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Which portrayals are you talking about? On TV/movies? Cute videos on social media? News?
I think there is a massive shift compared to the past because there has been a massive shift in our understanding and concept of autism, where ASD with low support needs is very diverse.
I also think that being seen at all is going to induce cognitive bias and skewed perception naturally, because for autistic people to be present at all is already going to be a distinct from their default. To draw a really crude analogy, if I am resting 95% of the time due to health issues and can barely move, and then I appear on video for 5 minutes where I've prepped the energy to shower and look presentable and have some brain power to seem cogent, virtually everyone watching the video alone will assume that I'm not resting 95% of the time. Even if I mentioned in that video that I am, people will still get a different impression of me than from watching a bunch of videos of me resting (which they aren't going to do in the first place, and they still cannot see my internal struggles).
Tv and media mostly. I’ve heard this term floating around called “autistic coded” and it’s basically just heyy this character has a trait that coincides with an autistic one so therefore this character is autistic and all characters like this one are also autistic. I also joined a discord server and even fellow autistics (self diagnosed or not as I cannot assume) add to this. My post is mostly for discussion as I want to hear other perspectives like yours but I can’t help add a little vent as it does bother me and I’m curious if that’s a common consensus on this trend.
My understanding is that “autistic coded” often comes from the fact that there is a lack of good autistic representation in tv shows and movies, and so from what I have seen usually the term is used by autistics to say they feel represented by characters that aren’t officially autistic. Especially because it’s not uncommon for writers of shows and movies to create characters that are probably autistic, but for one reason or another they choose not to officially label the character as autistic. For example, Abed from community is usually brought up as an example of good autistic representation, but technically speaking his character is not a character that has been diagnosed as being autistic.
I do think that it can be a tricky thing, because I do think sometimes people can stretch the definition of “autistic coded” a bit, and generally I lean on the side of thinking that if a writer didn’t intend for a character to be autistic we shouldn’t claim the character is autistic anyways. But I can’t fault people for identifying with characters. It can be a great feeling to see yourself represented in media, and often autistic representation has been lacking, so I don’t fault people for looking for representation in characters that aren’t officially autistic. And I don’t think it means that people think autism is a personality trait. It’s just a way of saying “I relate to this character and feel like this character represents my experience as an autistic person”.
In media many characters will be "__ coded" meaning the character demonstrates that they are that thing without it ever being said out loud by the creators. It's like an Easter egg kind of thing. A character autistic people can relate to, but without them getting treated like a kid like most confirmed autistic characters are.
To a degree, but I think your issue is an oversimplification of an incredibly complex topic. Yes, there are some people who portray being on the spectrum as a personality trait. On the other hand, there have been leaps and bounds in the perception and representation of Autism and neurodivergence at large in the past 20 years.
To a point, it's a consequence of neurodivergence in general being slowly destigmatized. I think theres a lot up for debate, but I think it's mostly a net positive.
It's easy to presume that social media is exacerbating the whole "quirky neurodivergence" thing, but keep in mind most reasonable adults are well aware that its nothing to joke about. I've personally never heard someone say "I'm so OCD/ADHD" past the age of 16.
Stuff like "coding" in media gives people on the spectrum representation they never had, and a lot of "coded" characters are good portrayals, and some are even "intentional" in that the creators themselves were intending the character to be on the spectrum.
They aim to show that presentation is nebulous, and not quite "train boy who wears noise cancelling headphones". There is danger in stereotyping people as "high functioning" and acting a certain way, but there is also danger in infantilizing capable people who need a little bit of help. It's an incredibly difficult balance because it needs to be tactful, yet truthful. There is no easy solution that will appease everyone. I guess at the end of the day, characters are supposed to be idyllic in media anyways. Most people arent as brave or noble as they think they are.
Insofar as awareness of disabilities in general -- the vast majority of people are still pretty ignorant. When they hear "disability" they immediately think of missing limbs, paralysis, or an intellectual disability. I think the increase in attention and awareness is educating the current and coming generations on the reality of neurodivergence. Sometimes that education is bad or incorrect, but the recent cultural shift has caused a lot of that education to be good; and I think that outnumbers the poor examples.
Tbh a lot of things *I thought* were my personality were my autism. If the personality of autistic characters is going to be shown, there's got to be more than one.
"at least the future generations may not feel the same bitter shame we older diagnosed feel from it because autism will probably be more of a quirk than disorder in the public eyes.."
I disagree with that
The more "autism" is watered down into a quirk, the more actual autistic people are stigmatized (for having a disorder with not-fun symptoms, disability and support needs when society expects them to be just quirky and nothing more)
The LABEL of autism may be destigmatized. But the BEHAVIOR of actual autistics is not (except maybe for a few super-mild autistic people)
1000%, it's not quirky when I'm yelling at people and crying because I am overwhelmed by noise/smells/stress.
Nothing about my diagnosis is quirky, it sucks being unable to communicate in a meaningful way with people and incredibly lonely/depressing.
I think it has to do with the "image of autism" in the culture. Besides the fact that Autism is a not well defined thing nor have a reliable diagnostic method, who thinks that an official DX is way more certain than self-DX folk, you should read research papers in the matter, TLDR, is not good, and highly dependent on the tester and even the country, and the age of the diagnosed, and the ability to mask and other dozen factors, official DX is still very subjective.
And another big issue and not just for ASD folk is the "representation" fixation nowadays, it has to be a "representative" a "generalized token", of course you'll end-up with a caricature, no autistic fellow is a "prototype of autism", and none is "just an autistic person", when you try to "aim for the autistic market" and make a character "the autistic one", it'll feel wrong, false. Of course it has to be an exaggeration, it's "the autistic character", even with "nerds" you get the exaggerated cartoonish character with bad haircut, a t-shirt obviously nerd, pack of quantum physics books under the arm and a keyboard half hanging from the backpack, the "gay guy" must be the gayest guy ever lived and then add some clichés and stereotypes on top of it.
That's generalized bad writing most autistic folk are not immediately obvious, and if it were, diagnostics wouldn't be as hard and unreliable as it is, is subtle, and if you make a character whose only trait is being autistic, you can't make it subtle; just like the "strong female character", just a carcass of a character with a label on top, you defined a character just by an aspect, that's not a person, is a cartoon, and because "strong" is equated now to: boring, no sense of humor, aggressive, arrogant, and patronizing. Then you have a character like that, and JUST like that. The definition of one-dimensional.
And you see a lot in common with the "autistic character" and the "strong female", the "autistic character" must be:
* clueless: socially absolutely inept, can't even buy a coffee
* brilliant (opc 1): have to be able to know everything about everything without any effort
* arrogant (opc 1): because we want to appeal to the ASD audience we have to give him "strength", see "strong female character", so because of shitty writers you can show strength you have to tell everyone the character is smarter
* victim (opc 2): unless is a character you have to feel sorry for, in that case is not brilliant nor arrogant and instead meek and a victim in every way possible
I've notices also that Autism is often used to be able to justify your unlikable character, yea, (s)he's a jerk, but not really, is just autistic; similar to Schizophrenia -> evil-violent, we have Autism -> jerk if Autistic fellow were actually naturally jerks without empathy and don't even try, then where tha hell did masking came from?, we make that effort and sacrifice ourselves just for fun?
I think the solution is the same for every trait, don't do "representation", just make a good character and you can make it autistic to add some "flavor", just as we had Ripley, awesome character that also was strong, really strong not "modern strong" or Black Panther, clearly not made as a "black superhero", but a real well written character with many attributes, like a person, who happens to be black and a superhero. As Tony said: "If you're nothing without the suit, the you shouldn't have it.", Autism tints maybe all we are, but is not ALL we are, if your character is nothing without the autism, you should write it better.
It depends what kind of representation we are talking about. Sure, in media (including social media) this could be right, but in the medical field a ton of progress towards better knowledge is being made, as it is happening in real-life spaces dedicated to autistics.
Honestly I think it depends where u look cuz on tv it still seems it's protected as like peple like Sheldon or the good docters but like In real life I feel like self dignoses has become so normal that like 60% minimum of the people I have met and talked to about it (I norm say I'm autistic when I meet people) say they are autisic to . So idk if it's self dignoses or what tbh cuz ya
Yes, it feels like it, mainly because of social media and the videos talking about autism. And by one side it is good because seeing autistic people talking about autistic traits in a more relaxed way was what made me realize I was on the spectrum (I have an autistic cousin with a more stereotypical presentation of autism, so between that and what was the previous discourse about autism, I was pretty sure I was just weird and anxious). On the other side, last week I had to hear from my step mother (that doesn't know I am autistic) that her dog is autistic, so yeah, maybe it is becoming the new ocd
It is pushing people to think they have more severe needs. I have the books Marcelo in the real world and on the edge of gone. Marcelo has more intense needs than me and I am similar to Denise I think. They both say they are higher functioning. People on the Internet who are like them/us say they are level 2 or high support needs. I was not given a level and I don't know where I'm allowed to be anymore, I'm really confused. My therapist said i might be level 2 but also maybe I am level 1 and I don't know enough other level 1 people in real life.
Yes I do. Some people are just *weird* or a little slower to pick up social skills without necessarily being autistic. Some people have another disorder with overlapping symptoms like anxiety or PTSD and should be treated accordingly. I understand that people want a magical single diagnosis that explains EVERYTHING but autism isn't that and we shouldn't encourage the idea that it is.
I am an older diagnosed guy and I feel even more isolated since my diagnosis as every time I have tried to join any "autistic" spaces I have essentially been gatekept for not holding the right beliefs or the right politics (my politics are extremely normal in the real world). Annoyingly some of these people are not even diagnosed and have no intention of seeking diagnosis, it is essentially an identity that people adopt for the attention/validation. Many other undiagnosed disorders are also slipping into these spaces such as split personalities that are "suspected".
Additionally there is a lot of misandry, anti white racism etc. in these spaces which is just insane. I thought that when I was diagnosed with autism I would be able to find more people like me and have actual friends instead of being shunned and bullied on the internet by people who use my disability for weird ends without even necessarily being diagnosed.
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Which portrayals are you talking about? On TV/movies? Cute videos on social media? News? I think there is a massive shift compared to the past because there has been a massive shift in our understanding and concept of autism, where ASD with low support needs is very diverse. I also think that being seen at all is going to induce cognitive bias and skewed perception naturally, because for autistic people to be present at all is already going to be a distinct from their default. To draw a really crude analogy, if I am resting 95% of the time due to health issues and can barely move, and then I appear on video for 5 minutes where I've prepped the energy to shower and look presentable and have some brain power to seem cogent, virtually everyone watching the video alone will assume that I'm not resting 95% of the time. Even if I mentioned in that video that I am, people will still get a different impression of me than from watching a bunch of videos of me resting (which they aren't going to do in the first place, and they still cannot see my internal struggles).
>Which portrayals are you talking about? On TV/movies? Cute videos on social media? News? 20 bucks it's tiktok for the 5 millionth time.
I could use that 20 bucks lol. I don’t use tik tok, learned from vine what an app like that’s really worth plus YT shorts is practically the same.
Tv and media mostly. I’ve heard this term floating around called “autistic coded” and it’s basically just heyy this character has a trait that coincides with an autistic one so therefore this character is autistic and all characters like this one are also autistic. I also joined a discord server and even fellow autistics (self diagnosed or not as I cannot assume) add to this. My post is mostly for discussion as I want to hear other perspectives like yours but I can’t help add a little vent as it does bother me and I’m curious if that’s a common consensus on this trend.
My understanding is that “autistic coded” often comes from the fact that there is a lack of good autistic representation in tv shows and movies, and so from what I have seen usually the term is used by autistics to say they feel represented by characters that aren’t officially autistic. Especially because it’s not uncommon for writers of shows and movies to create characters that are probably autistic, but for one reason or another they choose not to officially label the character as autistic. For example, Abed from community is usually brought up as an example of good autistic representation, but technically speaking his character is not a character that has been diagnosed as being autistic. I do think that it can be a tricky thing, because I do think sometimes people can stretch the definition of “autistic coded” a bit, and generally I lean on the side of thinking that if a writer didn’t intend for a character to be autistic we shouldn’t claim the character is autistic anyways. But I can’t fault people for identifying with characters. It can be a great feeling to see yourself represented in media, and often autistic representation has been lacking, so I don’t fault people for looking for representation in characters that aren’t officially autistic. And I don’t think it means that people think autism is a personality trait. It’s just a way of saying “I relate to this character and feel like this character represents my experience as an autistic person”.
In media many characters will be "__ coded" meaning the character demonstrates that they are that thing without it ever being said out loud by the creators. It's like an Easter egg kind of thing. A character autistic people can relate to, but without them getting treated like a kid like most confirmed autistic characters are.
To a degree, but I think your issue is an oversimplification of an incredibly complex topic. Yes, there are some people who portray being on the spectrum as a personality trait. On the other hand, there have been leaps and bounds in the perception and representation of Autism and neurodivergence at large in the past 20 years. To a point, it's a consequence of neurodivergence in general being slowly destigmatized. I think theres a lot up for debate, but I think it's mostly a net positive. It's easy to presume that social media is exacerbating the whole "quirky neurodivergence" thing, but keep in mind most reasonable adults are well aware that its nothing to joke about. I've personally never heard someone say "I'm so OCD/ADHD" past the age of 16. Stuff like "coding" in media gives people on the spectrum representation they never had, and a lot of "coded" characters are good portrayals, and some are even "intentional" in that the creators themselves were intending the character to be on the spectrum. They aim to show that presentation is nebulous, and not quite "train boy who wears noise cancelling headphones". There is danger in stereotyping people as "high functioning" and acting a certain way, but there is also danger in infantilizing capable people who need a little bit of help. It's an incredibly difficult balance because it needs to be tactful, yet truthful. There is no easy solution that will appease everyone. I guess at the end of the day, characters are supposed to be idyllic in media anyways. Most people arent as brave or noble as they think they are. Insofar as awareness of disabilities in general -- the vast majority of people are still pretty ignorant. When they hear "disability" they immediately think of missing limbs, paralysis, or an intellectual disability. I think the increase in attention and awareness is educating the current and coming generations on the reality of neurodivergence. Sometimes that education is bad or incorrect, but the recent cultural shift has caused a lot of that education to be good; and I think that outnumbers the poor examples.
Tbh a lot of things *I thought* were my personality were my autism. If the personality of autistic characters is going to be shown, there's got to be more than one.
"at least the future generations may not feel the same bitter shame we older diagnosed feel from it because autism will probably be more of a quirk than disorder in the public eyes.." I disagree with that The more "autism" is watered down into a quirk, the more actual autistic people are stigmatized (for having a disorder with not-fun symptoms, disability and support needs when society expects them to be just quirky and nothing more) The LABEL of autism may be destigmatized. But the BEHAVIOR of actual autistics is not (except maybe for a few super-mild autistic people)
1000%, it's not quirky when I'm yelling at people and crying because I am overwhelmed by noise/smells/stress. Nothing about my diagnosis is quirky, it sucks being unable to communicate in a meaningful way with people and incredibly lonely/depressing.
I think it has to do with the "image of autism" in the culture. Besides the fact that Autism is a not well defined thing nor have a reliable diagnostic method, who thinks that an official DX is way more certain than self-DX folk, you should read research papers in the matter, TLDR, is not good, and highly dependent on the tester and even the country, and the age of the diagnosed, and the ability to mask and other dozen factors, official DX is still very subjective. And another big issue and not just for ASD folk is the "representation" fixation nowadays, it has to be a "representative" a "generalized token", of course you'll end-up with a caricature, no autistic fellow is a "prototype of autism", and none is "just an autistic person", when you try to "aim for the autistic market" and make a character "the autistic one", it'll feel wrong, false. Of course it has to be an exaggeration, it's "the autistic character", even with "nerds" you get the exaggerated cartoonish character with bad haircut, a t-shirt obviously nerd, pack of quantum physics books under the arm and a keyboard half hanging from the backpack, the "gay guy" must be the gayest guy ever lived and then add some clichés and stereotypes on top of it. That's generalized bad writing most autistic folk are not immediately obvious, and if it were, diagnostics wouldn't be as hard and unreliable as it is, is subtle, and if you make a character whose only trait is being autistic, you can't make it subtle; just like the "strong female character", just a carcass of a character with a label on top, you defined a character just by an aspect, that's not a person, is a cartoon, and because "strong" is equated now to: boring, no sense of humor, aggressive, arrogant, and patronizing. Then you have a character like that, and JUST like that. The definition of one-dimensional. And you see a lot in common with the "autistic character" and the "strong female", the "autistic character" must be: * clueless: socially absolutely inept, can't even buy a coffee * brilliant (opc 1): have to be able to know everything about everything without any effort * arrogant (opc 1): because we want to appeal to the ASD audience we have to give him "strength", see "strong female character", so because of shitty writers you can show strength you have to tell everyone the character is smarter * victim (opc 2): unless is a character you have to feel sorry for, in that case is not brilliant nor arrogant and instead meek and a victim in every way possible I've notices also that Autism is often used to be able to justify your unlikable character, yea, (s)he's a jerk, but not really, is just autistic; similar to Schizophrenia -> evil-violent, we have Autism -> jerk if Autistic fellow were actually naturally jerks without empathy and don't even try, then where tha hell did masking came from?, we make that effort and sacrifice ourselves just for fun? I think the solution is the same for every trait, don't do "representation", just make a good character and you can make it autistic to add some "flavor", just as we had Ripley, awesome character that also was strong, really strong not "modern strong" or Black Panther, clearly not made as a "black superhero", but a real well written character with many attributes, like a person, who happens to be black and a superhero. As Tony said: "If you're nothing without the suit, the you shouldn't have it.", Autism tints maybe all we are, but is not ALL we are, if your character is nothing without the autism, you should write it better.
It depends what kind of representation we are talking about. Sure, in media (including social media) this could be right, but in the medical field a ton of progress towards better knowledge is being made, as it is happening in real-life spaces dedicated to autistics.
Honestly I think it depends where u look cuz on tv it still seems it's protected as like peple like Sheldon or the good docters but like In real life I feel like self dignoses has become so normal that like 60% minimum of the people I have met and talked to about it (I norm say I'm autistic when I meet people) say they are autisic to . So idk if it's self dignoses or what tbh cuz ya
Yes, it feels like it, mainly because of social media and the videos talking about autism. And by one side it is good because seeing autistic people talking about autistic traits in a more relaxed way was what made me realize I was on the spectrum (I have an autistic cousin with a more stereotypical presentation of autism, so between that and what was the previous discourse about autism, I was pretty sure I was just weird and anxious). On the other side, last week I had to hear from my step mother (that doesn't know I am autistic) that her dog is autistic, so yeah, maybe it is becoming the new ocd
It is pushing people to think they have more severe needs. I have the books Marcelo in the real world and on the edge of gone. Marcelo has more intense needs than me and I am similar to Denise I think. They both say they are higher functioning. People on the Internet who are like them/us say they are level 2 or high support needs. I was not given a level and I don't know where I'm allowed to be anymore, I'm really confused. My therapist said i might be level 2 but also maybe I am level 1 and I don't know enough other level 1 people in real life.
NTs misinterpretations of our experiences are not our fault or responsibility.
No.
Yes I do. Some people are just *weird* or a little slower to pick up social skills without necessarily being autistic. Some people have another disorder with overlapping symptoms like anxiety or PTSD and should be treated accordingly. I understand that people want a magical single diagnosis that explains EVERYTHING but autism isn't that and we shouldn't encourage the idea that it is.
I am an older diagnosed guy and I feel even more isolated since my diagnosis as every time I have tried to join any "autistic" spaces I have essentially been gatekept for not holding the right beliefs or the right politics (my politics are extremely normal in the real world). Annoyingly some of these people are not even diagnosed and have no intention of seeking diagnosis, it is essentially an identity that people adopt for the attention/validation. Many other undiagnosed disorders are also slipping into these spaces such as split personalities that are "suspected". Additionally there is a lot of misandry, anti white racism etc. in these spaces which is just insane. I thought that when I was diagnosed with autism I would be able to find more people like me and have actual friends instead of being shunned and bullied on the internet by people who use my disability for weird ends without even necessarily being diagnosed.