JADE Student Edition 2019 JADE JSLUG 2019 | Page 23

Parenthood and BBC drama Waterloo Road, I seek to identify the issues with recent portrayals of Asperger’s Syndrome on television, and propose that, in order to greater serve the autistic community, there ultimately needs to be a much greater focus on the experience of the autistic individual themselves, rather than the impact of their condition on the neurotypical people around them. Many existing studies on the presentation of Autism Spectrum Conditions in the media have focused on the issues these stereotypical presentations can have for a neurotypical understanding of the condition. Autistic women Alaina Leary (2017) and Alison Singer (2017) have written articles detailing the way in which they feel under-represented by the media, highlighting that this is an issue which also emotionally-impacts upon those with the condition. Despite these seemingly-obvious, personal implications for members of the autistic community however, Heilker (2012) and Belcher and Maich (2014, 110) both conclude their studies with the argument that television portrayals of Autism Spectrum Disorders need to become less stereotypical so that neurotypical individuals can improve their understanding of the condition. Though the negative impact these presentations can have for common understandings of Asperger’s Syndrome are important and cannot be ignored, I instead wish to draw attention to the way these portrayals can cause autistic individuals to feel alone in the world, as not even the characters who are supposed to be representative of themselves can truly represent their own feelings: reducing them to a series of identical and inconveniencing behaviours. Throughout this essay, I will use the term ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ in reference to Asperger’s Syndrome and the spectrum of conditions it falls upon. Furthermore, I shall use the terms ‘autistic’ and ‘on the autistic spectrum’ in reference to individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, as a recent study conducted by the National Autistic Society concluded that these were the preferred terms of individuals with Autism-related diagnoses, including those diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (Kenny, Hattersley, Mollins, Buckley, Povey and Pellicano, 2016, 442). The Relationship between Comprehensive and Realistic Por trayals When considering the impact of television portrayals of Asperger’s Syndrome on the autistic community, we must first consider the diagnostic criteria for the condition, and examine the ways in which these identified traits are transferred to characters on screen. The primary International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) criteria for a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome are ‘qualitative abnormalities in reciprocative social interaction’ and that ‘the individual exhibits an unusually intense, circumscribed interest or restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests, and activities’ (World Health Organisation (WHO), 1992, 153). Moving forward with this study, I will pay particular focus to the non-specific wording of ‘qualitative abnormalities,’ in addition to the use of the term ‘or’ rather than ‘and’ when describing the restricted interests ‘or’ repetitive behaviours. The first television programme I wish to draw your attention to is NBC’s American drama Parenthood. In the first season, eight year old Max is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Max displays all the ICD-10 criteria for an Asperger’s Diagnosis: he fails to greet his classmates, insists on wearing his pirate costume every day, and is obsessed with insects (Parenthood: Pilot, 2010 and Parenthood: Amazing Andy and his Wonderful World of Bugs, 2011). Furthermore, Parenthood does not neglect to address the more secondary and less-commonly portrayed aspects of Asperger’s Syndrome, such as difficulties with coordination and sensory hypersensitivity (Parenthood: Pilot and Parenthood: The Big ‘O,’ 2010) (Author Unknown, National Autistic Society, 2016, Article #3 23