What Writers Should Know About Creating an Autistic Character

Neurodiversity is increasingly being highlighted in conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s estimated 1 in 100 children worldwide are autistic, according to the World Health Organization. While there are many autistic characters in films and books, most of them show the stereotypical binary characteristics of greatness with extreme social awkwardness (think Rain Man). While including neurodiverse characters in stories is a positive step for educating about diversity, it’s important that it is done realistically otherwise we risk worsening stereotypes.

(Dyslexia Is a Writer’s Superpower.)

I was not diagnosed with autism until age 53, but I always knew I thought differently to other people. Not having an explanation for my difference meant I was always confused, frustrated, and hurt at not fitting in. So, I feel it is important to educate people on the subtle characteristics of autism.

Below, I shed light on my own character traits which I understand to be common among autistic people. Of course, every neurodiverse person is different, and this is not an attempt to generalize. These are based on my experiences and what I understand to be common in other autistic people I’ve met, or been informed about with the autism support charity I am involved with.

Autistic people are not themselves in public

It’s easy to assume that autistic people are socially awkward, but you have to remember that from an early age, autistic people learn to mask who they truly are. Very often, they are not being themselves in a public space with people they don’t know well. 

They do this because they are trying so hard to fit in with their surrounds and to be liked, or approved of, by others. This is mentally and physically exhausting and so they are unlikely to be on form.

Autistic people can’t do things in half measures

I would describe my whole life as walking a tightrope between greatness and nothingness. When I find something I can do well, which clicks with me, it is game on! That thing will light me up every single day. But if I don’t connect with a task and I’m simply being told to do it, I can’t find any drive at all. I can’t emphasize this enough. It is the difference between an autistic person doing something so well they could be written into history, or tipping into depression because they find no purpose in their life.

When creating an autistic character, establish what really drives them. Whatever it is, remember they will be fascinated by it every day and will never tire of it. They are driven by internal drivers, not by external incentives. If they can’t connect, they can’t be bothered.

There is a well-known story about Steve Jobs, who is widely thought of as being autistic even though he never had an autism diagnosis. He reportedly threw the first ever iPod into a fish tank in the design process. According to reports, when employees presented a prototype, he rejected it as too big. When told it couldn’t be made smaller, he dropped it into a fish tank to see if there were air bubbles. There were, which he said indicated it could be made smaller by removing the air pockets. 

You could say he was obsessed. But this obsession was something he channeled into delivering greatness. Not all autistic people find this, but when they do, they have potential to do something brilliant and make a difference to the world.

Autistic people go deep, not wide

Whatever lights them up will become a rabbit hole. Autistic people will burrow down and down into the detail, until they become a true specialist. But they are less likely to look upwards, or branch wide. In other words, the big picture can seem irrelevant to them and they are specialists not generalists.

Autistic people may struggle with noise and busy environments

I am easily distracted by noise, especially when trying to concentrate and to be productive at work. Given that getting to the bottom of that rabbit hole is our driver and that we only want to do the thing we are fascinated in, imagine how irritating it is for us when noise stops us being able to do that. Open plan offices for example, just make me crumble!

When we ‘drill down,’ we go into what I call the ‘dark zone’ or ‘the abyss,’ where we can thrive because of the calm, peaceful silence which allows us to embrace a laser-like focus. For autistic people like me, we discover the light, and make enlightened connections, whilst in the dark. But when we are in the open world, we are in the ‘light zone,’ where there is too much going on which overstimulates us.

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Autistic people are not good with deadlines

Putting an autistic person in a position where they may have to cut back on their best skill of detail, sets them up for failure. But, the upside to this is that the more they specialize, the faster they will become at something.

This reminds me of something that the health professional who diagnosed my autism said to me. Apparently Chris Packham CBE, the naturist and TV presenter, who has an autism diagnosis, made the following analogy at a conference. (I paraphrase because this was told to me): “If you ask me to clean a house, you give me a time frame and the tools you think I need, immediately, I want to scream. I need to choose my tools. And it will take me as long as it takes me to get to perfection. It may take me two days but when I finish, there won’t be a speck of dust and it will be perfect.”

To summarize, if you are creating a character who is on the autism spectrum, remember their superpower is focus and specialism, but only when their interest is ignited, they are in quiet and comfortable surroundings, and that they are deeply sensitive individuals.