What should I focus on the most?

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I'm talking about how I should develop my autistic female for my story. I don't want to load her with a dozen autistic traits and symptoms, so I was curious about what ones would be more important for her. I do understand that not every autistic is the same as the next one though too. I just want to make sure I'm not putting too much on her that I can't handle.

I know social skills is a big thing. She's able to speak, but she lacks social skills and also doesn't understand jokes or sarcasm, nor does she understand the tone of someone's voice when they are talking. She has sensory issues to sound and touch. She gets overloaded by places like walmart and also has trouble with individual noises such as sirens and babies crying/kids screaming. I'm not sure about her strict routine, but she does have a resistance to change.

Is there anything else I should add to make her a really good autistic character?

integrity.

I agree--integrity would be good. Perhaps also perseverance and/or an appreciation for simpler things in life (at least sometimes)?

I think that would be a challenge for me. D: I was thinking more like things that were autistic-related Like for example, her interests or something like that.

Out of curiosity, what genre is your novel?

I'm not sure yet. I was thinking more slice-of-life I guess? I don't know.

She also has severe meltdowns and outbursts as well. Most of the time it's due to the things that don't go as planned or relates to her sensory issues and level of anxiety.

Sorry about the double post...

Anyway, I just need some advice on this from an autistic person's point of view. Yes, I'm autistic myself, but I'm just on the spectrum of autism right now. I also don't want to make my character like me either. I want to make sure I make a good solid autistic character that someone can understand and realize isn't bratty or just trying to get her way or be super annoying because she has a disability (in her case, it's a disability because she has a lot of other issues that contribute to having autism).

If you intend to publish it make sure she suck in math, the stereotype that aspies are all good in math need to go away.

I'd say, give her an obsessive interest that she can't stop talking about.

I suck so much at math that my middle name should be hoover.

Are you trying to write the character in such a way that the autism is apparent to the reader without having it spelled out, a realistic presentation, something that's commercially appealing, etc? Bluntness is realistic, can be used for comedic effect, and to demonstrate our particular social ineptitude, I recall a certain scene from the American version of The Bridge where the aspie character is a guest in someone's home, is served food, and immediately says "this isn't very good" that struck me a good example of that quality. Personally, I'd like to see someone portray the way that we often experience intense emotions, particularly sympathy and empathy, but struggle to express them properly, as I hate that particular stereotype that we're cold and uncaring, as opposed to awkward at demonstrating these things. I hesitate to suggest more "typical" aspie things, as I don't think you should throw in all the stereotypes or make a character that's defined by the autism, but rather one where it's incidental and not the entire focus of the story.

maybe depict the protagonist as being gauche but trying hard not to be gauche?

I've been thinking about this a bit. I wrote a novel before diagnosis and since I've been reflecting on it a bit. It would seem that my main two characters both have AS traits and if you wanted to analyse the work from an AS perspective you could read that into it quite easily.

My suggestion is: you could disclose AS to the reader early on or not, but write the character as normal as possible - from your point of view, not what you perceive to be normal from a NT perspective. Doing this should make the character obviously AS from the point of view of the reader. I.E. Let your subconscious do the work. I think that different characters can display different parts of your own personality or motivations rather than wrapping everything into one character.

Make any sense?

If I can throw my contrarian two cents in... Just remember than no well formed character fits any simple description. For example, I react badly to sudden loud noises and yet lived in the echo chamber of downtown Los Angeles for years and now live on a hill where I get to listen to sirens from the local fire station. These loud noise don't bother me. I am very literal minded, yet can turn a good poetic phrase now and then.

No one is so perfectly square or perfectly round that they fit those particular holes without a bit of forcing. A good character always is a bit of a mystery.