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I am a Computer Character Animation student, and for this assignment, I will be focusing on character design and story development, as well as 2D animation.

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My Topic - Autism Representation in Media

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My Topic - Autism Representation in Media

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This research document is about the representation of autism in animation and other media. My goal with this task is to design an autistic character and develop a short film concept about them for my final year project.

To achieve this, I will be exploring the autism spectrum and the different personality types that autistic people have from each other. I will also be looking at both good and bad representation of autistic people in media and analysing them. This is so I can spot any tropes and traits that they share, and see which ones I can incorporate, as well as avoid the bad ones, or maybe even subvert them to be better.

I will also be delving into how autistic people live and how they learn to cope with their struggles. This is so my character can feel like an actual person and have an obstacle to overcome in the short film. This will make my character more identifiable and understandable so the audience can root for them. This will also give me ideas for a proper ending for the story, so it’s important that I get it right.

I will also be studying and practising character design theory. I want to use Mise en Scene and visual metaphors such as shape, colour, scale and linework so the character’s look mirrors their personality in creative ways. I’ll also be looking at autistic characters or characters with similar tropes, and how they’re designed.

I also want to explore story theory a bit deeper. From the media I’ll be watching for this assignment, I will use those, as well as looking into different story telling techniques, to help develop the short film’s story and brainstorm ideas.

Finally, as someone who’s on the spectrum himself, the research will also help me personally understand myself better, and maybe learn how to cope with the struggles of being a young autistic adult by finding new techniques for personal growth. I’m also hoping that from the research I do, this will help me create a short film that will inspire people who are autistic or anyone that has similar problems. Though my short will be based on autism, I also want it to be accessible to anyone.

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The tricky part with recognising autism is that there isn't a definitive checklist of specific personality traits exclusive to autistic people. It's a neurodevelopmental disability that's characterised by a diverse spectrum due to how people experience autism in many different ways. Some autistic people struggle communicate using verbal language, while other autistic people find it a non-issue. Some need help in their day-to-day lives, others are quite independent. This is why you see people use rainbow colours to represent autism, much like the LGBTQA+ spectrum.

There are autistic people in every community and has always existed, regardless of cultural background. Regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, you name it. While every autistic person experiences it differently, there are some things that are common things we share as a community. I will be listing the ones from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) for clarity.

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A lot of us may have very strong interests in things that we feel intensively passionate about, but other people don't seem to understand or care about. It's common for autistic people to hyper fixate on a particular interest and struggle to learn anything out of that interest.

Like for me, my special interests are animation and video games, especially Super Smash Bros. I can name you every character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the exact order that they are laid out as in the character select screen, all 85 (soon to be 88) of them. I have a good attention to detail as well, which is why I'm great at drawing and editing. However, I do struggle to do work based on topics outside of my areas of interest, especially when it comes to written assignments for college and university. I can also be quite slow at processing my situations and motivating myself sometimes. I try to combat this by giving myself a reward for finishing the task, like a fun activity or playing a game. Also, being an animation and film student allows me to base my work on as many special interests as I can, which definitely motivates me more.

Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, is on the spectrum. He used his childhood special interests of insects and insect collecting, and his intensive knowledge and passion for video games, to develop Pokemon's concept. He expressed how he wanted to give kids something they feel happy about the same way he felt about insect collecting. As a result, well, Pokemon's worldwide success speaks for itself. Going on to sell millions of copies and saving Nintendo from dipping in sales. Becoming one of their most prominent franchises alongside Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

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Some of us are great problem solvers, others may struggle with starting and finishing a task. Some of us have great attention to detail, some of us have trouble with executive functioning. Routines are important for many autistic people, and can get overwhelmed and distressed when something unexpectedly changes. As a result, we might have a hard time processing our thoughts, feelings and environment, which can cause a meltdown. It also doesn't help that...

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A lot of us can be hypersensitive. While not exclusive to autistic people, it is more common for us to experience sensory overload. This makes things as simple as lighting, smells, sounds, motions and textures way more extreme. It can also be caused by an overwhelming situation or a change in routine as I explained earlier, which again, can cause a meltdown. The intensity varies from person to person, but this beautifully rotoscopes short film, Sensory Overload, perfectly demonstrates how intense it can be for some people.

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To cope with sensory overload, many autistic people do a repeated movement over and over again. This is called "stimming". A stim is a movement-based anchor used to release access energy from a strong emotion. It can range from hand flapping, rocking, spinning, hair twirling, repetition, feeling certain textures, literally anything to get the strong feelings out of your systems. Again, not exclusive to autistic people, as everyone has an anchor to help calm themselves. It can happen from being happy, excited, anxious, overwhelmed or it just feels comforting.

Like whenever I'm excited or anxious, I like to walk around and flap my hands over my ears, or flick my fingers on top of my head. It may look weird to some, but it's usually how I cope with stressful situations. Unlike people who aren't on the spectrum, autistic people usually aren't aware they're doing it, hence why their anchors tend to be more extreme and exaggerated.

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Some of us might struggle with fine motor skills or coordination. Our mind and bodies might feel disconnected from the world so we may have very distinct walks or posture. Although it's true that everyone has a unique walk and posture, something you learn in animation, autistic people's might stick out from the crowd more. Speech can also be an extra challenge as it requires a lot of coordination. Whether it'd be controlling the volume of our voices (I'm guilty of being unknowingly loud at times), or not even being able to speak at all. Regardless, we can still understand other people say, even if it seems like we don't.

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While some of us may be able to talk normally, some autistic people talk using echolalia (repeating things we hear) or be scripting out what I say. Some autistic people use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate. It can range from writing your words on a notepad or phone, spelling on a letter board or pointing pictures on an iPad. Some may even communicate through their behaviour. Some of us may not talk, but we're very expressive and we've got a lot of important things to say.

My verbal language is quite fluent because I echo a lot of the YouTube video game reviewers I used to watch as a kid/teenager. Guys like Somecallmejohnny and Caddicarus who are quite informative and use a lot of cool sentences, words and terminology. I also echo phrases from my friends, family and the media I consume. Like I love to say "yeah yuuuuuuuuh" quite a lot after hearing it in Regular Show.

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Social rules? What are those? Some of us might not understand or follow social rules that society has made up from non-autistic people. We may follow our own logic instead. That doesn't necessarily mean to commit arson but more so not being as direct as other people, lacking eye contact due to not feeling comfortable with it or finding it hard to control our body language and facial expressions. This can confuse people who aren't on the spectrum, making it hard for some of us to socialise or even make friends.

Since I was a kid, I struggled with eye contact, even today as an adult. Although as I got older, it did improve for me, it depends on the person I communicate with. I struggle with new people I meet or people I don't know that well due to shyness, but I'm usually better with people I'm closed to. Even still, it's something I still unknowingly lack quite often that other people can notice.

Some of us also struggle to read other people's emotions. This may come across as rude and apathetic, which isn't true. Some of us just need people to tell us how they're feeling as some of us can't guess. Some of us are also extra sensitive to other people's feelings, making us react more intensely sometimes.

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For some autistic people, it can be a lot to live in a society built for non-autistic people (wonder how the wildlife feel also). Some of us are quite independent, while others may not have the energy or capacity to do some things in our daily lives. This could range from anything to cooking, cleaning, getting a job, going out for a walk, shopping or anything you can think of. Sometimes autistic people need more frequent breaks to recover our energy.

I'm actually quite independent myself, ever since I was a kid actually. I've been living with friends at university for over 2 years now and I haven't died yet so that's got to say something. I can do most day-to-day tasks; I even love cooking. Despite this, I still need regular breaks from work to just stretch my legs and stim.

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So those were the key things to consider when identifying an autistic person. But it's still important to note that not every autistic person relates to all of them and that there are many different ways we experience autism. But that's okay! We communicate and interact with the world different, and that's okay.

It's just a shame that some people see it as more of a disease, like anti-vaccination parents and Autism Speaks. Even though most autistic people never feel like there's anything wrong with them, rather it's how people treat them that they feel affected by. Here's a disgusting ad from Autism Speaks that treats autism like a disease that spreads faster than "cancer, diabetes and aids".

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Contrary to what this ad is trying to convey, autism doesn't affect most of us negatively. We never feel the need to be 'cured', we're just different. It's more so how society seems to view us where we feel affected by it. Here's another disgusting clip from one of Autism Speak's videos where a mother blatantly states that she thought about driving off a bridge with her autistic child, but didn't as she had another child.

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Mother talks about killing her autistic daughter and herself

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If you want to support a charity based on autism, please check the ASAN out: https://autisticadvocacy.org/. Avoid Autism Speaks at all cost! They seem to see autism as a disease that needs 'treated' using disgusting marketing tactics like the ones I show you. Only 70.9% of their finance go towards to their mission, where as ASAN and the Autism Science Foundation spend 79.8% and 91.5% towards helping the cause instead. Yet the Chief Science Officer of Autism Speaks Geri Dawson took in $465,671 in 2012.  Also, nobody on their board has autism either, yet they still act like they know autism better than the rest of the world.

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(Inside: 4 reasons to not support autism speaks are a must read for all autism mamas! They're the most popular autism organization, but they're so harmful.)
When we found out that A-Man is autistic, I went into research mode, like I do with everything.

Eventually, that research lead me to realize I'm autistic myself. But before that happened...

Naturally, that research brought up the organization Autism Speaks. It's one of the largest autism organization in the country.

I really really wanted to get on board with this organization and become that mom of a child with autism with the blue puzzle piece on my car and educating people.

As we are getting close to Autism Awareness Day and I've seen more and more posts about it, I felt that I needed to share my thoughts on the popular autism organization.

As a mother of an autistic child, and as an autistic person myself, I do not and cannot support Autism Speaks, and I don't think that you should either.

I realize that many people have only heard of Autism Speaks.

Well-meaning folks do marathons and fundraisers for the popular organization not knowing the sad truth.

People " Light it up blue " on April 2nd for Autism Awareness Day, and they have no idea about what this organization is truly for.

4 Simple Reasons I Don't Support Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks Doesn't Help Autistic People

Only 4% of their huge budget goes towards actually helping individuals with autism and their families with their family grants.

Autism Speaks is arguably the largest autism organization in the country, and yet they really aren't focusing at all on helping families who actually experience autism.
For a comparison, 22% of their budget is spent on fundraising efforts.
I simply can't support an organization that pays their CEO such an obnoxious amount while they ignore the real needs of the families the organization claims to support.

Autism Speaks is Searching to "End Autism"

Autism Speaks has the ultimate goal of ending autism, by any means necessary.

The majority of their funding goes towards autism "research".

Not research for improving therapies and equipment that helps individuals with autism, but research for a "cure" for autism.

They are also trying to find a prenatal test for autism, similar to the one that they have for Down Syndrome so that mothers will no longer have autistic babies.

As a mother of a child with autism, I wouldn't change a hair on his head. His autism does not define him, but it definitely plays a role in who he is. I would never take that away, and I would never, ever, wish that he hadn't been born because of his autism.

And frankly, as an autistic person, I can't believe an organization that claims to represent me honestly wishes I were never born.

There is Not One Member of Their Board With Autism

Autism Speaks is one of few disability charities that refuses to include individuals with disabilities on their board or in leadership positions.

They are trying to make decisions regarding the future of autism without consulting any individuals with autism.

In fact, after being criticized so heavily for this, Autism Speaks added John Elder Robinson, an author and autism advocate who has autism, to the board.

He later resigned because the organization had no respect for individuals with autism and he could no longer align himself with their beliefs. You can read more about that here.

For those who say that it's simply that there aren't autistic people interested and qualified, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's board includes several autistic self-advocates.
*Update: Autism Speaks has responded to this criticism and has added autistic members to their board. While it's a teeny, tiny, baby step in the right direction, it doesn't rectify the damage this organization is done.
Autism Speaks Uses Disgusting Marketing Techniques

Autism Speaks says that they are all for spreading "awareness" of autism, but in reality, they are spreading only fear.

Over the years they have produced some really terrible videos to market their organization that portray children with autism as something to fear.

One of their videos is a commercial called "I Am Autism" which you can find on youtube here.

It shows like a horror movie including lines like "I know where you live" and "If you're happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails" and "You are scared, and you should be".

They also made a movie called "Autism Every Day" where mothers talk about how difficult their lives are because of their children with autism with their children in the room.

Including a mother who says that she contemplated driving off a bridge with her child with autism, but only didn't because she also had a neurotypical child.

Seriously. She says it. You can watch here.

Overall, I just cannot in good conscience support autism speaks as the mother of an autistic child or as an autistic person myself.

I know that these aren't common knowledge facts, but as you know more, you can do more.

Please do not support this organization. If you are looking for autism organizations to support, please check out the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network.

And if you'd REALLY like to support more acceptance and understanding of autistic people, grab this free Autism Signs Cheat Sheet to share with others!

Loved this post? You might also enjoy...

About Kaylene
Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so "weird" to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.

(Inside: 4 reasons to not support autism speaks are a must read for all autism mamas! They're the most popular autism organization, but they're so harmful.)
When we found out that A-Man is autistic, I went into research mode, like I do with everything.

Eventually, that research lead me to realize I'm autistic myself. But before that happened...

Naturally, that research brought up the organization Autism Speaks. It's one of the largest autism organization in the country.

I really really wanted to get on board with this organization and become that mom of a child with autism with the blue puzzle piece on my car and educating people.

As we are getting close to Autism Awareness Day and I've seen more and more posts about it, I felt that I needed to share my thoughts on the popular autism organization.

As a mother of an autistic child, and as an autistic person myself, I do not and cannot support Autism Speaks, and I don't think that you should either.

I realize that many people have only heard of Autism Speaks.

Well-meaning folks do marathons and fundraisers for the popular organization not knowing the sad truth.

People " Light it up blue " on April 2nd for Autism Awareness Day, and they have no idea about what this organization is truly for.

4 Simple Reasons I Don't Support Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks Doesn't Help Autistic People

Only 4% of their huge budget goes towards actually helping individuals with autism and their families with their family grants.

Autism Speaks is arguably the largest autism organization in the country, and yet they really aren't focusing at all on helping families who actually experience autism.
For a comparison, 22% of their budget is spent on fundraising efforts.
I simply can't support an organization that pays their CEO such an obnoxious amount while they ignore the real needs of the families the organization claims to support.

Autism Speaks is Searching to "End Autism"

Autism Speaks has the ultimate goal of ending autism, by any means necessary.

The majority of their funding goes towards autism "research".

Not research for improving therapies and equipment that helps individuals with autism, but research for a "cure" for autism.

They are also trying to find a prenatal test for autism, similar to the one that they have for Down Syndrome so that mothers will no longer have autistic babies.

As a mother of a child with autism, I wouldn't change a hair on his head. His autism does not define him, but it definitely plays a role in who he is. I would never take that away, and I would never, ever, wish that he hadn't been born because of his autism.

And frankly, as an autistic person, I can't believe an organization that claims to represent me honestly wishes I were never born.

There is Not One Member of Their Board With Autism

Autism Speaks is one of few disability charities that refuses to include individuals with disabilities on their board or in leadership positions.

They are trying to make decisions regarding the future of autism without consulting any individuals with autism.

In fact, after being criticized so heavily for this, Autism Speaks added John Elder Robinson, an author and autism advocate who has autism, to the board.

He later resigned because the organization had no respect for individuals with autism and he could no longer align himself with their beliefs. You can read more about that here.

For those who say that it's simply that there aren't autistic people interested and qualified, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's board includes several autistic self-advocates.
*Update: Autism Speaks has responded to this criticism and has added autistic members to their board. While it's a teeny, tiny, baby step in the right direction, it doesn't rectify the damage this organization is done.
Autism Speaks Uses Disgusting Marketing Techniques

Autism Speaks says that they are all for spreading "awareness" of autism, but in reality, they are spreading only fear.

Over the years they have produced some really terrible videos to market their organization that portray children with autism as something to fear.

One of their videos is a commercial called "I Am Autism" which you can find on youtube here.

It shows like a horror movie including lines like "I know where you live" and "If you're happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails" and "You are scared, and you should be".

They also made a movie called "Autism Every Day" where mothers talk about how difficult their lives are because of their children with autism with their children in the room.

Including a mother who says that she contemplated driving off a bridge with her child with autism, but only didn't because she also had a neurotypical child.

Seriously. She says it. You can watch here.

Overall, I just cannot in good conscience support autism speaks as the mother of an autistic child or as an autistic person myself.

I know that these aren't common knowledge facts, but as you know more, you can do more.

Please do not support this organization. If you are looking for autism organizations to support, please check out the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network.

And if you'd REALLY like to support more acceptance and understanding of autistic people, grab this free Autism Signs Cheat Sheet to share with others!

Loved this post? You might also enjoy...

About Kaylene
Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so "weird" to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.

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(Inside: 4 reasons to not support autism speaks are a must read for all autism mamas! They're the most popular autism organization, but they're so harmful.) When we found out that A-Man is autistic, I went into research mode, like I do with everything. Eventually, that research lead me to realize I'm autistic myself.

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Anyway, despite bad organisations like Autism Speaks existing, autism still seems to get a lot of positive representation in the media, especially cartoons. I'll be going through some cool examples of animated autistic characters, canonically and non-canonically.

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Carl is canonically confirmed to have Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism. He has an intensive knowledge for trains and can draw them accurately from photographic memory. Once you talk to him, it's hard to get him to stop talking about it, but his friend George doesn't mind. He finds it endearing.

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He also has intensive knowledge about wildlife animals, spaceships and rockets. However, he does freak out whenever he enters an unfamiliar situation. In this clips, George tries to show Carl his ventriloquist puppet, it scares him. He stims by rocking back and forth on the floor, humming and drinking apple juice. George worries that he upset him, but Carl's mum reassures with him that it wasn't his fault, Carl has Asperger's and that he just responds to things differently.

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George's ventriloquist puppet scared Carl

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George goes to his friend Brain for advice and talks to him about his uncle who also has Asperger's. The show even explains how autism works in the same episode, comparing it to being on a different planet. This is a very accessible and understandable way for kids to learn about autism, and it's pretty accurate for a lot of people on the spectrum. The next day at school, George brings a book about trains for Carl, and they become friends after George understands what Carl is going through.

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Asperger's syndrome explained for children

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Dendy from the recent Cartoon Network show OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes is believed to be autistic. While not confirmed by the show or its creator Ian Jones-Quartey, she shares a lot of traits from people on the spectrum, making her relatable to them.

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OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | 1st Time KO + Dendy Meet! | Cartoon Network

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OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | Dendy Works At Gar's | Cartoon Network

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She has an unusual speaking patterns, having a very monotone voice and formal language. She has a hard time making friends as she couldn't figure out how to approach people until she meets K.O.. She often sets up super planned out schemes which seem complicated but they make sense to her.

She doesn't grasp social cues and doesn't understand metaphorical language. Like when K.O. says he has some pretty big shoes to fill, she tells him that he doesn't wear any shoes. She also appears apathetic when she's not. Like when she broke an important family item of Mr. Logic very suddenly, even though she was just taking a part out to fix it. It was a good think Mr. Logic seemed impressed when she fixed it.

She thinks very logically, which is why she's an amazing scientist and great at problem-solving and technology. She's super talented at computers and engineering. She also has a special interest in POW cards and will happily info dump about them if someone is willing to listen. She happy stims by bouncing up and down. She also wears her backpack as a comfort item.

While Dendy is portrayed as different from the other characters in the show, it's a very positive representation of autism. This is also helped by her best friend K.O., who sees her as someone who thinks differently, and weirdly, but in a cool way. K.O. also loves pow cards so they bond over that, and K.O. is just too nice of a kid to be judgemental of her differences. This is representation that we should be encouraging in children's media; accepting everyone's differences as long as nobody gets hurt.

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Peridot from another hit Cartoon Network show Steven Universe is seen by fans to be on the spectrum.

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Her entire arc in the show is that she's an alien who was made to feel defective on her home planet and was a villain at the beginning. But after being stranded on Earth and with the help of Steven, she eventually grew to love Earth and become a member of the Crystal Gems.

Like Dendy, she talks in a monotone voice, uses very formal language and is great with technology. She would use an alternative communication device (her pre-recorded voice) to put complicated things into words when she learns about Earth.

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Steven Universe | Peridot Learns About The Gems  | Cartoon Network

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She also doesn't understand when she's hurt someone's feelings, even though she didn't mean it. A common trait with people on the spectrum. She also has an odd sense of humour and doesn't like the unpredictably of the Crystal Gems.

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Steven Universe | Peridot Calls Amethyst Defective At The Kindergarten | Too Far | Cartoon Network

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She also has a hard time communicating with the people on Earth at first and would take things literally. Like when Steven laughs and says "Oh Peridot, you're killing me!" and she responds with "I am not! That would violate our truce agreement!"

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Steven Universe I Peridot Makes a Funny I Cartoon Network

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Steven Universe | Peridot Discovers Steven's Bathroom | Catch & Release | Cartoon Network

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She gets very upset when she loses them. Clutching on the foot Steven brings back to her and rocks back and forth for a while.

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Steven Universe I Steven Unbubbles Peridot I Cartoon Network

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During her introduction in the show, she wore limb enhancers. They might be both comfort items and weight stims.

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She also has a special interest in the show Camp Pining Hearts, analysing the show in great detail and making a complex chart about the characters from just one episode. She also bonds with Lapis Lazuli over the show when she moves into the barn she lives in.

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Steven universe - Camp Pining Hearts Clip

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Unlike Dendy, Steven Universe's creator Rebecca Sugar has commented on the theory. She doesn't consider Peridot, or any of the Gems on the show for that matter, to be neurotypical. But she can see why Peridot would be relatable to the neurodiverse and autistic fans of the show, as most Gems don't think, perceive or behave in ways considered to be 'normal' by the general population. Regardless, I still think it's a great way to represent those traits.

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Loop is a film about two kids on a canoe ride who both communicate differently from each other. Renee, a non-verbal autistic girl, and Marcus, a chatty boy who isn't autistic. Regardless, both of them love canoeing and learn how to see the world through each other's point of view.

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The film itself doesn't borderline tell us that Renee is autistic from any of the characters, but we know she canonically is because the film's director, Erica Milsom, and the Disney+ description of the episode tell us so. Even in the beginning of the film, where the camp coach tells Marcus he'll be canoeing with Renee, but doesn't mention she's autistic. However, it is hinted by Marcus asking "That doesn't talk? But doesn't she normally go with you?', as severely autistic children often have a guardian or teaching assistant working with them in group tasks at school or camp. This is so the audience are encouraged to see Renee as the normal human being that she is, she just doesn't communicate traditionally. Regardless, the signs that she's autistic are still there, like how she likes to repeat the same musical ringtone on her phone that ends with a "woof woof woof". She also flaps her hands and twitches her fingers, which is her stimming so she can release her energy from excitement or relax to cope with a distressing moment.

What I really love about this film is that while it's clear that Renee is very different from Marcus or most other people we know, she's not stupid. She understands what Marcus is saying, even if she doesn't give eye contact. She wants to go to the shore where the toilets are so she can touch the soft wheats growing from the lake surrounding it. When Marcus asks her what she wants to do, she panics at first when Marcus tries to do tricks with the boat to amuse her, but then he asks her what as she wants to do, she shows him a photo of a poop emoji to him on her phone, and subtly points at the shore with the toilets. This shows that she does understand what other people are saying, even if she doesn't read social cues very well, but has a different way of communicating herself.

To contrast from Renee, Marcus is a chattier, more vocal kid who you can tell, hasn't hung out with someone like Renee before. He's a bit confused at first, and obviously finds it weird, but he's never nasty to her. He always makes an effort to try and communicate with her, and even if it doesn't work at first, like with the boat trips, he tries something else and slowly understands Renee's way of communicating. Regardless, you can tell he gets a bit frustrated at times, he just goes with the flow as he gets to know Renee better. This makes Marcus a very endearing and relatable character without making him a "hero" like most of these kinds of stories tend to do. Especially when we live in a society where some people seem to shove autistic people to the side because they're different.

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There's also some POV shots in the movie from Renee's perspective. We see that her perspective of the world is more intense and sensitive, due to the more intense brightness and the sound echoing and reverting more rapidly. We can see this through her character design and body language as her eyes aren't always fully open and doesn't make much eye contact. The sound reverb in particular foreshadows and sets up the scene where Marcus takes the boat to a tunnel, where Renee can echo the ringtone she likes in there, thinking she'd find it cool. She likes it at first, but then the echoes get too intense for her, as we already know her hearing is sensitive, causing her to have a meltdown and panic. She paddles out of the tunnel, nearly rowing into a speeding boat. After crashing onto shore, Marcus gets angry which upsets Renee as she screams, throws her phone at Marcus, which lands in the lake, and hides under the canoe.

During these POV moments, we see that Renee doesn't make any eye contact with anyone who's talking to her, because she doesn't feel comfortable with that, and that's a common trait of autistic people. However, at the end of the movie, after Marcus waits for her to calm down and come out of the canoe, she looks at him with direct eye contact for one second, which symbolises the growth in their friendship in a very heart-warming ending with that classic Pixar cry factor. We also see that Marcus wants to hang out with Renee more as we see an after credits scene of Renee's phone receiving a message from him, asking for another boat ride at 3:00 pm, with three dog emojis for the "woof woof woof" from her ringtone.

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Pixar have worked with ASAN (Autism Self Advocacy Network) to review the movie during its development and production. They highlighted areas that worked and didn't work, suggested ideas and gave insight to the production team. They even went to community based organisations that served actresses with disabilities to find the voice of Renee. They casted actress Madison Bandy, who's autistic and non-verbal and very expressive, making her perfect for the role. They even recorded her lines from her own home, after realising that a crowded studio like Pixar wasn't the right environment for her.

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Loop | “The Making of Loop” Documentary | Pixar

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The film's logo has some meaning to it as well. It's hand-written and has a rainbow colour scheme, honouring the wonderful work around neurodiversity and inclusivity done by the autism community. We also see the same rainbow symbolism in the movie, with the button on Renee's phone that plays her favourite ringtone having the same colour palette.

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Mary and Max tells the tragic tale of two pen-friends. Mary, a lonely and curious Australian girl, and Max, a middle-aged, obese American man with Asperger's syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder. Released theatrically in 2009 and directed by Australian stop-motion animator Adam Elliot (Harvie Krumpet), being his feature length debut.

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Mary and Max is a brilliantly dark, comedic and heavy-hitting film that tackles many themes and subjects such as bullying, depression, anxiety, childhood neglect, loneliness, friendship, addiction, many things that are worth entire essays about. But for now, I'll be focusing on the film's portrayal of autism while referencing the other themes when I can.

As I mentioned earlier, Max is diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. However, he doesn't get his diagnosis until later in the film after being hospitalised from a severe anxiety attack. Despite this, these traits are foreshadowed through his character from his introduction in the movie. He even lists some of them in this scene right here:

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A New Thing called Asperger's Syndrom - Mary and Max (2009)

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Max is a born-Jewish, turned-atheist New Yorker who is overweight, lives in isolation, loves the same cartoon as Mary called The Noblets, and is very sensitive.

Max thinks and interprets everything very literally and logically. As a result, he finds the world very confusing and chaotic, doesn't like crowds and gets questions society issues such as inaccurate bus times, people wasting food, littering, stuff that are funnily enough, real life issues, but are normalised by everyone around Max. He especially hates it when people litter.

He also doesn't read non-verbal language and social cues very well. Ever since he was a kid, he carries around a tiny book that show him what a happy and angry face looks like. He feels comfortable farting loudly in a public lift, which is seen as rude despite not trying to be malicious. He also struggles with understanding love and sex, as he gets grossed out and anxious when being flirted by a woman at his weight watchers club.

He also doesn't show much emotion himself. Most of the time, he has the same sad facial expression but will emote facially when he's stressed out or angry, which autistic people can feel in extreme ways. He even says in one of his letters that even though he physically struggles to smile, he smiles in his brain. He's proud of having Asperger's and gets annoyed when people say its defective and they'll find a cure someday. Despite this, he wishes he can cry, as much as he struggles to show his emotions in a traditional way.

This leads to him feeling isolated from the entire world, with no friends at home other than his imaginary friend named Mr. Ravioli, his pets and elderly and blind neighbour Ivy. He considers Mary to be his only friend, despite being on opposite sides of the world and only communicating through post.

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Max is also hypersensitive, clumsy and is very easily anxious. His hypersensitivity is shown through not just his reactions, but his character design as well. His ears stick far out from his face, unlike any other character in the film. He also has big, droopy eyes that are usually half closed, a long nose and a big mouth. His exaggerated features help sell how hyper sensitive he is in a very biological sense. It should be noted that while autistic people don't have distinct facial features like this, the films uses them to portray Max's character in a very subtle way.

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He also like to organise things and keep things such as toe nail clippings and dead flies in jars, but in an orderly fashion. Organised by either time or size. He also has a routine. He has the same meals for each specific days of week every week, all his clothes are the same blue tracksuits and he picks the same lottery tickets each time, which becomes all the more impressive when he wins it during the film.

He likes to solve problems and is very creative. He's always thinking of creative solutions he wish would exist, such as the fat fairy, which is like the tooth fairy but extracts fat. He also suggest giving blind people canes with sharp points at the end of them, so they can pick up rubbish as they walk. Autistic people like to solve problems and have wild imaginations, but with very different ways of communicating and executing them.

Whenever Mary comes to Max about issues like being teased, it makes him anxious, but comes up with a solution. Mary gets teased by a bully at her school named Bernie Clifford for having a brown birth mark on her forehead. When asking Max for advice, he suggests to tell Bernie that her birthmark is made of chocolate. So when she goes to heaven, she becomes in charge of all chocolate, and that Bernie wouldn't get anymore chocolate. Mary tried it with Bernie, and he ended up crying and stopped teasing her.

He eats very unique food as well. His favourite food are chocolate hot dogs, essentially a chocolate bar in a hot dog bun. Autistic people tend to be fussy eaters or eat the same food repeatedly, regardless of how healthy and nutritional they are, due to being sensitive to the look, smell or texture of food.

Like when I was a kid, at McDonald's I'd always get a plain burger with my happy meal but would never want to eat meat or any potential cheese, sauce or veg in it. Just the bread. But I always loved putting my fries in the bread and turn it into a chip sandwich. Nowadays I'd happily eat anything on a burger except for cheese, but I still tend to be fussy.

Despite having a food routine, Max still tries new food recipes, albeit with interesting ingredients, such as chicken seasoned with sweets and drenched with cola.

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This is also demonstrated metaphorically through the film's brilliant Mise en Scene. Max has a very black and white view of the world, hence why Max and everything else at where he lives is literally in black and white film noir style. To contrast, Mary's scene are in full colour, however the colours are pretty muted and brownish, as that is Mary's favourite colour and the colour of her eyes too.

What's genius about this is that Mary and Max mail items to each other, such as food, photos, drawings and a cute red bobble. Everything that Mary sends to Max is still in full colour over the black and white world. This is a clever way of expressing how Mary is Max's only friend and the only thing that makes sense to him, as well as the only source of colour and light that's in his life.

This moodboard I found online perfectly demonstrates what I mean by how the film uses colour effectively. It's especially noticeable through the bobble on Max's hat, which Mary sent to him.

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Max also gets anxious and overwhelmed very easily by the most seemingly minor things. When Mary sends her first letter to Max, he has an anxiety attack over it, not knowing what to do at first. He copes by standing on a stool at the corner of a wall and rocking back and forth with his hands over his mouth. As we can see through flashbacks of his childhood, this was always his way of coping with stressful times such as being bullied. This is his style of stimming, which is something an autistic person does to cope with stress to release energy. He then stares outside a window for 18 years before deciding to reply to Mary.

His anxiety attacks get more intense as the film progresses. He gets institutionalised for eight months. When Mary tells Max that she used him as a case study for a book on Asperger's syndrome with the hope to cure it and was publishing it worldwide, despite telling Max he'd get half the royalties, this angers him immensely. Feeling betrayed as he is proud of being autistic and don't want to be "cured", he types out a letter before scrapping it, and instead breaks the M stamp from his typewriter and posting it to Mary, symbolising their temporary end to their friendship.

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This puts Mary in a Great Depression, while Max is living his life as usually but feeling more isolated. He even strangles a homeless guy for littering a cigarette on the floor. This is the most furious we see of Max, and was building up from the amount of times we seem him get angry when someone litters. The man says his sorry, which causes Max to let the man go, think about forgiveness and excepting flaws. Which leads to Max sending Mary a letter with his entire Noblet collection as a symbol of his forgiveness.

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Watching Max experience his life and talk about it through his letters to Mary really allows you to watch the film through his perspective. The crude and beautifully ugly art style and colour help sell this too. Adam Elliot, being an empath since he was a kid, likes to tell stories that focus on a character that has issues, and make you empathise with them. The first-person perspective of the characters talking about their issues through the letters they right allowing the audience to put themselves in their shoes, which makes Mary and Max more endearing characters despite their flaws.

Mary and Max was Adam's first feature-length film, which has allowed him to explore themes and topics in more detail. He mainly creates animated shorts, but doesn't usually worry about length. He likes to let the film take as much time as it needs to express the character without trying to squeeze time. This gives the story and passage of time in Mary and Max feel organic and natural without feeling too short or long.

He goes into more detail about all this in this interview here about the production of Mary and Max, as well as his history with filmmaking:

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Mary and Max: The Exhibition - interview with Adam Elliot

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Oscar winning animation director and writer Adam Elliot speaks candidly about his stop frame animation processes and, more importantly, about why he makes films.

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In conclusion, I think Max is a very relatable and endearing character. One you feel sorry for, but happy for at the same time. This is because despite his traumatic past and living in isolation, he's proud of his disability and is comfortable with the way he lives. Being friends with Mary also gives him inner peace and comfort. Max is a lovely soul that loves to solve problems and do things right, he just figures things out differently from most people, which is exactly how most people with Asperger's usually are.

I think Adam Elliot did a perfect job getting you in the Max's shoes and seeing the world from his metaphorical glasses, thanks to the first-person narrative and Mise en Scene. If you haven't seen Mary and Max already, I highly recommend it! What I spoke about is just one theme from it. No matter who you are, you'll find something you can gravitate to in this film, on an emotional and personal level.

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What if I were to tell you that one of the most iconic cartoon characters of all time might be autistic? First airing on Nickelodeon in 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, and is regarded as one of the most famous cartoon characters in history, on a level comparable to Mickey Mouse and Mario. With a show that's still being watched and quoted by kids and adults to this day, there's a lot of speculation and theories that SpongeBob might be on the spectrum, and there's evidence to support this:

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For one, SpongeBob takes things very literally and logically. He has a hard time understanding metaphorical language. One classic example is in the episode "Squid on Strike" where SpongeBob and Squidward go on strike. Squidward told SpongeBob when they got fired from the Krusty Krab that they would "dismantle the oppressive establishment". SpongeBob read "dismantle the establishment" as "destroy the building". And guess what? He destroys the Krusty Krab. It's a common trait of autistic people to take things literally but the portrayed it in a very funny way.

He can't read social cues very well and is also very sarcasm blind, which ties to him thinking literally and logically. He laughs inappropriately and tends to be annoying to the people around him but isn't aware of that. His relationship with Squidward is a perfect example as its always clear Squidward finds him irritating, but SpongeBob just wants to be his friend. Squidward doesn't really have the same feelings back but SpongeBob doesn't read that. A lot of the show's comedy stems from the fact he doesn't know he's annoying. However, it never comes off as too mean-spirited as usually, when someone like Squidward is a jerk to him about it, they usually get their comeuppance.

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Spongebob Squarepants - Annoy Squidward Day

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SpongeBob absolutely loves his job as a Fry-Cook at the Krusty Krab. He is extremely talented at what he does, he is the only fry cook that can properly prepare a perfect Krabby Patty. It's very common for autistic people to feel extreme passion for a particular area of interest, having intensive knowledge for it and if it's skill-related, being super-good at it as a result. Luckily for Spongebob, that special interest is also his job. We see how happy he is when he works and how loyal and amazing he is at his job, making him possibly the happiest workaholic in animation.

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He regularly has meltdowns over relatively minor things. While not a requirement for a diagnosis, it's common for autistic people to get distressed over things that seem minor to most people. When he breaks his spatula in one episode:

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My Favorite Part of SBSP "All That Glitters"

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And when he loses a gold star at boating class:

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Most of the time when moments like these happen, it's played out for laughs. But for certain people, even those who aren't autistic, it can be relatable at times.

He's also super-talented at art, math and has excellent photo-graphic memory, tho his short-term memory is pretty limited. He was also voted the "most clumsy" at high school.

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Spongebob "I was voted most artistic in High School"

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So while there's a lot of aspects of SpongeBob character that could suggest he's on the spectrum, his creator Stephen Hillenburg has never commented on it. So we don't know for sure if it was intentional or not. However, SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny, along with other voice actors from the show have commented on it in this interview:

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Sometimes you go into an interview expecting one thing and you end up with something completely different. This is what happened at SDCC this year when I interviewed the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants.

The Saturday morning of SDCC, I sat down with Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Mr. Lawrence (writer, story editor, and voice of Plankton). Also at the interview was another member of the media from a different website, and they asked the first question.

Journalist: What has changed since you were first on the air?

Tom Kenny: People watched cable.

Clancy Brown: On the TV.
Joshua Stone: Now they watch it on their phones.
TK: I see these animators breaking their backs, slaving for hours a day making everything look great so people can watch it on a screen this big (puts hands into the shape of a typical phone screen). "Wow, this looks awesome. What are you watching? Lawrence of Arabia, it's great. And 2001 is awesome." The world is so different, but SpongeBob and the comedy of SpongeBob and the characters are really the same. They are archetype characters that are kind of ancient comedy tropes. The naive guy, the bad guy, the greedy guy, the dumb guy, and the curmudgeon. Commedia dell'arte, as Clancy said earlier.

Roger Bumpass: One of the nice things about a long-running show, though, is that our characters can be fleshed out further and further. We all started a bit monotone. The singular in our character.

CB: (in his Mr. Krabs voice) Speak for yourself. I'm very expressive.
JS: First, I want to thank you all, because you helped me impress my kids.
All: You're welcome.
JS: Last year I interviewed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and [my kids] were like, "I don't know who that is." It was great, but they couldn't care less. This year though I told them I'm going to interview SpongeBob, and they were like "You're going to interview Squidward, and Mr. Krabs, and SpongeBob, and Plankton?!" They were so happy.
TK: Oh, cool. Take that. (In SpongeBob voice) Suck it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

RB: We enjoy raising the stock of people.
JS: Yes, thank you. I was talking to Clancy a little bit before actually and my boys are both autistic and I watch a lot of SpongeBob as a result. With my age, SpongeBob came on in 1999, when I was finishing grad school and I didn't watch the show, but now I watch a lot of SpongeBob. So I want to know why you think autistic kids relate so well to SpongeBob?
TK: Yeah, I have a lot to say about this, actually.

Mr. Lawrence: Yeah, it is a phenomenon.

TK: Somebody just came up to me yesterday on the floor and their kid was was quite severely autistic and 14 years old, but much younger obviously in other ways.

CB: SpongeBob connects at every level of the spectrum.

TK: Yeah. I think they like that character. He doesn't have a filter, he does what he wants. It comes up a lot actually, the autistic thing comes up, like at comic-cons and things like that. I've had people say "I didn't know if my kids understood words until I heard him laughing at a SpongeBob episode. Then I realized it." It's really heavy, like mind-blowing stuff where you're like wow, this thing, this product, this show that's just trying to be funny.

CB: But there's no guile in him, there is absolutely no guile. I think that's part of it too.

TK: Yeah, but it's funny, it's this thing where you're just trying to make something is diverting and makes people laugh and makes us laugh, but it's got all this other stuff that it can do. Obviously you're not thinking about that when you're making it, but once you put it out in the world it has different uses. And the autistic thing comes up so insanely often that I wish someone would write a term paper on it or a treatise on it.

It's really interesting, and I know autistic kids fixate on certain things and certain shows, but there' something about Spongebob and it's not just that SpongeBob is bigger than other shows, I don't know, I don't have a theory at all.

CB: It would be interesting to figure that out. The color scheme, maybe the music.
JS: It's like you said, there's no filter.
CB: There's no filter, there's no guile.
JS: Spongebob's a kid. He's a kid, he is what he is. And my kids, there 11 and 12, but there's a lot of ways there not 11 and 12. There's no filter. If something comes to their head, it's just going straight out.
TK: Yeah.

ML: That's what the spirit of the show is. It's silly. It's silly roles and kids connect to silly right away.

RB: There's a simplicity to it, not only in the gags and the words, but to the colors and the drawings that might appeal to autistic kids or adults also.

TK: Even though, obviously we're all autistic to a degree, especially in this business and animation I think being autistic is helpful to your skill set to some degree. Animation, drawing storyboards.
JS: You get hyper-focused.
TK: It's hyper-focused. My kid that wants to be an animator is probably slightly on the spectrum. We live in a world and work in a world where you have to watch yourself all the time. You can't do certain things, you have to be polite. Kids are always getting shutdown - don't say this, don't do that, shh, watch it, why did you do that. SpongeBob doesn't think about any of that, he just goes for it. They identify with that and maybe find it empowering to see a character on tv that does that, yet everybody finds likes everybody. SpongeBob has friends, SpongeBob has a life, SpongeBob has a pal.

CB: He's sweet.

TK: He's sweet, SpongeBob has a job.
JS: He's a pure character.
RB: We joke about this show being therapy for us, the way we have to do crazy things, but as it turns out, considering this very topic, it could be therapy for others. And I think you're right, a treatise should be done on this and it would be valid.

CB: (In Mr. Krabs' voice) Call the Mayo Clinic.

TK: SpongeBob is like an underwater therapy pet. He's like a therapy dogfish.

RB: We're a service cartoon.

TK: Don't pet me, I'm working.
JS: It's one of these things you can get a kid to calm down to.
TK: Or get wound up.
JS: Especially when the theme song starts. They just go.
TK: Yeah, I love it that after 20 years that theme song still gets kids wound up. Yeah!

ML: You'll see it if you go down to the panel today, when the lights go down and they start playing that song and it's kind of like a Pavlovian response: "Are you ready, kids?"
JS: If you just did that part and turned off the sound, the whole audience would do it, you wouldn't need to play the song.
ML: Which is crazy. That's crazy. That all by itself that idea that that everyone likes that we're still doing that. You get two seasons on something and then you're done. But we've got to play these guys, I've gotten to write this show for so long that it's almost an appendage; it's second nature. It's part of me in a way that my DNA, that if you removed it, I'd probably die.

CB: (In Mr. Krabs' voice) Easy with the appendage.

RB: I used to say that Squidward was my alter ego, but as the years have gone it's no longer alter.

ML: He's just Squidward.

TK: Roger Bumpass is Squidward's alter ego.

ML: I think we all are, to an extent, our characters, too. I think the reason we were the right people for these characters was because we've got something, there's something about each character we seem to embody in some way. My character Plankton is an evil jerk, but there's always a humanity in there and I relate to just the idea of being stepped on and shoved in the corner, "What about me?", that kind of thing. When you're an artist, you're working in it all, you're always "mine's good"; you're craving approval, so I relate to that part of it.
JS: After 19 years, you've achieved something most shows can't say. People who started watching you [as kids] now have kids that are watching you. When people come up to you, especially at conventions like this, how does that make you feel?
CB: I'm feeling like pretty soon we should be sold to Disney.

TK: With The Muppets and Marvel Superheroes.

CB: Here's the thing, with other multigenerational properties, the generations will argue over their particular generation of their properties. With SpongeBob they don't argue.

ML: There's no contention whatsoever.

CB: Your grandparents are going to watch the same ones that the kids are watching.

ML: Every age comes up to me and says "Oh my god, I watch you every day. Thank you for making my childhood great and now my kids are watching the same thing."

TK: That's pretty remarkable.

CB: Not everything has to be f****** reinvented.

TK: That is a mindblower. It's a very small number of actors that get to work on a show that has that. It's kind of like this weird Navy Seal club that we're in, "It's like I can take a guy's heart out of his body in seven seconds?", not many people get to say that.
JS: You, The Simpsons.
ML: It's us and The Simpsons.

RB: I guess that's it, huh.

TK: Artists and actors are just trying to get employed in something so they don't live under a bridge a push around a shopping cart with your stuff in it. Anything above that is gravy.

I was able to take a picture with the cast, and Brown asked what my sons' names were. Brown then said their names in Mr. Krabs' voice, and also he said his dog had the same name as one of my sons. When I played the audio back for my boys, it impressed them to no end.

I'd like to express my utmost appreciation to the people at Nickelodeon and the cast of SpongeBob for making this happen. Be sure to check out the new Halloween special, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom, this October!The special will actually be done as stop motion animation, similar to the Rankin/Bass holiday classics Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Mad Monster Party.
For further musings from Joshua Stone, you can follow him on the Twitter @1NerdyOne.

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The 'SpongeBob' Cast Discusses Why The Show Speaks To Autistic Kids

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Sometimes you go into an interview expecting one thing and you end up with something completely different. This is what happened at SDCC this year when I interviewed the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants. The Saturday morning of SDCC, I sat down with Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Mr. Lawrence (writer, story editor, and voice of Plankton).

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SpongeBob has a huge following with autistic children and adults alike, myself included. In the intreview, the voice actors talk about how SpongeBob is an adult, but is still a child in many ways. The character has no social filters and expresses his kid-like energy all the time. This is how a lot of autistic teenagers and adults are. Even though they can still be mature, they never seem to abandon their childhood traits and hobbies. This flexibility is why SpongeBob is such a relatable character to everyone. Making him a kid-like adult allows the adult audience to relate to his adult traits while also finding his child-like innocence endearing, which also draws in kids as well.

I also believe that one of the reasons why SpongeBob is so popular with kids and autistic people is because it seems like a very friendly universe to them. The show oozes charm. It's a very light-hearted, happy world that's also silly, goofy and surreal, which makes the show approachable to anyone.

So while we don't know for sure that SpongeBob is on the spectrum or not, it is interesting to think about. The parallels between common autistic traits and SpongeBob's personality is very evident, along with the show's impact leaves some food for thought and it's amazing that autistic people, regardless of age, have a famous character they can identify with and be treated as normal.

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In 2015, iconic children's show Sesame Street introduced their first ever autistic character Julia, and had her first episode in 2017.

Big Bird meets Julia for the first time, but learns she has autism and what autism is, thanks to the help of Julia's friends and human mentor Alan.

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Sesame Street: Meet Julia (Full Clip | 10 Min)

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When Big Bird first says hi to Julia, he immediately assumes she doesn't like him because she didn't reply right away. She was concentrating on her painting, which is something she's great at. Alan explains to Big Bird that it's nothing personal, she has autism and has a different way of talking to people. Julia also like to repeat words and when she gets happy or excited, she jumps up and down and waves her hands, which is her stim.

They then play a game of tag, but while bouncing and saying "boing" as that's how Julia plays the game. Suddenly, due to her sensitive hearing, she panics after hearing a siren go by. Big Bird gets confused, as he didn't find the sirens very loud himself. But the other characters tell him that "it's loud for Julia", which helps him understand Julia better. This is something that's import for adults and children who are not on the spectrum to hear. Certain things, especially loud high pitch noises, can be very overwhelming for autistic people, so it's best for people understand that clearly.

Alan takes Julia to the quiet garden upstairs. He calmly reminds her to take deep breathes, and she removes herself from the situation. It's quite a peaceful garden too, which is why Julia likes going there. I think it was great that there was a guardian to help Julia, but the scene also gives helpful advice to take a breather when things get too distressing. It's a good lesson for both autistic people and even those who aren't on the spectrum.

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Julia Bascom, the executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network was consulted to create the character. She was played by puppeteer Stacey Gordon, whose son has autism. She based a lot of her movements on him. It's really commendable that Sesame Street did their research and planning carefully. They got the right people to help them bring the character to life and represent autism in the best way possible.

One of the team's main goals was to not make Julia's character "autism on a stick" as Bascom put it. They wanted to focus on her strengths and what she's like as a person. The challenging part was trying to streamline how her autism was represented, as it's a very diverse spectrum so people are autistic in many different ways. Bascom and her team weren't given a list of traits, but rather they just went with what was fairly common and visible, but also to carefully say this is what autism is like for Julia.

She's a very identifiable and relatable character who wants you to know she has autism, but she wants to be friends with you and be treated like a normal person. When Big Bird asks Alan about autism, he says that Julia likes people to know she has autism so that they're aware, but she still likes to play. People with autism like to set boundaries on the privacy of their disability. We usually want people to know we're on the spectrum, but want to be treated as normal people.

They also didn't want Julia to be a one-off character in the show. She doesn't just teach kids about autism in one episode and then never appears again. The only one-off aspect of that episode is explain autism to kids. She's made multiple appearances in the show afterwards. Here's a wholesome clip of Julia and Abby singing the Sesame Street theme.

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Sesame Street: Abby Cadabby & Julia Sing Sunny Days

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What's great about this clip is that Julia is still being her same, lovely self as we've seen in her introduction episode, but there's not a single mention of "autism" in it. They've happily welcomed Julia into Sesame Street with open arms and she seems pretty settled in there. So people who watch the show, especially autistic children, now have another recurring character they can identify and possibly relate to.

You can even see it in her character design. You wouldn't be able to tell she was autistic by looking at her. She's a muppet like all the other muppets in the show, while also having features that make her stick out as an individual.

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Overall, I think Julia is a perfect character to represent and educate autism in a children's show like Sesame Street. They explain what autism is like for Julia in one episode, and continue to accept her into Sesame Street without needing to mention the A word again. Thanks to Sesame Street's welcoming and friendly tone, they normalise autism while also educating kids and even adults on what is and how to treat people on the spectrum as normal as everyone else.

Her introduction episode makes it very clear that while Julia has autism, she's different like how everyone is different from each other. Regardless, we should all try to treat each other with the same level of respect and make everyone feel as included as possible.

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Harmful Representation - Autistic Superpower

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Harmful Representation - Autistic Superpower

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While there's a lot of good representation of autism in media, especially in animation, there's also harmful representation as well. As I mentioned before, people are autistic in many different ways, which is why it's called a spectrum. However, some media like to focus on the more positive areas of the spectrum. This leads to the trope of genius autistic character who's just misunderstood and socially awkward. While I can see that they want to do this kind of representation to have a positive impact, it does more harm than good.

The best example of this is Dr. Shaun Murphy from the recent TV show The Good Doctor.

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Currently, Shaun seems to be TV's most popular surgeon. He has near-perfect recall, photographic memory, has god-like diagnostic abilities and seems to exceed every other surgeon around him. He seems to be the face of autistic representation in American television.

While it is possible for people with autism to exceed at something, especially due to their hyper fixation on special interests, the reality is that that is just one part of the spectrum. In fact, most people on the spectrum have either average or lower intelligence. Romanticising autism as a super power over a more accurate representation can set the standard for autistic people too shy for people not on the spectrum. Especially in a society where we base our information on the media we consume, it can make people think autistic people are not worthy if they're not as smart or skilled as that genius autistic doctor on TV.

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It creates a new myth called model neurominority". This is a spectrum version of the term "model minority" which was originally coined by sociologist William Petersen. It describes positively stereotyped demographic groups that achieve success despite marginalisation. For example, Asian Americans were given more positive western representation in the 70s due to media such as Bruce Lee's martial arts films portraying Asian protagonists as strong, hard-working badasses. While it finally gave the Asian community better and less racist representation in Western media, it also leaves other minorities, such as African Americans, to be left out and seen as less hard-working. This undermined the call for systemic anti-racist changed demanded by the Civil Rights Movement.

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I think its admirable that writers want to represent autism and help reduce the stigma that autistic people are lazy and rude. However, romanticising autism as a super power can be more counter-productive than they realise. It leaves out all the other people on the spectrum and as a result, can set standards too high or give a 'definitive' personality for autism. Take piranhas for example: the media likes to represent piranhas as blood thirsty animals who are exclusively carnivorous and are attracted to blood. However, scientific research has proven otherwise. They have quite a broad diet of plants as well as meat and human deaths recorded from piranha attacks are extremely rare compared to just receiving minor bites. Representation is important, and is best to keep that representation as broad as possible. Representing both good and bad traits.

If you want to learn more about autism, I've included a link to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) website. They were a major source for this assignment and has the best resources to truly learning about the spectrum.

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ASAN November Newsletter Dear friend, As we've begun wrapping up the year, we're still hard at work here at ASAN! We've celebrated self-advocacy and looked back at the work we've done this year, and we've continued to work on the issues to come! Earlier this month, we celebrated ASAN's birthday at our 2023 ASAN Gala,...

Read More "

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a national grassroots disability rights organization run by and for Autistic Americans, advocating for systems change and ensuring that the voices of Autistic people are heard in policy debates and the halls of power. Our staff work to educate communities and improve public perceptions of autism. As a 501(c)(3)...

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ASAN October Newsletter Dear friend, It's the most boo-tiful time of year, but we're still fighting some of the scariest things our community deals with, like discriminatory health care systems, subminimum wage, and lack of supports. Here's what we've been working on this month. In September, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...

Read More "

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Again, this is very misleading and weaponises autism as a whole. There is no scientific evidence that suggests autism is a step in human evolution. In fact, it's always been around, it just hasn't had as much awareness until now. So this is false information, socially and scientifically. Saying the sentence out loud "Predators are invading Earth to get autistic so they can improve their DNA" sounds so ridiculous that people were think you were making the plot synopsis up. But that's exactly what the film is about.

Back to The Good Doctor, he's not the only "white male autistic genius who is just misunderstood and socially awkward" character in mainstream media. There's also Sherlock Holmes from BBC's crime drama Sherlock and Sheldon Cooper from CBS' sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Unlike Shaun Murphy, these two aren't canonically confirmed to be autistic, but they share the same characteristics and simplification issues and are widely believed to be on the spectrum by fans and the public.

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"Model neurominority" elevates some people that hit the more 'successful' quota while excluding others on the spectrum. While positive depictions can help reduce the stigma, inaccuracies can leave many people behind. While autistic people can exceed at things, there's those who need constant 24-hour supervision in group homes or assistance from home health aides. Those people get erased from the public eye and can lead to many misconceptions about autism.

Another example is The Predator reboot in 2018. Although I've never seen The Good Doctor, I have seen the latest Predator film. The film features a boy with Asperger's syndrome called Rory. In the Predator franchise, predators are alien creatures that collect specimens from species across space so they can extract the most desirable genetic traits from their DNA so they can upgrade their species genes. In the 2018 reboot, they are on the hunt for Rory because they see his autism as an upgrade. The film even likes to portray autism as a "step' in human evolution. So basically, the predators want to become autistic.

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Life, Animated is a 2016 documentary about Owen Suskind, a 23 year-old autistic man who struggles with autism, and how he used his passion for Disney films to make sense of life. Based on the book Life, Animated: The Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism by Owen's dad Ron Suskind, it delves into Owen's life and how he learns to enter adulthood despite his autism.

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Life, Animated Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Owen Suskind Documentary HD

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When Owen was three, he was diagnosed with Autism. Throughout a good chunk of his childhood he struggled to communicate with the outside world, only speaking Gibberish. He struggled to make friends and bond with this family, but he always loved to watch Disney films. It wasn't until he started quoting Disney films where his family realise that he was using these films as a way to understand the outside world.

There was one moment where after his older brother Walter's 9th birthday, he was crying. Owen told their parents that Walter doesn't want to grow up like Peter Pan or Mowgli, and then ran off. There was another moment where his dad would use this Iago puppet to talk to him, and that was the first conversation he ever had with his son.

Since then, the whole family would talk to Owen in primarily Disney dialogue, and he would slowly come to sense with the world as a result. He would learn how to read by memorising the credits, Hercules would teach him not to give up, The Jungle Book about wanting friends, Pinocchio about being a real boy, Disney is basically his livelihood.

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Regardless of his struggles, he would grow up to be quite an independent adult. The film documents him graduating university, moving into his own apartment, getting a job at a film cinema and he even had a girlfriend, which we'll get into later. He even hosts a Disney club, where they would watch Disney movies together, play music from them and discuss the lessons and meanings of them. He was watching The Lion King to help him learn how to be more independent as he was about to live on his own. It was the scene where Mufasa tells Simba that one day, he will become king of the pride lands.

While Disney has helped him make sense of the world, it also lead to some problems as well. As we all know, life doesn't really work like a Disney film, but Owen hates uncertainty. So when it came to concepts that we don't see in Disney films, that's where he feels uncomfortable. Like his very supportive older brother Walter, whenever he tries to explain sex to him, a topic we don't see in Disney films, Owen gets confused.

Disney has a very traditional way of portraying romance in their animated films. Usually the guy gets the girl, and they have a final kiss and live happily ever after by the end of the film. As we know, this isn't very realistic. So when his girlfriend breaks up with him for being too close, he has a hard time processing it because he thought they'd be together forever, based on how films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin have ended.

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Despite finding his way of understanding life better, he still had struggles. He was bullied at school and would take everything they say literally. Contrary to popular belief, autistic people have the same wants and desires as most people, especially making friends. They just struggle to communicate in a traditional way, which leads people to believe they're just introverted when they're not. To cope, he uses his imagination to draw and write his own Disney fan art and fan fiction. He loved to draw the sidekicks, as he felt like a Disney sidekick: a more comical and whimsical character whose also friendly, delightful and always helps the hero out in their destiny. He even wrote a fan fiction where he was the protector of all sidekicks, in the Land of the Lost Sidekicks, as back when he was bullied, he felt like a lost sidekick. This fan fiction was even fully animated beautifully by animation studio Mac Guff for the documentary.

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This probably has to do with animated features, particularly Disney ones, having more exaggerated emotions through clear facial features and body language. This makes it easier for children to clearly understand and read a character's emotion. It also makes it easier for them to connect with the characters as well, which brings the emotional aspect of it. So with that logic, an autistic child is going to have an easier time reading emotions through exaggerated drawings rather than just being told.

Just look at the characters from Disney Pixar's Inside Out for example. While not a Disney movie mentioned in the documentary, these characters are embodiments of certain emotions. So they exaggerated their character designs and pushed their facial expressions and body language so you can clearly feel which emotions each character represent. Joy is happy so her pose is more open and upright, whereas Sadness is more closed together and down. They are also perfectly colour coded with their emotions too (Red = Anger, Yellow = Joy, Green = Disgust, Blue = Sadness, Purple = Fear).

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Even newer Disney films, like Frozen, would make fun of these clichés, as Ana's whole character arc is that she gets engaged with someone she just met, Hans, only for him to be revealed to be the bad guy in the end.

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Disney Frozen (2013) - Hans' betrayal [HD] 720p.

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I'm starting to realise, if Disney stuck to clichés like this, it could actually become pretty harmful. Most people learn what relationships are really like from experience, but Disney sometimes gives people false expectations of them with the "Happily Ever After" trope.

Thankfully, there are Disney films that do break that. Owen watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame to cope with his breakup. A story about Quasi Modo, a hero who doesn't get the girl he loves in the end, but does get accepted into society after years of being ridiculed for his looks.

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Esmeralda and Phoebus kiss/Heaven's light reprise

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While Owen did eventually get over his ex-girlfriend, this is why I think it's important that while it's good to have happy endings in stories, it's also important to keep the outcomes realistic when it comes to complex topics about life. If people like Owen are going to use Disney as a coping mechanism through life, it's important for a studio as big as them to keep their characters and stories understandable, interesting but never misleading.

I think it's magical how an autistic person can use their passion for something as a tool to make sense with the world. Owen used his love for Disney movies as a way to learn lessons and communicate, which makes him a very interesting and unique person as a result. I can also to Owen as I often use my passion for animation and video games as a living, hence why I'm here, writing this assignment for university.

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Personal Character and Story Development

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Personal Character and Story Development

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While I was collecting my research, I was developing an autistic character and story idea for my final year project.

I wanted to write a story about an autistic kid who's talented at one thing, but is struggling to learn a new, un-related thing that he has to do for something important. I wanted to focus on the hyper fixation and special interest traits that many autistic people have. I can personally relate to this and it goes hand-in-hand with my psychic power idea. Also, struggling to have the energy to learn something outside of your interest for an assignment is something that even non-autistic people can relate to. It's why procrastination is such a common thing with students.

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I also want to subvert the trope used in characters such as Shaun Murphy where their autism is treated as a 'superpower'. Instead, I thought about giving my main character a superpower that they struggle to control because of their autism. The best super power I can think of are psychic power, as they are controlled by the mind. From sensory overload to hyper fixation, it can be hard for many autistic people to focus on certain tasks. They can be capable of doing them, they just struggle to focus on it properly which can cause them to take longer than usual or find a different way to do it that best suits them.

However, I don't want to portray autism as a crutch, more so to showcase how autism effects my character specifically by sticking to the most fairly common traits. That's why I don't want to mention the word "autism" in my story and to be only suggested by visual details like body stims to convey certain emotions and how they interact with others. They are super talented at something else such as drawing or playing video games. Their intensive knowledge of it allows them to be super good at it, but struggle to adapt to anything else. But that's the obstacle my character will overcome at the end of the short, and they're going to do it their way.

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So the story structure would play out like this:

1. Our main character is in their comfort zone, doing what they love and good at.
2. They are then tasked with completing a job in a certain way set by a peer.
3. They struggle to complete the tasks that way and gets overwhelmed.
4. They take a break, and try to complete task their way, and succeed.
5. Rewards themselves by doing what they love again, now with greater knowledge.

It's a simple story that expresses that it's okay to do things differently if it suits you. It could also help anyone who struggles with similar situations to overcome them.

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As for the character, I haven't finalised it yet as there's still changes I wanted to make to the world and theme, but this is the latest design I've drawn and how I developed it so far:

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Here's the first doodles I scribbled onto my notepad:

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And a rough sketch I drew on my iPad:

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I wanted to give the character certain features that would hint at the fact he's autistic. His eyes are squashed and he lacks eye contact with people around him. He has big ears to give him sensitive hearing and has a square head to symbolise his nerdy personality, much like SpongeBob, but with bevel edges to symbolise his kindness.

He also wears a bright blue hoodie under a washed-out maroon school blazer. At this point I thought about a school setting to give him a surprising task. The hoodie under the school blazer makes him stand out while also symbolising him trying to get comfortable with a non-autistic society. He has shaggy hair as he doesn't like change too often and wears headphones as he loves listening to music on the go.

His pupils are like black rings instead of being fully coloured. Most of the other characters will have fully coloured pupils so the distinct ring eyes can symbolise his different perspective of the world.

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From there, I would take note of any changes that could be made. These changes being exaggerated his features more and more and simplifying certain details so that it would be easier to draw and animate. Time management is an important factor in animation so keeping the designs simple will benefit me in the long run. I replaced his headphones with earphones as they were easier to draw around his hoodie.

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And then I simplified it again. Getting rid of details such as the zipper and chequered pattern on his shoes. I also made the hair bigger for visual appeal. I also gave myself a rule to never let the earphone wires overlap the school shirt underneath the hoodie so it can be clearly visible.

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One of the trickiest parts was choosing the hair colour actually. I wanted a colour that suited the character's personality while also looking appealing. So I made palette sheets of the same character illustration but with different hair colours:

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And then I would break it down to just four:

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To help me pick a definitive hair colour, I shared the palettes on my Instagram story and asked which one they liked the most:

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I made a facial expression sheet as well. I would like to redo this and push the expressions more but it's part of the development. I also want to make a stimulations sheet for the character when I get to work on the project. This will showcase the different stims my character does for specific emotions. Like tapping the back of his head with his fingers when thinking, rubbing his hands across his ears when excited or holding his hands together when scared.

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Although personally, I think I made the nose too big and I think the beanie was unnecessary. So I reverted back to the previous design and just increased the nose slightly, which looks cute.

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Out of all the responses I got, black and brown were the most popular. In the end, I went with the light brown as it just suited the character more.

After watching Mary and Max, I wanted to exaggerate the character's nose and make it bigger. I also gave him a yellow Pac-Man beanie:

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And then after getting results and breaking down the colour selection, I sent another poll as well:

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I feel like my development is going great so far! There are still things about my story and main character I want to develop and consider. I want to create other characters they can interact with. What kind of situation should I put the character in if psychic powers are involved? I've considered maybe changing the gender and race of my character from a white boy to a black girl, as I haven't seen much autistic female or black representation in media. I even considered having the short take place at a psychic camp, like the game Psychonauts, instead of a school. There's always room for more development and I'll be continuing to do so for my final year project.

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I ‘ve learnt a lot about autistic people and how diverse they are. Everyone on the spectrum experience autism differently, which leads to a lot of creative potential for creating an autistic character. However, I was still able to identify common traits that a lot of autistic people have, which will allow me to balance out autistic traits, as well unique personality traits and interests exclusively for my character.

I looked at both good and bad representation of autistic characters in media. The best kind of autistic representation gives characters positive and negative traits, but never treat autism as a disease or a superpower. Never set the standards too high and don’t rely on stereotypes. Otherwise instead of educating the viewer on the topic, you’ll just set an unrealistic standard that people will expect from autistic people, which will do more harm than good.

I will be continuing to research my topic further as it will be the basis for my final year project. I'm more confident that I will make a great animated short film out of this concept. One that will have a great story and characters while still having beautiful visuals to express it. I was able to create a brief story structure for a short film about an autistic kid struggling on controlling their psychic powers. I also developed the main character, using what I’ve learnt about autism and character design theory to design them. Though they’re not final, I will be continuing to develop the concept further and expand it.

I am very glad I chose to research autism representation. Autism is a very interesting and important topic that doesn’t get talked about enough. Autism is more common than people realise. It’s important that people are aware so we can treat each other right and make society a more welcoming place for everyone. If media is the most effective way to portray it, people need to represent it right as well. It’s important to keep the shared traits in mind but remembering it varies from person-to-person. It’s okay to be different. It makes you question what normal even is anymore, so let’s embrace that! Everyone should keep that in mind.

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