I know this was an old thread, but it was relevant. My son and I love Criminal Minds, never miss an episode. He's 11 and I won't let him post alone yet, so agreed to post with/for him on this one
If you ask me/us, Dr. Reid is an AS poster boy. It seems each week in the beginning they actually went to pains to incorporate something from the "official" diagnosis code in order to prove their point, many times quietly and smartly, sometimes not so much (like when the rogue FBI agent who had the twin girl kidnapped talked about Gideon not seeing his coworker's "autistic traits"). I just thought that one went too far. However, showing Reid's discomfort with social experiences was usually handled very well, and my son really identified with the time he just had to decompress and sat indian style on his desk chair and *spinned* around.
In addition to that, it is just a good show. It has also helped push my son's interests away from trains and dinosaurs and he's now in a forensics class at the local university. I think Dr. Reid is a good "mentor" of sorts. For us anyway it helped my son see that AS is just a different way, not a loss of a way altogether.
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