Writing autistic characters can be quite difficult and daunting. We are so varied from one another that if you’re not autistic it can be SO easy to fall into the trap of stereotypical, one dimensional characters. This set of 5 things is a little guidance of things to think about when creating autistic characters.
1. We are diverse
As the saying goes in the community of autistic people, “when you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person”.
This is not meant to trip you up. What we mean is that not one of us is the same as another. The autistic spectrum we all sit on is a spectrum because we are not all in the same place. It’s not like a colour scale where all those with autism are at one point, all those with Dyslexia at another and so on. That’s just not how it works. Each of us have our own challenges, strengths and skills to bring to the table.
Even amongst my own family, where there are about three or four of us with some kind of diagnosis, we are not all the same. For instance, I’m the only one who needs to use ear defenders to cut out sound when I get a sensory overload. Some of us have different sensitivities to the environments we’re in so have to adapt as best we can, but not all of us can do so with much success.
2. We are not all male
At the fact I am an autistic female, I would hope this proves the point. Reading more into the community I am a part of, it turns out that a lot of women with autism got some seriously disturbing diagnoses that are anything but autism because so much research and belief out there is that it’s mainly boys or men who are autistic.
What they haven’t taken into account is the fact that girls and women have somehow been able to mimic the behaviours of those around them to hide their traits that make them more autistic. It’s sad that to “fit in” to a society not made for us that this is what we’ve had to do. It’s even believed that there might even be more autistic girls than boys. Also, just because we’re female doesn’t mean we don’t have fascinations with dinosaurs or subjects expected of males to be interested in.
3. Referring to autism language is crucial
By this, I mean how you address autistic people. A lot of us in the community see ourselves as autistic, rather than have autism. It’s not a separate part of us we can just put down and suddenly we’re “normal”.
Another thing to think about is what we may have been diagnosed with. Up until 2013, quite a lot of us may have been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome until the DSM-5 (the guide professionals use to diagnose us) changed. A lot of us now prefer to say we are autistic, especially when the namesake of Asperger Syndrome was during World War II experimenting on autistic people and deemed those with Asperger Syndrome worth letting live. Understandably, that kind of past is a difficult pill to swallow so we just say we’re autistic.
4. We communicate differently
One of the things that I’m very aware of is that not all of us have the ability to actually speak. Those that can’t use speech are known as non-verbal. That doesn’t mean they can’t make themselves known. It just means they have to use an alternative way. Maybe they use British Sign language (BSL), Makaton sign language, a programme on a tablet that they can type phrases through or choose pictures that have phrases attached, a notebook to write in or a whiteboard.
There are so many alternative ways they could communicate. It could even be within their family they have their own gestures that mean certain things, like they might use the gesture we would refer to as downing a drink to mean they’re warm and need cooling down. Some of us who are verbal may have points where we’re so overwhelmed that we can’t speak. So just bear that in mind that we may not always be verbal.
So be creative as to how they communicate. It could be a plot point where there’s a misinterpretation between characters because they’re not sure what has been signed.
5. Our special interests can be helpful
Our special interests could literally be anything. Sometimes they’re really specialised or it’s a general topic. We might be interested in everything to do with someone we admire, like an actor so we watch everything they’re in. It might be we love a specific writer so we read all their books. It might be we love anything to do with physics so read we read any and every book on it we can.
Be prepared that it won’t just be one special interest either. I have a special interest in crime/thriller novels, British crime dramas on the TV, Doctor Who from 2005, I love Death In Paradise on BBC that of the older episodes it can take as little as thirty seconds to remember who the murderer was and how they did it (much to my Dad’s annoyance!), I love Downton Abbey that whenever the rerun of episodes begins on ITV3 I will do what I can to watch it, I love learning about writing stories and the filmmaking industry.
The point is, the special interests are so varied and can last for a differing length of time. Sometimes the interest burns itself out after a few days, weeks, months or years. Sometimes it doesn’t go away (mine show no sign of budging!). Having a special knowledge that could almost be encyclopaedic is a great asset in the right environment, if we’re given the chance.
So, when you consider writing an autistic character, don’t be afraid to add many layers to bring them to life like you would your neurotypical characters. We’re just as complex and that could just lift your writing project to the next level.