Autistic Representation - Blog Posts

WHY IS NO ONE TELLING ME THESE THINGS.

ITS AUTISM DAY TODAY AND IVE DONE NOTHING ISTFG

anyway have some pathetic last minute gifs

Power Rangers 2017 failed in box office because it had subtext representation AND OUTRIGHT, directly stated representation of multiple minority groups.. that wasn’t hateful.

(THIS IS MY OPINION.)

SPOILERS AHEAD.

.

.

.

Trini is heavily implied to be a lesbian or bi woman. When Zack asks her about boyfriend troubles and she says no, he pauses and asks “..girlfriend troubles?” She responds to this by looking away and remaining quiet.

(For context, Zack has been shown before this to be attracted to her. After this scene, and even DURING this scene, Zack respects her even without outright confirmation and immediately stops his advances, which is ALSO insane in a good way)

Billy is a black boy who is also autistic. He isn’t portrayed as particularly aggressive, stupid, or as any other common stereotype of black men. He’s also very much socially awkward, but his friends don’t mock him for it. The most they do is cut him off if the situation calls for it. They acknowledge his support needs and adhere to them! When Jason hugs Billy and Billy asks Jason to stop touching him, instead of the common “it’s just a hug dude”, Jason listens.

Zack is a complete subversion of Asian stereotypes in film. While he does take care of his mom (because they live ALONE in a trailer park and she’s heavily implied to have cancer) he’s not a studious kid. He skips school most days, he’s loud, he’s borderline eccentric.

Especially in the 2017, post 2016 Election political scene of the USA at the time of this film’s release, I feel like this probably had a MAJOR part to do in it’s failure at the box office.

(Another part might be the way they handled Rita Repulsa and the lack of morphing until the last 40-30 minutes of the movie, but that’s another story.)

I’ve been cooking this one for a while, but with the most recent “The Bad Batch” episode, I feel this is timely. 

Before I go into it, I want to get it out there that there is NOTHING WRONG with HC-ing an autistic character or an autistically-coded character as Aro/Ace, and there is NOTHING WRONG with being an Aro/Ace Autistic/Autistic person. My issue is with a PATTERN and not any specific HCs that I’ve come across. I also need to say that my Autistic experience is not the same as anyone else’s, I cannot and do not speak for all Autistic people. We exist on a spectrum here. I will also be using Autistic and Autistic person interchangeably here because I have no personal preference, though others might.

That being said, I notice that A LOT, if not MOST Autistically-coded characters are popularly headcanoned as Aro/Ace in their respective fandoms. Sometimes there’s canon evidence and sometimes there’s not. Some of them I agree with and others...make me wonder if they’re just being thought of that way because of the pervasive stereotype that Autistics are incapable of romantic or sexual feelings. 

In my own experience, I’ve had a handful of encounters where people are really shocked that I’m in a committed romantic relationship and that I am very comfortable with my sexuality and sexuality in general. It goes hand in hand with the typical “you don’t LOOK Autistic” response from people. It’s all part of a wider stereotype that infantilizes neurodivergents, separating them from commonly recognized markers of adulthood (and by extension, personhood) like a developed sex drive, desire to be romantically close with others, and independence. None of these things actually define what an adult person is, by the way.  

In those encounters, I usually feel infantilized and talked down to. It’s an unpleasant reality of my life that I can usually escape from in my fandoms, but echoes of it resonate in previously safe spaces with this pattern. I have to wonder if everybody is actually thinking their HCs through or if they’re just slapping “Aro/Ace” onto the character because they subconsciously don’t think of Autistic people as capable of romantic or sexual feelings, especially with characters that actually have canon romantic/sexual feelings ON SCREEN or CONFIRMED by the creators. (I thought about providing examples of Autistic/Autistically-coded characters that get Aro/Ace headcanoned often here, in spite of canon evidence to the contrary, but headcanons are supposed to be fun and I don’t want to start an argument about these characters here, especially if that headcanon is important to someone).

In summary, the Autistic community is an incredibly diverse one with people of all walks of life. Please don’t shunt us into just one way of being because of stereotypes, even if we’re just fictional characters.

Also, please watch Overly Sarcastic’s Trope Talk on Robots for a nice little lesson on coding and how it affects the Neurodivergent and Aro/Ace communities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZGRdxP_8Js&t=1s

I am pretty bad at finishing projects but at least I finished it! I will be celebrating with a plain Rice Krispies Treat now :)

Finished version: human!Donnie

Donatello "Donnie" Hamato. 16. Japanese/Chinese American. Donnie is my favorite and I just love all my silly little ideas about him and all his autism. I am the same and I can’t get enough. You go, you Funky Flat Fuck (I’m not waiting till Friday to post, sorry.)

Meet Julia, Sesame Street’s new character with autism 

As part of a new campaign called Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children, the long-running children’s show introduced a Julia, a girl living with autism, in an online storybook. In the book, Elmo teaches Abby about Julia and autism. This story is just one part of the Sesame Street initiative to fight autism stigma.