I watch quite a few TV programmes
that are about or have characters with autism. So I started to think about how
are people with autism portrayed in the world of entertainment?
Portrayal of people with autism on the
small screen
One TV show
that I love is The Big Bang Theory. If you haven’t seen it it’s based around
the daily lives of four individuals, all of whom work at a Californian
University. Two of them are physicists, one is an astrophysicist and one is an
engineer (who is quite often reminded the only one without a PhD!). One character
is called Sheldon and within five minutes of the pilot you start find him
rather quirky. As the series progresses you start to see Sheldon display common
characteristics of someone with autism such as a lack of social skills,
sticking to a routine and paying attention to detail. He also doesn’t seem to
empathise with those around him, which is sometimes misunderstood in people on
the spectrum. Just like in real life once it’s explained to him what the person
is experiencing and the related emotions he then understands what is ‘empathy’
is. But I have watched all 278 episodes of The Big Bang Theory at least three
times and although they often talk about his ‘quirky’ characteristics no one says
that he has or suggests autism or Asperger’s. But I like to think that we
aren’t putting a label on him, we are accepting the character for who he is and
sometimes we make adjustments for him but he is still Sheldon. The ‘Big Bang Theory’ has a spin off season
called ‘Young Sheldon’ which recently aired in the UK. We have only seen a few episodes but seeing a 9 year old Sheldon tackle the typical world is really entertaining and educational.
The teenage
years are difficult for anyone to navigate through, like finding your place in
the world, developing an identity and combating the mindfield of sexuality. Add
the additional diagnosis of ‘autism’ and it becomes even more complex. NetFlix
has tried to explore this with a tint of comedy in ‘Atypical’. The main
character is Sam, an 18 year old high school student who has fallen in love
with his therapist. We see how he takes things literally, has difficulty
understanding social cues, has an extra-ordinary interest and knowledge of the
Antarctic and speaks in a monotone voice. All of these are recognisable as
traits of autism. Where this series does fall down is its main characters (i.e.
father) who apparently hasn’t heard of ‘people first’ language and he receives
a lecture on this topic. Would a parent of an 18 year old with autism know
about this? I think so. But I would still recommend ‘Atypical’ to anyone and it
has been given the green light for a second season. I look forward to seeing
how ‘Sam’ will make the transition into a young adult and a time in life when
he has to make serious decisions, such as going to college. From my work I have
seen this as vulnerable time in the lives of late teens with autism, with the
risk of developing a mental health problem.
More recently
the ABC American channel made the brave decision of making ‘The Good Doctor’.
What’s brave about this show? Its main character Shaun Murphy is a surgeon who
has autism and more surprising is that this airs on prime time mainstream TV.
They gradually explore how autism affects Shaun in every episode, with flash
backs to his childhood and whilst promoting the fact his is employable,
reliable and although quirky he deals with being socially awkward, a lack of
eye contact but he copes with stressful situations. ‘The Good Doctor’ really
changed the way people think about autism. In episode five a character turns up
to the hospital with severe stomach pain. The character ‘Liam’ has autism but
more importantly the actor actually is on the spectrum. We hear that Shaun
immediately recognises Liam’s autism even though he has never met an autistic
person before. I believe this episode deserves recognition and accolades that
I’m sure it will receive. It’s early in its lifetime but it remains in the USA
top ratings shows and the UK has started to recognise it as well. I hope that
the autism community take pride in this ground breaking programme and show that
even an autistic person can hold down a job as a doctor and fit in to the
neurotypical world.
But one question you start to ask yourself
while watching these four TV shows is ‘do these characters represent the whole
autistic community’? In one word ‘no’.
Don’t get me wrong I love watching them and I’m so glad that they are
educational as well entertaining. Yet all four characters have savant like
skills and although they have difficulty in life they generally reach high
levels of success in education and occupation. But in reality only
approximately one in ten have savant qualities.
Additionally where are the women with autism? It’s still predominantly a
male condition but we are starting to see an increasing amount of females
diagnosed with the spectrum and this is only being picked up later in life. We
are still in the infancy of understanding autism and women. Much research and
funding is required as well as being represented in the media.
Between 50% to 75% of people with autism
also have learning disabilities. Often these individuals are doubly
disadvantaged in society and often face discrimination on all levels. But how
many people with autism and learning disability do we see on our TV screens
or in the movies? From memory I can only think of Leonardo DiCaprio
in ‘What’s eating Gilber Grape’ as a main character. Inclusion of this group
would be a positive step in the right direction and hopefully go some way to
breaking down public perception and stigma attached to the labels.
Autism acceptance in reality?
In 2009 the world was first
introduced to Susan Boyle. You probably already know the story but this will
gently remind you of the impact this lady had on British and world wide
entertainment industry. Susan applied for Britain’s Got Talent in 2008 and she
got through to the TV auditions. As she walked onto the stage everyone in the
audience started to giggle and laugh and began to mock her. She didn’t look
like your average TV personality, her fashion sense was somewhat dated and she
had a unique sense of humour. Then she
started to sing and at that moment everything changed. She sang ‘I dreamed a
dream’ and she blew the audience and the ten million TV viewers away. Everyone
was speaking about the talent that Susan has and she received praise from across
the globe. She sailed through the rounds of the show and was on track to win.
A few days before the final
(according to reports) there was concern for her mental health. Susan
eventually came second in the final and everyone was shocked. The day after the
final she was admitted to The Priory, a private mental health hospital with being
‘exhausted and emotionally drained’. This was no surprise considering the
pressure of media interest and the expectation that she was going to win. But
then also add in that her life previously being on the show was predictable, although
she entered local talent shows, she was generally in control. Then there’s her
behaviour that others consider erratic. The penny dropped in 2012 when she was
diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, she was on the spectrum. Susan had waited
all this time to understand why she didn’t fit in and now the world had to
adjust to her. You hear this is common in women being diagnosed later in life
and this is an issue that clinicians need to get a grasp of and become much
better and quicker. Since she first appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009
she has been nominated and won global music awards, released seven albums and
sold around 25 million records. Susan Boyle is living the dream!
In 2017 Chris Packham, naturalist
and TV presenter decided to make a documentary for the BBC about what it’s like
living with Asperger’s syndrome. This was an insightful, intelligent and brave look
at the condition. He announced to the public that he has a form of autism in
2016. What’s great about this documentary is that we shouldn’t see autism as a disability,
but it highlights its positive side and how he realised that he couldn’t do his
job without Asperger’s. He is great at
explaining it in everyone’s language. He speaks about the highs and lows he has
experienced in life but how his overly interest in birds especially the kestrel
has helped him cope and help him become the person he is today. He visits
Silicon Valley in California where he finds that people in the computer
industry employ a significant number of people with autism and I fact welcome
people on the spectrum to apply. He speak about the experience of sensory
overload, how he can become easily distracted, jumping from one thought to
another and how he escapes back to his haven in the New Forest. This is
fascinating, entertaining and most of all – educational.
Autism’s Got Talent is a platform
for children and adults on the spectrum to showcase their talent – being
singing, dancing, magic tricks or a comedian. The superb show was put together
by Anna Kennedy OBE and in 2018 it is about to put on its seventh annual event.
At every show competitors get to walk the red carpet, be interviewed by people
from the media and to meet some famous faces. The show aims to build
self-esteem and confidence and offers individuals to perform in front of a live
audience, for some people it’s their first time. This is a great opportunity to
learn how the performing arts industry operates but within a safe environment.
Hopefully we will get to see some of these performers in the mainstream.
Conclusion
After watching these fictional
characters on the small screen and researching about these real life famous
people with autism I have become a much bigger fan than before. People with
autism have become a regular part of the conversation. It’s an everyday fact
that the majority of people have met someone with autism or count them as an
acquaintance or even a friend, it’s now becoming normality. Even my five year
old nephew knows what autism basically means, as he is a fan of the Power
Rangers and one of the four superheroes is on the spectrum. So the
entertainment industry might not get it right each time when it comes to
autism. But I applaud them as they have raised awareness and one day soon we
will see acceptance.
Steve Hardy, RNLD
Steve Hardy, RNLD
The A Word
Atypical is on NetFlix
The Big Bang Theory
The Good Doctor
Thank you for acknowledging that there are many with autism AND learning (intellectual) disabilities. Many particularly those with ID also suffer from epilepsy and live severely shortened life spans, 30 years less, on average than the general population.
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