The second worksheetin “Unmasking Autism” concerns autistic stereotypes in media, and how the reader relates to these.
There are quite a few depictions of autism and euro divergence in movies and TV. The archetype is Rain Man; but examples abound:
Less explicitly stated:
Ambiguous:
These characters all inhabit a certain socially acceptable quality despite and because of their, uh, quirks. Woo and Murphy are explicitly autistic; and display incapacitating meltdowns sometimes. They are also very very good at their jobs, and their confidence comes off as arrogance sometimes.
Sheldon is prickly and socially inept, and very autistic coded despite not being explicitly diagnosed in-show. His shortcomings are mostly played for (social) laughs though – all the nerds are extremely competent at what they do. Likewise Bones - she is hypercompetent, if sometimes less tethered to the social reality inhabited by Booth.
House is an arrogant, asocial asshole. It is unclear how much of this is because he is, in fact, an asocial asshole with competences to back up his arrogance; and how much of it is a, well, mask that is easy to perform. Dexter shows some autistic traits; even if the whole is more ambiguous. The “dark passenger” that compels him to kill is closer to schizofrenia, for instance. The (mostly) justified competence-based arrogance also carries Dexter Morgan, though.
The third question asks the reader to complete the sentence
Before I knew better, I assumed all autistic people were _____, _____, and ____.
This is rather complicated for me, as I’ve known explicitly autistic people (in a professional, care-giving context) my entire adult life. If I modify the question slightly, I’d say I assumed all low-needs/high masking autistic people were socially awkward, visibly affected to some degree, and at least pretty cabable within a certain subject matter or field.
How do I differ from these stereotypes?
I try not to take up too much room (inasmuch as a not-small beardy baldy can not dominate) within a social environment. I will advocate for myself or my charge in a professional context, however.
I seek out and crave certain types of social interaction within niche interests. I even made a goth club happen in Aalborg a couple decades ago; because I wanted that social space.
I am an incarnate generalist. I will assimilate enough information to a least be decent within almost any topic; from landscaping and fruit tree maintenance, to dog training, to 3D modelling, to fitness, to cooking. If there is true motivation (fitness, cooking, so far 3d modelling) I might even be pretty good.
I don’t recall anyone saying “but you don’t seem autistic” if I’ve broached the subject. The reaction has been more “what makes you think that”, followed by a “oh yeah” after I list at least a half dozen reasons for my suspicions.