《How to Write Stories People Will Love》Question 104: Autistic characters
Advertisement
asks: Do you think you could do a chapter on characters that are autistic please?
Today's guest post is from , a thriller, science fiction, and horror writer with finished novels on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. He shares his personal experience to help answer this question...
---
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of conditions that affect 1 in 50 children today. It is characterized by difficulties in social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. As the name states, the disorder occurs over a broad spectrum from the severe to the mild in varying categories. One person's symptoms can and will be drastically different from another. Therefore, writing an autistic character is difficult since there will also be a broad spectrum of experiences with the disorder based on personal knowledge from the reader themselves, a close relative, or a friend. Expect criticism!
My personal experience is with a relative. He is very smart and caring but extremely introverted. He doesn't like physical touch and avoids eye contact. These difficulties have hindered his ability to pick up and understand nonverbal or social cues. He doesn't have close friends, but it doesn't bother him as he grows bored quickly with his peers and prefers time alone with his very specific interests. Yet, he has infinite patience and loves spending time with small children and animals. Furthermore, he sees things either black or white. There are no shades of grey. It is either right or wrong. Good or bad. Acceptable or unacceptable, and changing his opinion on a subject is next to impossible.
I won't lie. The relationship can be challenging at times. Frustrating. But uniquely special. He is high functioning. He graduated high school, earned a driver's license, goes to college, and holds a job. However, I will still be disappointed if I let my preconceived expectations for him get in the way of the reality of our relationship and his place in society.
Advertisement
The cause of the disorder is unknown. A lot of controversial opinions exist that are not worth mentioning. Early recognition is key. Speech, behavioral, and developmental therapies may reduce the symptoms, but there is no cure. Countless non-fiction books cover the subject, and several fiction stories treat autistic characters with tolerance and understanding— not as one-dimensional foils. One novel I particularly liked was The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time. In the story, a fifteen-year-old boy whose behaviors would suggest he is on the spectrum is wrongly accused of killing a neighbor's dog. When he is released from custody, he launches his own investigation into the crime and discovers more than he bargained for. It has been met with both criticism and praise, but I feel the nuanced portrayal of the protagonist provides valuable insight into the mind and actions of someone on the spectrum.
If you choose to include a character with Autism in your story, the writer should use the same care they'd use with any marginalized community. Please base the character's actions, thoughts, and behaviors on personal experience and/or lots of research, so the reader can appreciate the benefit that people with ASD can provide to the world.
---
Thanks, Henry! A couple of other books you can check out with autistic characters:
Trust Your Heart (https://www.wattpad.com/story/190276172)
Zombie Soap (https://www.wattpad.com/story/193090269)
The landscape for terms is always changing. Many of us, who may or may not be dinosaur age, are used to terms from years ago that were commonplace and considered inoffensive at the time. One such term is "high-functioning" or "low-functioning" when referring to autistic individuals. Advocates assert that it places certain connotations on one's intelligence, skills, or strengths, so they wish to do away with the term. When writing your story, it's best not to use this phrase. Or if you do, have one character state why it's not ideal to use it anymore.
Advertisement
The Natural
Leo's first order of business when he is dropped unceremoniously into the pokemon world is to survive. Seeing as he is in the middle of the wild with only a small pocketknife, some papers, and a backpack, and with no signs of civilization in sight, that is setting up to be quite the task.
8 56The Final Incantation
Members of the Red Legs gang, founded by disgraced Queensguard Sheridan and Abel, struggle to survive in a world after the fall of the Queendom, and revival of the Church. Stealing and thieving to survive on the frontier, they begin to stumble onto a vast, ancient conspiracy that will change the world forever.
8 74Spellcraft
This is the revised and rewritten version of Spellcraft! Explore the world, meet new and interesting monsters, and kill them for their loot. It was a tale as old as gaming, and it bored Conlan to death. He always had more fun finding little chinks in a game’s systems. He loved figuring out how to exploit those systems and turn them to his advantage. And ever since the release of Lotus, revolutionary hardware that finally delivered the dream of stepping into a fully immersive VR world, he'd had more items on his game breaking agenda than ever before! Lately he’d been using those skills to mess with Horizon Online Entertainment. He figured screwing those bastards over was the least he owed the corporate pricks for killing his sister in one of their Lotus VR modules. They had too much money to face justice from the courts, but he was hellbent on destroying them in the court of public opinion! Only there’s only so much he can do to fight Horizon from inside their games, and a whole new digital battlefield is opening up: Lotus Online. The greatest and most immersive VRMMO ever created, the ultimate expression of the Lotus hardware made by the masters who created that hardware, and Horizon is trying to invade that new world and take it over the same as they’ve taken over everything else! Yeah, not if Conlan and his best gaming buddy Kris have anything to say about it. Because Conlan has a secret weapon. He’s discovered something in Lotus no one else has: Spellcrafting. The chink in Lotus’s armor. He's always loved crafting, and he's discovered a system that might just allow him to take over the game world, kick Horizon out, and hit them right in the bottom line in the real world. Assuming he can survive all the invading Horizon bootlickers trying to kill him long enough to pull off the greatest exploit of his infamous game breaking career! Spellcraft is a 225,000 word GameLit novel that is totally finished. New chapters are released every other day!
8 149The Strongest Slime
Strength, it has a different meaning to all of us and it can take form in many different ways. Whether it be the financial strength to be able to live without the need to worry about our next meal, or the emotional strength needed to carry ourselves through difficult situations. The only thing that matters is that you are able to posses it. Follow our protagonist as he loses the strength that he worked so hard to obtain only to realize that maybe it wasn't the type of strength that he needed all along.
8 148EVERLASTING LOVE ( KLAUS MIKAELSON ) ONE
When a girl with a bow makes an everlasting impression on a dangerous hybrid. #PFCC2K16
8 172chocolate and ice
♧اسم فیکشن: شکلات و یخ♤ژانر: رومنس، اکشن، انگست، رازآلود، اسمات♧کاپل: کایهون/سکای ورس ، چانبک (هردو اصلی)♤ فصل اول کامل. قرار بود فقط یه جیب زدن ساده از یه مرد خوشتیپ توی کلابی که کار میکنه باشه،نفهمید چی شد که از جیب زدن به چشیدن یه شکلات جهنمی رسید؟شکلات ممنوعه ای که شاید تاوان مزه کردنش، زیر رو شدن زندگیش بود.........بکهیون ، برادر کوچیک تر و دردساز سهون ، میدونست نباید عاشق چانیول بشهاینجا قصه های پری نبود که شاهزاده و گدابتونن کنارهم خوشحال زندگی کنناما دست خودش هم نبود که دلش با دیدن شاهزاده ی این روزای زندگیش ، تند تر می تپید..!
8 152