Fictional Characters With Undiagnosed Aspergers or Autism

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Ah yes, I was thinking about Ignatius too. I love the book, must have read it hundreds of times. Pity John Kennedy Toole didn't manage to write more of these.

While I identify in many ways with Hugh Laurie's character on House (in fact, when I first started watching the show, I used to say "he's like the male version of me!") I'm not quite sure that he is supposed to be on the spectrum. There are just certain things that he does or says sometimes (hard to think of a particular example at the moment) that seem un-Aspie to me. This is ironic, because I still find House's character to be more authentically "spectrum" than some other tv characters that I feel are probably meant to be Aspies.

One example is Temperance Brennan from Bones. With her, I think the writers try a little too hard to make her do things that are stereotypically AS, and it often comes off as unauthentic and cheesy. For example, it seems to be mandatory to have at least one moment per episode in which someone makes a joke and Temperance doesn't get it. Ha ha, very funny. But things like that aren't enough to make her an Aspie.

I think it is very interesting that when NT writers try to write an Aspie character (Bones), the character ends up seeming at times naive and silly, but when they try to write a brilliant doctor with excellent observational skills (House) the character ends up seeming a bit like an Aspie

And you think there's no relationship between AS and depression?



Aspies often come off that way.

I don't really expect someone your age to get "it."

Abed from "Community" (best show on TV right now)
Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter (even though I don't think the actress interprets her that way)

I think Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute from the Office both have aspects of Asperger's, though they are very different. Michael just doesn't understand normal social interaction and is painfully lonely as a result. Dwight has obsessive interests like bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica. However, it kind of breaks down when you realize that they are both excellent salesmen, which seems like the worst job for an Aspie.

I'm twenty years old, I've had depression, and A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorite books. Ignatius J. Reilly doesn't have Asperger's. He's supposed to be an unlikeable jerkass.

I know this was mentioned and shot down a while ago but...
On the last episode of Dexter this season while at his sons birthday party he comments on how its easy for others to socialize like if its natural for them.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I wouldn't consider her "undiagnosed" because she was purposely meant to portray a person with Asperger's. The creator said that her subordinator Zack defiantly has Asperger's. The creator also said that if bones was a movie she would also have Asperger's, she ended up saying she's "very close" but come on. She has Asperger's clearly, her and Zack.



He's a psychopath who never understood "normality". He is good at faking and blending in and becoming different people. He often understands minute social cues and adjust himself accordingly so he can hunt them.

Has anyone mentioned Roy Cropper from Coronation Street yet? If anything i think he is supposed to have autism. His character may have changed by now as i haven't watched the soap for years

Read it again...he's Aspy. I knew it after reading the first chapter. Are you trying to say Aspies never come off as unlikeable jerkasses? Igantius had obsessive and narrow interests, couldn't fit into normal society, was easily frustrated by NTs, and had very impressive verbal skills while being unable to read non-verbal cues. How much more Aspy can you get? Sure, he was a caricature, but there's no doubt O'Toole incorporated a lot of himself in Reilly.

A great air of pomp who wore clothes that weren't "fashionable" but were "functional"; albeit, a bit tatty. Seems a bit aspie.

I really enjoyed that book, may go read it again.

Michael Scott is just meant to come across as an incompetent idiot who thinks he's brilliant, the epitome of terrible managers. Dwight is, as the actor who plays him said, a "fascist nerd."

Hmmm, let me put it like that. You don't commit suicide just because you have schizophrenia or Asperger's or whatever. And having one or the other does not exclude automatically any other mental condition. It is called comorbidity and depression is a common comorbid condition in Asperger's.
If you say that someone killed themselves because they had schizophrenia, that would imply that you did some serious thinking and decided to prune yourself out of the society for some higher reason (e.g to ensure racial purity, which, come to think about it, souned like a grandiose delusion and would follow out of your distorted thinking patterns, not of your own free choice based on logic). More likely, the suicide was committed in a depressive state comorbid to or resulting from the underlying medical condition, namely, schizophrenia or ASD.
Usually people kill themselves because they get tired of not fitting in and that frustrates and depresses them until they can't bear it any longer (of course, there might be other reasons, for an example, in the case of schizophrenia, acting on command hallucinations . But you can't say 'he killed himself because of his depression' and neglect the fact that the underlying condition was Asperger's or schizophrenia. They were there first and the depression came later. Otherwise it looks like you automatically assume that most people with mental ilnesses and neurological conditions which don't have the label 'with depressive features' are happy-go-lucky people who love to be rejected and ridiculed.

Also, most people think that people with Asperger's are just being jerks. It is a common misconception, actually. Are you bending to it? Would be ironic.

If you're diagnosing him with Asperger's, then you're completely missing the point of the character.

Y'know when you respond to a series of arguments with only one sentence, that shows you are not capable of refuting the argument. Both myself and others have explained to why he's Aspy and you are just ignoring the evidence, instead relying on nebulous statements like the one above. If you truly want to debate this, then refute each and every point made by everyone else (or at least MOST of them).

Q_Q All I'm saying is that you're missing the point of the character.

Please specify. I can't really see your own point if you are not supplying arguments in its favour.