don’t make an autistic person commit crimes due to their autism. The easiest way to avoid this trope is to not make your criminals autistic, but if you really want to, make a couple of good guys autistic as well, and don’t make autism the motivation of the criminal’s crimes.
To simplify, don’t write autistic characters with the common stereotypes you can find in media everywhere. Don’t write autism as a harmful disorder that impacts one’s humanity, either, but as a neutral or even positive condition. Yes, autistic people have unique challenges allistic people don’t have to go through, but that doesn’t make us any less human.
With the knowledge of these tropes, you’re now more well-equipped to make your story leave a positive impact on the autistic community. This shouldn’t be the end of your research, but just the fact that you’ve taken this step is a sign that you’re doing it right.
I believe that you can craft a story with positive autism representation and help halt the harmful stereotypes that affect autistic people’s lives.
I wish you luck on your story! If you’re writing a diverse character cast, I offer sensitivity reading services for autism, anxiety, OCD, general disability, and other topics. Click here for more information!
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