Writing an autistic character

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Salutations.

I'm a neurotypical fanfiction writer who wants to write an autistic version of a character without screwing it up horribly. I have little personal experience of autism, so without research and external input, the odds are reasonably high.

The fandom is Naruto, an anime about young, heavily fictionalised ninja. The character, a 13-year-old girl named Ten-Ten, is more or less a blank slate in canon, as the author created her to fill a role, and did not see fit to give her much of a personality beyond a fascination with ninja weapons and tools (with which she is uniquely proficient).

The fanfic's premise is exploring how having more intellectually and emotionally intelligent characters would alter the course of the story, so she is going to be smart, and she is going to retain her narrow-focus interest and expertise. She can't be too low-functioning (she is effectively an elite soldier in a military designed around close-knit teams), but I don't see her as someone who can blend in either. I think she is probably bluntly honest, oblivious to social cues, and heavily introverted.

So I'm looking for advice. What enormous pitfalls am I about to step into? What does it take to make a believable portrayal of an autistic character? What tropes of writing autistic characters really annoy you and should be taken out back and shot, and which ones are positive and should be encouraged?

IF YOU ARE AUTISTIC YOU CAN WRITE AUTISTIC STORY
IF YOU ARE NOT , YOU CANT WRITE

Last edited by carcard on 13 Oct 2015, 1:25 pm, edited 12 times in total.

I'd put it on hold until you fully immerse yourself in this community. Otherwise you'll fall into the stereotypical ASD trap and end up with a character basically wearing blackface.

One thread won't be enough to assist you if you're looking for an accurate portrayal.

That's a pretty limiting philosophy, part of the great thing about humanity is that we can put ourselves in the heads of others and imagine the world through there view point, if you just limit yourself to writing characters that only reflect yourself almost every piece of literature would just be white guys, while that would make an odd and interesting version of Great Expectations it would be at a detriment to art.

That said. Setting out to write an autistic character is a little bit troublesome. It's a weak technique to make someone odd or quirky by putting a label on them and going, 'hey she/he is this' if a character acts a certain way they act a certain way. It's a bad practice many writers have to try and make characters interesting by giving them quirks or strange features and then assuming this defines them for the reader, characters are interesting because of what they do, how they act, engage with the world and other characters.

If you want to write a character that's bluntly honest, ignorant of social cues, and with intense interest do that, but applying a label before you even start to really explore the character is just putting yourself in a corner to your own detriment and the detriment of those who will read you and by trying to make her fit the idea you have of what an autistic person is you will almost certainly insult some of us who have autism and feel you are misrepresenting/taking advantage of our disorder. If people think the character fits the diagnosis then they will see it for themselves.

Hi. I am an Aspie. I do think it's okay for NTs to write Autism, because it is a fact that people are Autistic.

As a matter of fact, I am familiar with Naruto. And Tenten is an interesting choice: I can see her as Autistic, though I never thought about it before.

There are a lot of misconceptions about Autism. My least favorite is how we're all geniuses, because if all the Aspies in media are geniuses and I'm not one, I will feel like I'm not good enough.

Second, she doesn't have to be "monotone" or "expressionless". Many of us are very expressive.

As for nonverbal cues, I can recognize "positive" and "negative" emotion, but specifically things like "nervous" or "bored" I have trouble with. She can have big issues with nonverbal or small, or even none. I'll get to that later.

The "ambiguously Autistic" characters I see in media are lacking immensely in many of my Aspie struggles. Executive functioning, poor motor skills, sensory issues. Maybe she has organizational issues. Maybe she stims with her weapons. Maybe she chose long-distance because she can't stand the sound and feel of direct combat.

I suggest that you look at the actual criteria for Asperger's or perhaps ASD online and choose what symptoms for her to exhibit. Thing is, you don't have to have any one symptom to have ASD, just a specific number of them. Two Aspies can have completely different symptoms. So look at what hers would be-- she's already got the fascination with objects, lol.

I think it's rather limiting to say that NTs can't write autistic characters. That's a little like saying that autistics can't write NT characters, and I do that all the time. Certainly, it's harder for me because I don't understand a lot of the social things that drive a lot of NT's thoughts, or which motivate them to behave how they do, but I make it easier by primarily having introverts as my main characters, who aren't interested in socialising anyway. All my extroverts are side characters whose thoughts and feelings I don't delve into much.

As far as avoiding stereotypes, there are a few I would like to take out back and shoot. They include:

- All autistics are geniuses/have a savant gift
- All autistics are brilliant at math/science/computers
- All autistics are cold and have an emotionless affect or act like robots
- All autistics are completely blind to all social cues
- All autistics have the mentality of young children and need protecting/talking down to
- All autistics hate other people and don't enjoy social interaction (not understanding it and not wanting it are two separate things).

Avoiding those is the main thing. After that, the trick is to make the writing subtle. If you make it a point to pause your story and glaringly point out every autistic trait your character portrays, you've created a caricature, not a person. For example, instead of,

"Tenten flapped her hands anxiously and avoided eye contact with everyone in the room"
a more subtle way to put it might be:
"Tenten played uneasily with the hem of her shirt, studying the patterns in the woodgrain floor".

The second one tones the autistic traits down and makes them flow better with the story, as well as making them seem a little less freakish and "side-show esque" if you get my meaning.

Good luck with the story; I'd like to read it when you're done, I enjoy well-written autism fanfics.

http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/142090.html ("On Writing Autistic Characters")

Last edited by animalcrackers on 13 Oct 2015, 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think StarTrekker hit a lot of good points.

If you want some examples of writing about Autistics that has been viewed as hitting the mark, I'd look at Elizabeth Moon and Neal Stephenson. If an example that's widely hated, there's "The Dog in the Night."

Keep in mind that no matter what you do, there's probably going to be some autistic person (or more likely, parent of autistic person) who's going to say "That's not my experience. You got it all wrong." It's a very diverse condition.

If you find any outside resources, I'd like to hear about them. I'm writing a book series with at least a couple autistic characters and even from the inside, I know I'm going to get some things wrong. Sometimes you just have to solder on.

You shouldn't make your intention to write Ten-Ten as an autistic girl explicit to the reader. That way, if you do mess up, no one can accuse you of sloppy research.

The OP says that you've got no direct experience with autism, but I think you're bound to know someone who hasn't been diagnosed or hasn't told you about it. I'd recommend thinking of the person you know most likely to be autistic and mapping their personality onto Ten-Ten. It's more important that you write a believable character than someone who fills out all the diagnostic criteria.

One thing that annoys me about fictional autistics is that they have a tendency to think in numbered lists. This shows up in Rosie Project and the Jodi Picoult novel House Rules, and I'm fairly sure this stereotype was popularised by the hauntingly terrible Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night Time. So don't write lists in the character's internal monologue.

Looking at blogs by autistic authors will give you a better idea of autistic diversity than anything you're likely to read from the mainstream media. I'd love to read a novel written in a voice like The Epic Autistic's. You can find many blogs written by female autistics over at Autism Blog Directory.

You should also check out the blog Disability in Kidlit, particularly their post on autistic voice.

I think how you respond to autistics criticizing your work will partially determine how much well they receive it. That you're posting here shows that you have the right attitude. You need to be humble when autistics criticize how you represent them, and be willing to revise your story if they have reasonable points. Fan-fiction is ideal for both of these things, since getting reviews and rewriting chapters can both happen very quickly.

Thank you for all the good advice. I am continuing to do research and talk to knowledgeable people and figure out what kind of character Ten-Ten might be (since, as mentioned, she's a blank slate in canon, I also have to figure out every element of her background, and how that might influence things).

The fanfic is called Lighting Up the Dark, and it's on fanfiction.net. At the moment, Ten-Ten is only a minor character who hasn't really interacted with any viewpoint characters, but I'd like her to fully flesh her out for later on.

You could give her a pixellating mind - such as a tendency to seeing a bunch of details first, before she combines them a bit differently from what a intuitive NT would do - minding the big picture first.
Again: keep it subtle.

OMG. That is exactly what I'm giving the character in my book (and is partly my experience). It only happens when he's particularly stressed or encountering a situation that's really unexpected. The world fragments into a set of individual details that can only be reassembled with conscious effort.

It also makes a convenient device to describe a situation or character that has some VERY unusual features.

Oh, stress-related?That´s an idea, and very realistic too.
I was more thinking of daily experiences, in observing and concluding.

Ex. a movie: The typical viewer will remember the plot and then go to details. An autistic person may concentrate on one figure, its inner life or few situations instead and not pay much attention plot and action. The outcome in a discussion about the movie will be a bit different. Usually in a very subtle degree.

That quality could be a stepping stone for the character to think outside the box.

Last edited by Jensen on 14 Oct 2015, 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I completely agree with StarTrekker. I also think you need to make your character a person, not a walking representation of autism. What I mean by that is, don't make your character display every single autistic trait, and don't make every single thing they do reflect their autism. It would also help to read the posts on here and to read autobiographies by autistic people so you can get a better understanding of how autistic people behave and perceive the world.

Isn't this in the wrong section?

This post should be here from my understanding of the forum.

Oh oh oh. That also provides a more realistic alternative to the savant-like eidetic memory stereotype. The autistic person will notice and remember some details in preference over others. It would make them a nice compliment to an NT on a team, rather than a Holmes clone rattling off every minor detail.

It's also a good way of showing autistics as looking at the world differently, rather than better or worse.