Good representations I've seen:

• Abed Nadir (Community)
• Tina Belcher (Bob's Burgers)
• Jonah Byrde (Ozark)
• Woo Young-Woo (Extraordinary Attorney Woo)

These characters all made me feel validated and seen, while not being put in their respective shows only to make fun of them. Sometimes their autism is used to create humorous situations, like Tina and Young-Woo, but it's never done in a mean-spirited way.

While I know people have complaints about how it sometimes infantilizing and played for laughs et cetera, when I first watched Big Bang Theory back 2007 or so, it felt both like an eye-opener and deeply validating.

Sheldon doesn't mask. He is not anxious. He is not ashamed of who he is. He never "learns to chill and be normal". He is helpfully insightful at times. And he retains close friends who repsect him and he keeps a successful career. That was beautiful to see.

It made me believe I could exist as myself.

I know the "front lines" have moved since then, and most people expext more from representation, but I will ever be grateful for what that series gave me.

The big bang theory is an abomination

She just like me fr

House is not canonically autistic as far as I know. Of course, in TV writing, autism tends to be sloppily coded as "being an asshole" instead, and he definitely is that in spades. He does seem to slightly play into it in one random episode, and his boss says something along the lines of "you don't even have Asperger's!" The only unambiguous autist on House that I remember is the kid from that same episode, who is nonverbal and melts down over the slightest thing. As far as representation goes, that's fairly narrow and not all that positive.

I watched The Good Doctor for about two and a half seasons. Eventually it started grinding my gears because it keeps being the exact same conflict over and over. (Ironic given I watched House, I know. Multiple times. Still.)
While whatshisface might be understandably "stuck", all those highly trained medical professionals and romantic interests around him should probably eventually have gotten a clue about that whole autism thing. As representation goes this guy is also relatively out there, and plays up a lot of stereotypes that don't seem entirely positive.
I do think the pandering/romanticization is kinda obvious in this, though: it plays up Super-Autist ideas, and makes sure there's no shortage of pretty girls around - who tend seem rather more into autistic guys than I daresay seems likely in real life, for some reason.

BBT I found mildly clever for like 5 whole seconds at the very start of episode 1. I don't know why I watched a few seasons further.
I dislike Sheldon's character. He is the archetype of the lazily written Hollywood "autist/smart guy/douchebag" pigeonhole, heavily playing into truckloads of strictly negative stereotypes about autists, smart people, geeks etc. and any combination. You know he's smart because he has the whiteboard with Physics on it, and because he's an asshole - one of very few ways TV writing tries to show intelligence at all.
Now I might seem butthurt - that would be because I started out with actual expectations of a "smart, geek-friendly" comedy show. Eventually I got more a bait&switch "cringe comedy" feeling (a genre I hate) with a superficially "geeky" paintjob.
Seems a bit pandery to me, mostly along the lines of antiintellectualism and "anti geek sentiment".

I think lately it’s been nice to see more representation, however I wish there was better emphasis and explanation on why ASD individuals do or don’t do certain things.

For us with ASD, we immediately understand why certain behaviors are exhibited. We also understand why certain things are said, why people with ASD might get quiet in some situations, stimming, and more.

To others, it’s so easy to draw conclusions that the individual is stupid or has bad intentions, when the reality is polar opposite or more complex than that.

For example, with Love On The Spectrum, ASD individuals on a date will appear to:

• Suddenly lose interest
• Not take any initiative
• Unashamedly allow themselves to get distracted
• Say things that seem very inconsiderate

Someone that doesn’t understand ASD might assume the person with ASD is a bad, rude, inconsiderate jerk, maybe intentionally trying to act this way toward the other person. However, someone that does understand will immediately know that the ASD individual has:

1. Gone through an observations checklist and considered all factors related to a potential relationship with this person
2. Figured out exactly what they do and don’t like about this person’s interests and behaviors
3. Methodically determined that the person they are dating will not be a good fit for them

Once someone with ASD has already figured that out, it’s a waste of time, energy, and emotions (as well as a waste of the other person’s) to continue talking with them, and it’s time to move on. It’s a completely different, highly-practical mindset that—although it doesn’t always consider how the other person feels—is well-meaning and has no bad intentions towards the other person.

I haven't seen Woo but my mother who is an attorney with autism really likes it

I might have a different take, there is some pretty poor representation in media. Some of the best examples are not stated out loud. My issue is the discourse around it. Take “I am a surgeon” line from the Good Doctor. If you talk to an Autistic person the common complaint is the acting. Though the online discussion tends to be majority neurotypicals who are mocking the break down itself. There is no context of over stimulation and the disrespect he was feeling from his supervisor or whoever it was showing them.

My problem is all those things you are wondering plus it can be damaging and maddening. If you met one autistic person, who’ve met one autistic person and media does a piss poor job of representing this.

Unless you have someone who is incredibly subtle with autism, it's going to increase prejudice in many cases. For example, if all the autistic characters are weird and don't make eye contact, it means they're more likely to not be hired to quickly fired from retail type jobs.

It's been almost a decade since I watched it (so my opinion might change on a rewatch now, and my memory isn't perfect) but as I recall Saga Norén from the original Danish/Swedish version of The Bridge was a pretty good portrayal. At least as non-masking characters go.

Usually coded depictions of autism >>> canon depictions of autism.

@[email protected] I've never seen a kind, let alone helpful depiction of autism in media. And that's even more awful considering how I've heard a lot of other autistic people become fixated on media and use it as a kind of social augmentation.

Love on the Spectrum was fun to watch. The characters were vulnerable and real. They weren't pretending to be something they're not to seem like a more appealing romantic partner, which is how I've seen most NT dating shows play out. I remember that when I first started watching it, I thought, "Wow, how refreshing. Finally, a reality TV show about normal people." Then, I realized I thought that because the show was about people like me, whereas most reality TV shows I've seen tend to have loud, reactive, and difficult characters that end up causing a lot of drama.

I've never really liked the Big Bang Theory though lots of people have recommended it to me. Something with the way they portray the characters feels off. It's like they are too extreme or stereotypical, and we're supposed to find that funny. Nope. Also, one of the characters, despite being autistic and me trying to understand him, is still a jerk.

So far, Atypical has been my favorite! The dude is soooo much like me. I loved it. It was so validating that I was just cracking up the whole time. I was like, "O.M.G!! Someone out there gets it too!" I binged watched that series in less than a week. My one complaint with the show is that the whole focus of the show is on autism rather than life in general. Rather than have an autistic character with their difficulties play out, the focus is often on autism. Everyone is frequently talking about autism. I get that's the point of the show, and it seems like the show is more tailored to NT family members of auties, so that makes sense. I'm just sharing my opinion from my perspective. I still like it a lot though.

The other depictions I can think of are Forrest Gump and Rain Man. Before I knew I was autistic, my jerk of a father made me watch Rain Man and tried to get me to sympathize with Tom Cruise's character, which I didn't. I just felt bad for Raymond. Regarding Forrest Gump, I used to watch that movie like 4 times/year by myself. I did this before I knew I was autistic too. The things that appealed to me from the movie were seeing the progress of American culture throughout that time period, how simple Forrest was, and how he was just navigating the world. I also liked that despite everyone, including himself, thought that he was stupid, he reached great achievements! Medal of Honor, started a successful shrimping business, ran enough to motivate the country, etc. Yet, he stayed just as humble as he always was because to him, they weren't extraordinary or special. He was just being himself ❤️

I would like to see a show with an autistic character that masks in most public places except for with family and close friends. It would also be nice if they didn't discuss autism nearly all the time. Instead, the person has their struggles, but they learn to manage them and navigate life through processes, systems, and helpful friends. For example, the character is talking to someone that casually brings up a special interest, so the character drops an infodump bomb completely unaware the other person was not interested in that. The conversation goes awry, leaving the character confused. They later get home and run that interaction by an NT friend which interprets the NT meaning of the interaction. Or, they get home from masking at work and start stimming, singing, and talking to their fake audience. Maybe they complain every time they're low on groceries and have to go to the market, then make a list categorized by aisle, and you see them go shopping with headphones on and sunglasses. Then, they eat the same thing for dinner all week. The point is to portray the autism in a way that shows our lives are different from NT lives, but that is not the central point. Kind of like if they made a show about a Black family in the US, they wouldn't be talking about racism and affirmative action every single show. Yeah, they would experience it, but rather than make the topic the central point, we see how they experience and navigate it when it comes up, but the central focus is the family and their culture. I would loveeee something like that for autism!