Don Tillman. Novelist Graeme Simsion wrote three novels featuring him as the central character.
- The Rosie Project
- The Rosie Effect
- The Rosie Result
The depiction of Don is the best AS character I have ever come across. After being an admirer of the novels for years, I finally met Graeme Simsion last year and had a remarkable conversation with him. I was astonished to learn that when he wrote the first of the novels, he didn't know he was depicting an AS man "my career was always in computer stuff up til then, and Don was based on a composite of some of the guys that worked for me. Initially when I got good feedback from AS people congratulating me on the autistic authenticity, I was puzzled. Eventually I got to meet Tony Attwood, and discovered the connection. After that I met many AS people, and now I invite them as special guests to speak with me, on their own behalf, at book events, or radio interviews, so that they are representing themselves. (He is a kiwi who lives in Australia).
He agreed with me that Steve Silberman's book "Neurotribes" was a significant moment in books about AS, and we were both admirers of it.
Until meeting GS, I had thought he was an autistic man, because I couldn't imagine an NT representing an AS man with such accuracy and authenticity.
In the first novel Don is single, and in the second he is married (to an NT woman) and in the third he is the parent of an 11 year old son, each one highlights particular issues - seeking a relationship partner, adjusting to marriage, and being an AS parent with an AS child. GS also brings a delightful sense of (kind) humour to his writing, so that we smile with his character Don, not at him. His struggles are so familiar.
Don is a high functioning aspie, a scientist, who works as a university lecturer. It also addresses workplace issues for AS people, especially those in academia.
Highly recommended for the authenticity of the depiction, the way AS is handled openly in the last of the three, after the author made his discovery that his character Don was an aspie.
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Quotes from The Rosie Result
“I had observed that neurotypicals criticised autistic people for lacking empathy… but seldom made any effort to improve their own empathy towards autistic people".
“In the adult world, an uneven distribution of abilities is more valuable than mediocrity at everything. It is irrelevant to me whether or not my doctor is adept at hitting a ball with a stick—or finding her way to work without looking at street signs—but I would like her to be as proficient as possible in the practice of medicine. Conversely, at school, being other than unobtrusively average in every area (with the exception of sports) is a distinct disadvantage.”