Characters and stories about Autism

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I'd say the Schlaegel family in Howard's End, and Ally Sheedy's character in the Breakfast Club.

I must be a pretty bad character, myself.

Yes, it was a little like suicide. The book left me in an emotional tangle because I couldn't quite figure out why he decided to take the cure, and what was the author's real stand on it. But I enjoyed it (though I wish it were a bit more descriptive), and liked Lou's character.

Apart from that, I have hardly read any books where one of the characters would be on the spectrum, so it's hard to say.

I can relate to the "voices" of Louis and Rhoda in "The Waves" a lot.

There's an Elvis Presley movie titled 'A Change of Habit'. Elvis reached out to an autistic boy, in order to get him to come out of his own little world. I haven't actually seen it, but I hope to watch it, the next time it's on.

Films that spring to mind: House of Cards, Silent Fall, The Boy Who Could Fly, and Rain Main.

None of these made a particularly good portrayal of autism, although Rain Man did better than most.

On television, Mr. Spock and Data from the various Star Trek incarnations would obviously be aspies, if they were human.

In literature, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon is pretty good. The main character and narrator is a high-functioning autistic teenager. It's not a perfect portrayal, but it's a pretty good read. Also worthwhile is Going Postal from Terry Pratchett's fantastic Discworld series. The character of Stanley is never described as autistic, but he is obviously so.

Just out of curiosity, how many pieces of fiction that have a character that's on the Spectrum deal with The Cure?

'The Speed of Dark' is the only one i have read which explicitly deals with this.

But my main motivation in posting is to inform you of the pop-band The Cure ( well they are 'poppy', but their best work isn't).
You have mentioned The Cure before in a title of one of your posts. I was a bit disappointed to find out that it was nothing to do with the band.
Anyhow, i recommend their music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure

Ah, okay.

Because I can't be bothered to get the book, how is The Cure portrayed? Is it a main point in the story?

Yes, it is one of the main points.
In the book the 'cure' is still in the development stage. Nanotechnology inserted in the brain, rewiring neurons, etc.
The author is sympathetic towards the aspie. The cure is portrayed by those researching into it as merely a 'standard neuro-procedure', they will still be the same person afterwards; all the talents and the personality of the autists will remain, yet they will gain the social skills and not have the senory issues.
Anyhow, im not going to spoil it, but it does not really work out that way.
There are a few religious overtones at the end too; which were not to my taste.
The book has a few faults, but is enjoyable. Worth a read.

'Can't be bothered', how much effort does it take to read a book?
You must spend enough time reading the s**t posted on here.
Go to the library and read some Kafka.

Heheh, I asked that because I'm dealing with the Cure in my own story, taking advantage of the futuristic setting on the fictional planet of Inithial. In my story, the Cure comes as simply as Cough Syrup or Nasal spray, but like any early release of something it's pretty crap as you saw in that thread.
I go both ways and have one character take it an another who does not. (they still remain friends.

[quote="Kosmonaut]'Can't be bothered', how much effort does it take to read a book?
You must spend enough time reading the sh** posted on here.
Go to the library and read some Kafka.[/quote]
Heheh, you know Aspies, we can be couch potatoes. Or in my case Bed Spuds (moved the computer so I can use it while I'm in my bed).

The reason I read non fiction, and never watch movies, I don't get them in person, and I don't get their writing.

Their perceptual abilities produce water soup. I find histories to be unintentionally hilarious.

I have been told of great books, even bothered to read them, lost what little respect I had for the person, and thought them tree killers.

Data, a truely superior machine, just wants to be an NT? His highest goal? His evil brother is so unhappy for not being created NT that he kicks puppies?

The only fictional charecter I ever identified with was God. God creates Universe, a thing of great beauty, knowledge, life, ever reaching higher, deeper, more complex forms. Indirectly creates people, who destroy beauty, knowledge, life, and become ever more simple minded and base.

lol - i never thought it was crap; just confused by the title.
I've been having urges to write short-stories and such-like for about ten years. Just not got around to it; i wish you the best of luck.

Sci-Fi is a good medium, but in many ways i guess it is harder to write than conventional fiction.
Curing autism by Cough Syrup and Nasal sprays is a good a start for any sci-fi novel (some comedy value there too.)
I guess thats what the genre is about: you ask 'What if ....?' and come up with a story.
You are probably a fan of Phil Dick? He would start with the simplest of ideas (that no-one else thought of) and bang out a novel every week.
I've yet to come up with an idea.

*has no idea who Phil Dick is*

Heh, I just thought it's be neat if it came as cough syrup or a pill or something. (I also like how I made it like liquid flea treatment, as they have fur). Also in my story are Curebies and a mom who almost deliberately does things to make Kipo's daily life uncomfortable for her (she's the Spectrumite character).

I like humorous Sci-Fi, especially the Hitchhiker series (got hooked by the movie). For example, in one part of my story, a magical staff need special batteries which use a magical liquid in them to work, but my characters find that normal alkaline batteries work just as well!

I did not get House of Cards at all. Was she autistic and her mother's tenacity brought her child back into the world of neurotypical-ness? Or was she never autistic in the first place and only suffering from an episode due to her fathers loss? Honestly, it seemed like Cure Autism Now's wet dream.

Agreed. I interpreted it as "we read a Reader's Digest article about autism and think we can get people to pay six bucks to watch some BS that we made up about it".

Wrote "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (among others) from which Bladerunner was derived.