[ LONG RANT ] The Token Autistic Character.

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The following is paraphrased from This TV Tropes Article on Hollywood Autism

"The pop cultural representation of autism, called Hollywood Autism, is most likely to be portrayed as male and by a non-autistic person, especially in Live-Action TV and Film. It is most common for an autistic character to be a child and if he is an adult, he's most likely to be presented as a "Rain Man", an idiot-savant, or simply a "Manchild".

He is portrayed as almost completely lacking emotions, empathy, and compassion. He either doesn't talk a lot or talks too much. Folks in his life think he's boring, annoying, nerdy, weird, or even creepy. Additionally, he is totally unable to live what most people would call a normal life and is ultimately a burden on those around him. They are also portrayed by actors, ones who probably weren't picked for an experience of living with Autism, or, considering the accuracy of their portrayal, knowing somebody with Autism.

Most controversially, their lives are rarely depicted as being as fulfilling or as much of a life as that of someone who is not autistic, although there have been more examples of autistic adults in media whose lives are depicted as non-tragic and even find romance and have children, but they are still far rarer than examples of children and adults whose autism is shown as tragic.

Finally, due to the overwhelming attitude that autism is automatically a tragedy in all cases rather than a different way of being or a disability that can be lived with and managed, it is common for an autistic character to miraculously be cured of his autism, usually through some purely fictional process or substance.

Characters with Hollywood Autism are commonly Literal-Minded and may be insufferable geniuses. Not only do they get really into their interests, but these interests tend to be something no neurotypical or allistic person would ever be interested in, like naming every piece of a train-engine. In contrast, they will often show zero interest in sex, relationships, sports, and other "normal" mainstream interests. This character may also be strangely oblivious to things that everyone else takes for granted or have an Attention Deficit Disorder.

If this type of character has animal motifs, they're often associated with cats.

Expect him to be Inspirationally Disadvantaged or for his Hollywood Autism to be a Disability Superpower. He might also be portrayed as the brains of a group or the token disabled character, and may even vacillate between one and the other..."

Personally, I hate this form of Tokenism -- the idea that in order for a production to be considered "edgy" or "topical", it simply must include "The Autistic Character" as either a secondary cast member or the victim of a crime. The antidote to this practice is shows like "The Good Doctor", wherein the main character is depicted as autistic.

It is also frustrating to see autistic people depicted as either in need of constant supervision and maybe even institutionalization, or they are depicted in a heroic manner, being the only character who has The Special Autistic Talent that they use to save the day. This is frustrating because there is no middle ground! There seems to be no accurate depiction of an otherwise ordinary person facing the daily struggles that we all face due to our various autistic spectrum disorders and their comorbids. Where are the middle-class professionals who discover late in life that the reason they're considered 'jerks' or 'weird' (sometimes both) is because they have some form of high-functioning autism? Where are the honest depictions of non-verbal autistics just trying to get across town on public transportation?

We are neither "Rain Man" nor "The Good Doctor". We are us. When will people like us ever be accurately represented in the Media?

I think that we need autistic writers who work in TV or film in order for this to change - writers who use their experiences and those of their friends to show the reality of what being on the spectrum is like for someone in the middle.

It’s going to happen eventually, I think, but it’s going to be later rather than sooner.

It seems like at this point they don’t want to show the struggles of an autistic person without giving him magical powers. (I say “him” because they mostly show autistic males.)

If autistic people are invited to be part of writing staffs, they will likely be "tokenized" there, as well, just as many women were (and still are). It may take some indie films written, produced, and directed by real autistic people with real autistic cast members in front of the camera to convince Hollywood that autistic people are a real and valuable demographic.

An autistic person would have to be exceptionally talented and lucky to breakthrough, but I think it can happen.

Sheldon Cooper does not exactly do justice for Asperger's folks.

"Luck" is for losers. Autistic people can be just as skilled as allistic people (maybe even more so). It's just a matter of having a solid plan, gathering all of the necessary resources, assembling the right team, and getting it done!

I think it takes luck to make it in Hollywood. There’s lots of talented people that can’t break through because so many people are trying to get in.

It’s not like an academic career that is almost solely skill-based.

I believe Alex Plank has made some inroads in Hollywood.

He has served as a consultant on a show, and he's had some minor parts in television shows as well.

How would you describe the role of each part?

Probably as sort of a "token" autistic character.

Alex has made inroads, though. At least a little bit.

There are lots of talented people that cannot get cast because there are also a lot of people with even greater talent. Your average shmoe off the street would likely be turned away or given an non-speaking role as a background 'extra'. A person with some acting experience and no formal training would likely be cast in a walk-on or one-line role (i.e., "Here's your order, sir"). A person who has acting experience and formal training might even be invited to audition. But it takes an exceptionally talented person with lots of training and experience to be cast in a lead role that carries a scene, an episode, or an entire production. The days of being discovered while sitting at a drugstore counter are long gone.

"Luck", aside from the fortuitous occurrence of random chance, occurs when preparation meets opportunity. That's why I keep advising subordinates to pursue their Masters' Degrees -- so that the opportunity for a promotion will be offered to them, and they won't have to rely on the "luck of the draw".

The IMDB website has an entire webpage devoted to Alex Plank. So does Wikipedia.

A person often needs to have charisma and good looks don’t hurt, either.

I wasn’t speaking of the unlikely occurrence of getting discovered at a supermarket. Many people go to auditions, and they have to compete against many others who also have degrees and/or experience.

Lots of people who major in theatre in college end up working in unrelated fields because they have trouble getting work. I was struck by the amount of creative talent that was in my small college alone. I don’t think that being qualified necessarily ensures success. People with advanced degrees often end up teaching.

Different stereotypes are shown but the token/heroic black, or gay character are often annoying to offensive misrepresentations also. The difference is that blacks and LGBT characters are in general less stereotyped and more often are the lead character. Why this is is pretty basic, the black and LGBTQ civil rights movements have been around and calling out Hollywood out longer then the Autistic Rights/Neurodiversity movements. Look back a few decades and you will see plenty of bad motherfucka heroic tropes of blacks and “cute” gay characters. Also while there are internal disagreements about tactics in other civil rights movements you do not have a large percentage of the people being advocated for disagreeing with the very idea of a civil rights movement for them because they view how they were born as flawed as we do in autism. Despite all of that in a relatively short amount of time a lot of progress has been made. That does not mean the current situation is still often annoying to offensive.

He was primarily a consultant with "The Bridge." He might have played in a few episodes.

For what it's worth, if I ever give it attention again, there's an aspy/asd character in the fantasy story I'm writing - but of course, because such a notion doesn't exist in his society he's just an awkward recluse from a family of awkward recluses who have demonstrated an uncanny ability to memorized their society's unwritten constitution. Basically it's never explicitly shown, just hinted at.