Why portraying Autistic people as superhuman is condescending (and incorrect)

The portrayal of neurodivergent people on TV, film and books as written by neurotypicals may be a tidily packaged morsel we can consume guilt-free, but it’s inaccurate and doesn’t help Autistic people. We’ve got to do better.

Dustin Hoffman in Rainman. The Autistic young antihero in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Sheldon Cooper in that awful show, The Big Bang Theory.

It’s safe to say that our portrayal and thus, our understanding, of neurodivergent people in the media is simplistic at best, harmful at worst.

Viewing people as only one side of a limiting (and fake) ‘coin’ helps no one but those who don’t care to understand. On one side, we have the ‘superhuman’ trope, where Autistic people have computer-like prowess with numbers, physics and science in general. On the other hand, we have the hyper-sensitive, socially immobile young boy or man who, when faced with crowds or loud noises, shuts down and has a fear-induced breakdown.