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,
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