Fictitious accounts about autism sell better than true ones?

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As part of the politics of Asperger - autism - ADHD and so on, there is some evidence that fictitious accounts about autism often sell better than true accounts.

What readers want it seems is to feel good, warm and fuzzy, and if a fictitious account can do that, it sells.

From what I've seen, true stories which provide real insights (not cures) into neurological challenges do not always sell that well at all - examples: Remarkable Medicine by Jack Dreyfus (about the epilepsy medicine - Dilantin), a How To (understand) Hyperactivity book about ADHD Inattentive by C. Thomas Wild (about FDA approved medicines including Tirend, NoDoz, Bonine, Ritalin, Dilantin and so on), and Awakenings by Oliver Sacks (about L-dopa - a Parkinson's drug).

If true accounts don't sell that well, it suggests to me that would be partial cures/partial remedies are still a long way away since many readers are not interested in real cures or real remedies but just in being made to feel good by reading warm and fuzzy fictitious stories about autism.

(reworded - added word often)

Last edited by pgd on 23 Sep 2010, 10:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.

You have brought up an interesting point that we should look into. It is also interesting that I have read your thread here as I have been working seriously on an autobiography that I intend to publish.

In my work in progress, I am talking about my challenges (mainly in childhood) due to Asperger's, but often doing it in a more humorous approach (but nothing disrespectful). I have one chapter about the trouble with sports (primarily contact sports). I have included true accounts of how as a child I tried to play Little League Baseball and all the problems I had---done with an often-times humorous twist.

I had pondered for a long time about how to write this autobiography, but I decided on this approach because I felt it might be more readable to the general public. I want people to laugh with me about some of the things that went on in my childhood as an Aspie child. But there will be some more serious-toned accounts in this book too.

So I guess I have kind of done what you are stating tends to sell better---the warm fuzzy approach. My defense for this??? Well, I am talking about legitimate challenges I had. But, if I make it slightly humorous, then we can all feel a little fuzzy inside while reading it---but yet grasp the real issues with Asperger's.

Well, fiction is also a neat package with no loose ends and usually a linear plot. It is easy to follow. Real life is messy and full of persons that are hard to track and has no discernible plot.

It has nothing to do with feeling fuzzy. It's just that fiction sells well. I personally would rather read a fictionalized account (as long as it were still factually based) of autism instead of a true account. This is further exemplified when memoirs only sell if they're really humorous, or the person has gone through an absolutely horrific experience (which proves the opposite of what you say-- look at memoirs; most of them are from porn stars, drug abusers, victims of abuse...)

Fiction books don't always leave a fuzzy ending. But it's more of a here-and-now look at someone's life (albeit a non-real person.) A memoir or biography encompasses experiences, often times not even linear, alternatively.

But I am aware that these fictional accounts may give a misconception about our disorder and worsen the misunderstandings.

True accounts of people with autism sell quite well indeed, probably better than fictional accounts. True accounts of autism are not non-fiction books about medications, which is what you have listed. They are autobiographies and they sell very well. John Robinson, Temple Grandin and Daniel Tammet all wrote autobiographies about their autism and these books sold well, probably better than any fictional accounts.

Books about the history of medication don't sell very well because they are boring to most people, who would rather read about the lives of people than the history of a medicine. The exception on your list is "Awakenings" by Oliver Sacks which got a boost in sales when portions of it were fictionalized in a movie.

I'm sure it will be well received and I look forward to being able to read it. Autobiographies of people with autism actually sell pretty well. All the books on th OP's list are actually books about medications which rarely sell well. People like reading about other people, not about medications. You may join the best selling company of Temple Grandin, John Robinson and Daniel Tammet.

Isn't that the truth? I want to add here about a book I bought last year. It is entitled Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D. This book is designed to be used for writers of fiction in finding accurate traits for their fictional characters. So, let's assume we want an autistic youth in our fictional story. Hmm, to create the character I will consult this book and find that the traits for the autistic youth are:

*Is unaware of others; treats people like objects
*Has no awareness of another person's distress; no ability for empathy
*Possesses no ability to play and has no reciprocity
*Prefers solitary activities and is passive
*Has no ability to make friends, share, or take turns
*Suffers from an absence of the need for attachment
*Does not come to caretaker for comfort when hurt or tired
*Has no concept of privacy
*Makes repetitive sound; monotonous, screeching, or melodic
*Has little or no verbal communication; 50 percent never speak
*Has little or no nonvervbal communication; no smiles; has a steady stare
*Exhibits characteristic strange, restricted, repetitive body movements: head banging on walls, flapping, or hand-twisting
*Insists on sameness; reacts badly to any change, such as rearranged furniture
*Follows same dull routine day after day; unchangeable rituals
*May attach to one object; for example, may carry a paper bag around

So, do you find her traits accurate? Or does she need educated? Maybe some are accurate and others are not?

And I want to add a thank you to Janissy for your supportive comments about my autobiography---I appreciate it.

Last edited by glider18 on 23 Sep 2010, 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Feeling warm and fuzzy" is a more valuable commodity than cold hard reality. People can get the latter anywhere they look, and are less willing to pay for it, but the warm and fuzzies aren't so abundant. It's "supply and demand", I suppose.

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Yes, it is (my view).

That's why my personal taste is for autobiographies (first hand accounts) over biographies (second hand accounts, hearsay).

However, there's plenty of room for both.

At the same time am aware that books like Gone With The Wind and Red Badge of Courage (about the US Civil War) were both written by authors who never fought in the Civil War themselves.

Also, first hand accounts are not always reliable, for example, am aware of a number of books written by doctors who made some claims about neurological challenges which were later deemed to be a pack of fibs (lies). The doctors claimed that their observations were valid when, in fact, they were fibs (lies) - in some cases - and only discovered years and years later. Their books sold because what they wrote (fibs) appealed to the imagination of large audiences.

Some publishers have admitted that they don't really care what is in a book (for the most part) as long as it sells. If it's a big fib yet people buy it, some (not all) publishers don't care much at all.

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Agree with you.

In my view, some of it comes down to entertainment.

Was the reader entertained?

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There's no business like show business.

- Old song

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That's_Entertainment!

Why did you include no autobiographies in your list of true accounts of autism that don't sell as well as fictional ones? Autobiographies of people with autism have sold very well, perhaps better than accounts of fictional people.

Example from recent US history - fictitious account of Autism becomes accepted in professional circles:

Bettelheim subscribed to and became a prominent proponent of the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism — the theory that autistic behaviors stem from the emotional frigidity of the children's mothers — a view which enjoyed considerable influence into the 1960s and 1970s in the United States[citation needed]. However, some indications suggest that he later changed his thinking.[1] Bettelheim's 1967 book The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self, which promoted the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism, enjoyed wide success, especially in the popular press. The book played a key role in ensuring that the "refrigerator mother" theory soon became the accepted explanation for autism in popular culture and, to a considerable extent, in professional circles....

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

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Another recent US fictitious account of Autism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sa ... ommentator)

Huh? I thought you were talking about literary fiction like "The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nighttime". I don't consider those two examples to be fictitious accounts of autism. I consider them to be wrong theories about what causes it. In any case, they certainly aren't "warm and fuzzy", which was your initial posted criticism of fictitious accounts.

Web definitions for fiction

a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Definition in context

(Google - 09-23-2010)

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Example from recent US history - fictitious account of Autism becomes accepted in professional circles:

Bettelheim subscribed to and became a prominent proponent of the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism — the theory that autistic behaviors stem from the emotional frigidity of the children's mothers — a view which enjoyed considerable influence into the 1960s and 1970s in the United States[citation needed]. However, some indications suggest that he later changed his thinking.[1] Bettelheim's 1967 book The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self, which promoted the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism, enjoyed wide success, especially in the popular press. The book played a key role in ensuring that the "refrigerator mother" theory soon became the accepted explanation for autism in popular culture and, to a considerable extent, in professional circles....

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

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Another recent US fictitious account of Autism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sa ... ommentator)

For the real life thing, you just described the stories that I write. My stories usually have a weird plot that constantly diverges.