Stereotypical Autism

[Mumble]

I'm not sure there's an answer to this, so more of an issue for discussion...

 

Where does the stereotypical image(s - perhaps there's more than one?) of an Autistic person originate from? It's easy to say "the movies" but they were based on something... We could say "the media", but what are they basing their images on? Where did the stereotypical image originate from, has it changed, what perpetuates it, can we change it, does anyone fit it (and if not, why is that the stereotypical image)? There's also a question of what the stereotypical image is; it's easy enough to say "Rainman", but I think it's more than that.

 

The reason this came up is that I was talking to my lovely nurse today, she's the only person I've ever met who totally 'gets' me () and we were discussing what I needed from future / long-term support and she said she felt I needed people around me who understood and could respond to my needs but who didn't make assumptions and assume that I'll have needs or behave in particular ways just because I'm Autistic () because I'm not stereotypically what you would expect - I'm not aggressive or violent, I can (with support, but that's more due to medical needs) conduct my own life and I do have an (albeit warped) sense of humour.

 

It's good to have someone recognise these things about me, but it also intensifies the fears of being misunderstood/represented based on many people's (mis)understanding of what Autism means. This is where my pondering of stereotypical images came in, particularly as some aspects are not even part of the diagnostic criteria, so why are they generally considered 'typical' of Autistic people?

[baddad]

Too complex for a quick answer, which is all I've got time for, but:

 

The stereotype has changed, dramatically I think. Rainman used to be it, but it's evolved into something a bit savanty (as rainman was) a lot 'geeky' (which rainman wasn't, in the strictest sense), and at the 'AS' end something quite Aspie-rational in some ways...

 

There's this huge polarisation with non-verbal rockers and spinners at one end, Bill Gates and Albert Einstein at the other and the casts from The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory somewhere in the middle... Anyone whose not one of those is 'not stereotypical'

 

Oh with regard to the aggression thing - I think that's more mainly within the wider autistic community (parents etc) than the general public perception(?) but I think increasingly that sort of thinking is seeping out into the wider stereotype. Let's face it, the more parents/carers there are adopting the attitude of that t-shirt slogan (you know the one) and ascribing their child's aggression directly to autism or as a by product of autism the more generalised that attitude will become. Doesn't help when criminal cases like gun-totin' mentalists in American schools lead to newspapers speculating on the fact that the perp was a 'loner' crop up, or when defence laywers in cases like GM effectively claim that autism meant their client couldn't possibly know what he was doing or be held responsible for his actions. And OH JOY when the NAS leap in on things like that - with advocate 'friends' like that, the autistic community don't need enemies!

 

L&P

 

BD

Edited April 28, 2011 by baddad

[Lynden]

I actually don't know what the stereotype is anymore. Rainman is obviously one, but other than that I don't know!

 

I remember a friend commenting that L isn't what you would expect when you talk about someone who has autism. I was surprised at that because he is actually what would be considered classically autistic, has the full triad of impairments, is very obsessive and routine led and does a lot of rocking and flapping etc and does spend a lot of time in his own little world. Less so as he's getting older, but he still retreats. He is very passive, and not at all hyperactive - I think because of the high percentage of ASD people who also have ADHD there can be confusion too. He has a cracking sense of humour since he found his voice, although he can be violent, it is only when he's really anxious and I think partially immaturity and lack of language too as he doesn't seem to have the words/know what else to do other than hit out (but we're working on that all the time!).

 

It'd be interesting to see what others see as stereotypical. I suspect that for many of us it will be coloured by our own personal experience.

 

Lynne x

[Tally]

I think the I'm-more-evolved-than-an-NT brigade are pushing some very unhelpful stereotypes about people with Asperger's all being really good at computers. But they are doing it in a way that is rude and arrogant, which makes people think that we are all rude and arrogant and has become another stereotype of Asperger's.

[dom]

theres a good topic. well personally i wouldn't really know, as i never watched any movie related to autism - something that i would probably like to to now. however, we're talking about stereotypes, and in general i think they're bad and reductive, even the best-meaning ones. but it's a thing of the human nature, whichever the field, we always need a specimen, a prototype if you like, from which to make comparisons.. :S but dont let that throw you off. whatever you're like, there's no need for it to define you - keep widening your horizons.

[puffin]

A couple of years ago the sterotype was "The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" - many people read the book and thought that the knew all about autism

 

These days - who knows - probably Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy