It’s high time we talked about Dos and Dont’s for autism rep in YA books!
Also when I say “high time” I just go straight to thinking about high tea, which is really British of me despite me not being British. But what can I even do?! (I’m Australian so I guess I can claim heritage??) I just need scones and jam and tea right now, so please appreciate my suffering right from my very first intro sentence. #TheBloggerLifeIsHard
Anyway.
Sometimes when we read books that represent a minority we’re not part of, we have noooo way to know if it’s accurate representation or not. And it’s DOUBLY hard to figure it out anyway because = one minority experience does not equal every experience in that minority. But I thought I would try to be useful for once instead of writing a post sorting different breakfast cereals into Hogwarts Houses (this would be exciting tho) and help out by talking about:
how to tell if autism rep is getting it right
But I have Things™ to say before we get onto my lists (I love lists! You love lists! Lists are GREAT!) And they are:
- Autism is a spectrum!! So while I’m going to say “these are good vs bad tropes” they are just my opinion as an autistic. Another autistic individual might have a different opinion. I respect that.
- My opinion on autism is still never going to be universal. (TRUE FOR ANYONE’S OPINION ON ANYTHING.)
- April is Autism Awareness Month…which is good! And also bad.
- It’s bad because it was started by Autism Speaks and please please please do not support them. They endorse super problematic “therapies” for autism and want to cure instead of aid. They want to make a way to test for autism pre-birth so people can specifically abort autistic kids. Plus they talk a lot of trash about autistic people being “locked inside themselves” or having “pieces missing”. So just N O.
- So don’t wear blue.
- However autism does still need awareness. And understanding. And discussion. Especially by autistics!
- It’s not a bad word, it’s not an illness, it’s not broken.
- So here is this post. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- I also admit to being frustrated at how wildly the YA community champions diversity…except for disability. It’s like that just gets forgotten?! We need to do better.
- And on THAT note, there’s an #ownvoices Autism anthology coming soon which you can find out more about here! The creator got in touch to ask if I’d spread the word, and I think it sounds fantastic!
- I am excited to talk about something personal to me today so I hope you enjoy this too!
…remember to talk about ALL types of Autism! Because the stereotype is basically: an autistic white little boy who’s a math genius and has no social skills. Those boys exist but, um, so do hundreds of other types of autism. Books are way way more likely to rep high functioning autistics (HFA), but please don’t forget those with learning disabilities and executive function issues and who never speak or never live independently. It’s a huge huge spectrum! I’m not asking books to list every type of autism ever, but the fact that it’s so hard to find ones with lower-functioning individuals is downright sad.
…make autism the SOLE PERSONALITY of the character. Being autistic definitely impacts every part of your life, but it’s NOT the only thing we think about or act on! Autism is part of your identity, how you function, and your culture. You can’t remove it and still be the same person! But there’s still more to you than your autism, same as being Australian effects my whole life but I’m not JUST an Australian. If a book reduces a character like that, then it’s saying: “This character is a DIAGNOSIS” instead of “This character is a PERSON.”
…give autistic characters A PLOT!!! It’s fine to have “issue books” where the autism is the big topic. But holy heck, we want to be in sci-fi adventure and fantasies too OK!? We want contemporary romances and roadtrips and mysteries. Plus if the autistic character actually has a plot, you see how being autistic affects your life. We actually, ya know, do things and have dreams and ambitions.
…make the underlying theme be self-hate, looking for cures, or needing to fixed to be happy. Autism has a lot of stigmas around it and it IS okay for books to address these. And yes, of course autism is frustrating and horrible at times. It can be full of anxiety and isolation and confusion and overwhelm. A book should include the meltdowns and shutdowns and miscommunications and opportunities missed because of disability. But none of that equals broken. Plus a lot of autism struggles come directly from trying to be “normal” because society is terrified of differentness and would rather miserably crush autism into a normal-shaped-box than be uncomfortable by its existence. Hence depression. Anxiety. Self-hate. So let’s STOP putting messages of autism being brokenness in books, thanks. Not to mention how triggering it is to have a book say TO YOUR FACE –> “you need to be fixed.” (I’ve had panic attacks reading this.) No more neurotypical (non-autistic) characters saying things like “I feel so sorry for them never being able to live a good life”. Functioning differently doesn’t mean you can’t be happy! And I believe that’s for high and low functioning autistics, although obviously it’s important to point out that life is a lot harder for people with severe autism. But if a character wishes an autistic person cured, this basically translates to: “Your way of functioning makes me uncomfortable.” If someone is uncomfortable by autism, they’re the problem.
…talk about positive traits! Autistics can be really dedicated and hyper-focus on a job. Our obsessions can make us experts on a topic. We also can really really intensely LOVE things and this is so fun and exciting. We think outside the box. Autistics are inventors and dreamers and discoverers (HISTORY PROVES SO). Books should not solely zero in on the hard parts. If they do, it’s pretty much coming from a viewpoint where autism is only a burden.
…talk about ableism and fight stigmas! Books aren’t problematic if they use problematic language! But show other characters fighting back. (Either the autistic character or supporting cast.) One thing books NEED to fight is the thinking that “autism” is a bad word. It’s nOT. So you know it’s problematic rep if they do everything they can to avoid the word “autism”.
…make autism the catastrophic finale. This can be done well??? But usually it’s depressing to read. Like if the autistic’s big “finale” is a meltdown…SIGH. Don’t make a disaiblity be what ruins everything in the end. Instead HAVE the Bad Thing for the finale and then show how autism affects how the character reacts to it.
…talk about the autistic character’s feelings. I read this a lot (and see it in everyday life) but an autistic character will have a meltdown and the first reaction of others is to say “Oh that poor mother dealing with this.” Instead of thinking about the autistic and why they’re in pain. Autism has a ripple effect and this can’t be ignored. It’ll impact supporting characters negatively and positively, and there’s a LOT of drain on a carer of a low-functioning autistic. Books should talk about that! But they should also talk about the autistic’s viewpoint and feelings way way more than they do. (PS. WE HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. We might just not express them how is expected.)
…dramatise traits ridiculously so. You know rep is off when you have a high-functioning autistic character who MISUNDERSTANDS EVERY. SINGLE. SOCIAL. INTERACTION. It’s never a 100% of the time thing! Especially for HFA teenagers/adults! It’s like saying autistics are incapable of learning and we’re not. (Although sometimes we’re too tired or don’t feel like the effort lol lol.) And even if we don’t understand a social situation, we won’t always massively mess it up. Faking is a big part of how we (have to) live. Books that make ALL symptoms hyperbolic are insulting.
…put humour in the book! But don’t make autism the joke. I know there’s a huge stigma that autistics don’t understand sarcasm (it’s because of literal thinking). And this is true for a LOT…but not all. And even literal-thinking-autistics can be funny?! Let there be humour around autism (IT’S NOT A DARK THING) but just don’t make the autistic teen’s social mistakes the butt of the joke.
…confuse “character development” and “fixing”. If a book includes the autistic character having to “get over it” or “get better enough” to give someone a hug or eat the food they hate or stop an annoying stim (repetative motion). THIS ISN’T OK. An autistic character can grow and change and conquer and improve without stopping being autistic. (Also I HATE the “autistic kid finally gave their parent a hug” trope. It’s like what if you hate bees and the finale of your character arc was sitting in a field of bees? Seriously.)
…includes more than the average stereotypes! Stereotypes are OK. They exist because they’re somewhat true. But (a) an autistic character is never ALL the stereotypes, and (b) it turns them into real people if they have less-known autism traits as well. Like echolalia (repeating what others say), sensory processing disorder (something weirdly absent from most ASD stories by non-autistic authors), sensory seeking, stimming, low executive dysfunction (actual inability to do simple things like self-care, especially when overwhelmed), specific and intense routines, shutdowns as well as meltdowns. Books should dig deeper than solely the stereotypes!
So in case you’re now sitting here, mumbling into your popcorn, that you wish you had some autistic-book-recommendations…I AM HERE FOR YOU.
Yes I know you’re so lucky to have me, bless us all.
The covers all link to my reviews!
QUICK NOTES:
- Afterwards has really good autism rep BUT it is unfortunately affiliated with Autism Speaks arghh. So it has underlying problematic thinking…but is also one of the very few books I’ve read that features a low-functioning autistic and did it really well.
- The Art of Feeling does NOT explicitly say Eliot is autistic so it’s a head-canon from me lol looool. But I put it on the list because Eliot is one of the best autistic characters I’ve read…despite maybe it not being intentional?!
- Made You Up again is NOT an “on-page-autistic-reference” but the love interest, Miles, reads as an autistic and my friend asked the author and she confirmed he is undiagnosed!
The covers all link to my reviews!
QUICK NOTES: In my opinion these ones harbour general views that autism is either a burden, something to overcome, or it’s just one big STEREOTYPE, or they’re full of ableism that isn’t fought against by any character.
I love love love this post! Your list is so true!
I’ve read quite a lot of the books with autism you recommend (and loved them).
As for what’s not on the list, I personally really liked The State of Grace but I know you didn’t.
Some of the books I read and really liked, but are not on your list, are books written by Dutch (or Belgian?) authors, and are unavailable in English. I absolutely loved Zondagskind by Judith Visser (Harper Collins), which was just released, but at the moment it is only available in Dutch. The author plans to translate the book into English herself however, and if that happens and it is released, then I would highly recommend it (I think the author said in an interview the English title will be Sunday Special). There are some other Dutch non-fiction books I quite liked, but since they aren’t in English, I won’t mention them.
A memoir I read recently is Odd Girl Out by Laura James. I found it interesting. I am also excited for Stim: An Autism Anthology and donated because it sounds awesome (I found it through Laura James’s Twitter).
Another one is In The Hope of Memories by Olivia Rivers, though I felt sensory processing could have had a better rep (I really liked the rest of the book though).
I also really liked the memoir The Girl With the Curly Hair by Alis Rowe. I had to read it as an e-book as the paperbook wasn’t available.
Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Queens of Geek is one of my favourites, so I can’t thank you enough for recommending that one. I also liked Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate and Made You Up. A couple of others from your list are on my TBR.
Aww thank you, Gaia!! I’m so glad you liked this list! 😀 And honestly I can’t remember the plot of State of Grace lmao or I would’ve put it on the list. I feel like it was good autism rep but I didn’t enjoy the story. 😂So that’s more personal and me just being salty.
I’m really excited about the Stim anthology too!! It’s going to be AWESOME with so many autistic voices involved eeep! (And I’m curious about the Dutch ones so I hope they get translated someday!) I should look up Hope of Memories too *nods* Thanks so much for these recs. 😀
I totally forgot to mention btw, that I added a couple of books on your favourites list to my wishlist as well. I shall be buying them with my next online order :D.
My older brother has high functioning autism, and I feel bad that I’ve only read maybe 3-5 books with good autism representation. But you’re right: they’re hard to find. The only book not on your list I can think of is The Shifter by Chris. T. Acadian. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I’m pretty sure there are brothers who have autism, and it’s not their defining feature. Thanks for the other book recommendations! I added, like, five more to my list.
Personally, I struggle with social anxiety, and it’s rough reading about characters who are all go-getters and extroverts. I’m more like Bilbo Baggins: interrupt me while I’m eating dinner and I too would want to kick 13 dwarves out of my house. (I also think “This adventure is not so fun anymore” A LOT.) My favorite books with characters with anxiety include Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner and Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman.
They are hard to find! Especially with actual good rep where the author cares about autism and isn’t using it as a tragedy ugh. I’m really tired of bad autism books honestly. 🙈🙊
And omg me too with the social anxiety and LOVING Starfish! How perfect was it?! I nearly cried.
I read Mockingbird a few years ago (like 5) and really really loved it. But I didn’t know much about Autism then, and I can definitely see what’s wrong with a lot of the rep. This is such a helpful list! I would really like to read some of the good rep books. I should go and see if the library has them 🙂 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is definitely in the same genre of book title as Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate XD And Queens of Geek is so well regarded that I really should just read it.
My biracial/TCk minority group isn’t much represented in books. BUT I did read this book called You Bring The Distant Near which was kinda weird but included biracial Indians who grew up in different countries and it felt really relatable which was great. 😀
PS loving the new graphics! Very tropical (so nothing like what I’m experiencing in New Zealand autumn) but 10/10 approve.
It was weird with Mockingbird because apparently the author’s daughter was autistic?! But I just found it SO offensive and awful I honestly went into a reading slump afterwards. It just made autism equal being dumb and also that whole thing with teaching the girl how to have feelings?! WE HAVE FEELINGS. *Sighs*
But yesss Queens of Geek is SO CUTE. I loved it!!
And I’m so glad you found You Bring the Distant Near then! I think it’s pretty awesome to find a character to relate to, right?!
(I’m like going into autumn here too but pfffft. TROPICS AND TOUCANS HERE I AM.)
I really liked this post!
I hope i won’t sound super ignorant: can they actually test for autism pre-birth? I mean, for real? Or is that just what those people would want to happen?
Also, have you seen Atypical on Netflix? Did you like it?
I think they WANT to do that, not that they’ve figured out a full-proof way! (They want to do with with other disabilities too…it’s really awful and elitist.)
I have seen Atypical and I didn’t like it…it uses Sam’s autism as a joke a LOT and it has a lot of offensive undertones…plus Sam is pretty much one big stereotype with all his symptoms being so extreme for being HFA. 😔😔
How about The Good Doctor? Have you seen that? Do you like it? (Sorry for using you as a weird sort of autism police, but better to ask than buy into something that perpetuates negativity, right?)
It’s what they want to happen. Just like how they isolated Down’s Syndrome in the womb, and now the birth rate for Down’s Syndrome has dropped by like 93% in many countries — because most people who get a positive test for Down’s are aborting those babies in utero. And it’s allowed by doctors and insurance, and even encouraged in some cultures. Having a test done to be prepared is one thing. Using it as an excuse for sanctioned genocide is the silent crime of the 21st century.
High tea. Very fancy. I think it’s the same as afternoon tea, so I assume you wrote this in a fancy cafe with fancy china and ludicrously expensive tiny sandwiches and bits of cake. 😉 (Afternoon tea is one of those things you see advertised and think, “Ooh, that would be a nice treat,” and then you never go.)
I don’t think I’ve read any books with autistic characters yet?
This is a great resource for people who aren’t autistic but who might be writing autistic characters too.
I unfortunately am BEREFT of any sort of high tea (or even like low tea??? Seriously) in my life so I’m just whining over here. I’m sure it’s a terrible stereotype to imagine it happens with fancy tea cups but I HAVE seen Alice in Wonderland and I’m 99% high tea and mad hatter tea parters are the same, yes? 😂😂
And aww thank you! I do think it’s probably helpful for people writing ASD characters, but I think they should also be consulting autistic people directly too!
As someone with Aspergers, I totally agree with this whole list! I’ve always wanted to make a list like this, but you’ve put it into far better words than I ever could!
As for a rec, there’s a self published book called Failure To Communicate by Kaia Sonderby, which is told from the POV of an autistic female, and it’s a fantastic book! It’s a sci-fi, and directedly deals with autism, while still having an overarching plotline which has nothing to do with autism. There’s also loads of cases of female friendship and diverse characters, in terms of sexuality, race, and everything in between! I read it at the beginning of the year and absolutely loved it, I cannot recommend it enough!
Ahh, Rebecca, thank yoU SO SO MUCH! I was so ridiculously nervous to post this so I’m really glad you agree and liked it! AND OMG I FORGOT ABOUT FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE!! I have read that one and it was amazing…I can’t believe I forgot it. *facepalm* Wasn’t Xandri the best?!
I ADORE Xandri! She was awesome! She’s the best representation I’ve ever seen in books, only coming second to Gary Bell on the TV show Alphas! I scream about this book constantly, to anyone who will listen, and I’m totally getting the prequel and the sequel as soon as they come out/I have some sort of money to actually buy them!
Omg I’m DYING for the next Xandri book though. It’s coming out this year right?! And there’s a prequel eeep I need to get it.😂
I think it is, yeah! I can’t wait for it! And the prequel is currently only 99p on Amazon, which is great!
I was gonna say, “Didn’t you read that, Cait?”, the second I saw the title. It sounded super familiar (and the cover popped into my head, and I went, “I know I’ve seen that on Goodreads!”)
@Daley: ahh can you believe I didn’t add it to my autism Goodreads shelf hence I forgot about it?😂😂
BLESS YOU FOR THIS POST, CAIT!!!
I was recently diagnosed with autism and it was all just so weird? First, it’s like “you have social anxiety” but then a year later it’s like “Oh but yeah you have autism too” (Like WHY didn’t you tell me that before?) but suddenly it made sense why I saw so much of myself in “The State of Grace” by Rachael Lucas (have you read it!? I personally think the rep was amazing!) and I love how Cassandra Clare included an Autistic character in Lady Midnight!
Also, the “faking is a big part of how we (have to) live” part of your post is 1000000% accurate. I’ve lived 21 years without knowing about my autism and I definitely struggled a lot and most of the time I was just like “fake it until you make it” and that really sounds terrible to me but I guess it’s just what happens!?
Again, I really love this post and I thank you!! I’ll definitely try to pick up some of the good autism rep books! 🙂
Ahhhh I’m so glad you liked this, Alya!! And omg it’s kind of a relief to be diagnosed right?! Things start to make so much more sense. And yes I have read State of Grace but I ashamedly don’t remember enough of it lmao so I didn’t put it on the lists (I AM ASHAMED) but Ty was basically the first time ever I realised autistic characters could also have adventures and be badass shadowhunters?! It really changed my world.😍😍
And ugh to the faking it. But it’s TRUE. I think when non-autistic writers put us in books they have no idea how much we fake it. And then years later I’ll be confessing that I actually had no freaking clue what was going on for something and people will be like, “Really? We couldn’t have told!” 😭😭
Anyway I’m like SO happy to know there are more ASD bloggers out there! *shares all the cake with you* (I also lived 21 years without knowing about my autism!)
I’m 21 and was only diagnosed at 19 so I relate to this so hard! It’s such a huge relief to find out you’re not broken and actually autistic people are awesome.
It’s lovely to find another autistic book blogger! I remember I was so happy to know I was not alone when Cait told me. Welcome to the club, Alya! Sending virtual cake to you both! 😘
❤️❤️❤️
Megan @ Book Birds
I went 35 years without anyone figuring out what was “wrong” with me — and I still owe the credit to myself, for always knowing there was something more to my anxiety and depression and sensory issues than the ADD label I got stuck with as a teenager. Yes, to a point, we need to “fake” it — but I know my oldest son (who’s also on the spectrum) and I dream of a world where one day this won’t be the case!
Wear your diagnosis proudly, Rebecca. It’s WHO you are.
IT’S TOO EARLY HERE. I responded to the right comment in the wrong place.
No one hurt me if anything I said anywhere makes no sense. 😛
@Rebecca: Yes, I’ve heard great things about Failure to Communicate! And it’s awesome that the author was as bold and honest and forthright as she was about all the sensory concerns and social issues and not making her MC a massive stereotype!
@Ayla: I was way beyond the age of 21 before I figured out I’m on the spectrum. But it turns out females are incredibly underdiagnosed! Until about 2010, the medical community thought girls with autism was only like, 1 in 1000 — and it’s much more frequent than that! So they’re having to rearrange all their criteria for diagnosing females.
This was a post I so needed right about now! I’m currently plotting out my #ownvoices contemporary (queer) romance with an autistic MC and it’s been so scary worrying about whether or not I’m falling into all the stereotypes! The only book I’ve read that people think have autism rep (but as far as I’m aware actually doesn’t) is Curious Incident so seeing your list of books with good rep is pretty surprising to me; I didn’t know most of them existed. I think it’s really important that more books with good rep get out into the world because when I was diagnosed (pretty recently) a lot people had some very … interesting reactions thanks to all those awful stereotypes.
I think it’s hugely hugely important to be really aware of the depth of things like autism when writing them! I’d highly recommend (if you don’t have autistic people in your life or don’t read many books on it) that you also get a sensitivity reader at some stage too!
I’m desperately trying to find more books with good rep to get an idea of what I should be doing! I was very lucky to grow up with lots of amazing kids with diagnosed autism that presented in lots of different ways, but sadly they were all boys! I do have quite a few autistic friends now, but again, mostly male. I have a queer female autistic friend who has offered to help me out and get me in touch with other queer autistic gals but once I’ve reached an appropriate stage I’m definitely getting at least one or two sensitivity readers just to be sure. Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to disability rep in my opinion, even if I am writing about something I have experienced myself!
That’s so awesome you’ve got tons of support there, I’m so happy to hear that!! And absolutely yes about better-being-safe-than-sorry for disability rep. I mean I’m on the spectrum but I consulted with some autistic friends over writing an ASD character myself.😂It’s just great to get views! (Sounds like you’re doing a really good job here!)
Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear that you consulted with people too and it’s not just me!
Thank you for this post, Cait, especially for those recommendations! What do you think of/have you heard of George and Sam by Charlotte Moore and Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson?
I haven’t heard of either of those, but definitely will look them up! And thanks SO much for reading my post. 😀 I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I absolutely love this post, from beginning to the very end! It is informative and just gave me so much! Thanks for the recommendationts and anti-recommendations. I read only Made You Up from your list (phew, it is part of your good-to-read list) and I definitely want to read some more books that repsresent autism properly. Kids Like Us and Queens of Geek sound escpecially good 🙂
Aww thank you, Lucia!! I’m REALLY glad you enjoyed it! And can’t recommend Kids Like Us enough! The rep is so good I nearly cried. <3
Thanks for writing this. My knowledge of autism has come from these films: Rain Man, Adam. And the book the curious case of the dog in the nighttime (hope I remembered that right). I heard about the anthology on Unbound and I’ve already pledged. Why don’t you write for them? They are looking for writers? Iatching and reading about people with autism (or anyone who has an experience i haven’t) always makes me curious to what is the truth behind the fiction. I am looking forward to reading the anthology. I just watched a channel 4 documentary called Are you autistic? which highlighted the many people who are undiagnosed, I had no idea. There’s also a good tv series (not sure how accurate it portrays autism) on Sky in the Uk called The Good Doctor. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6470478/ Freddie Highmore is a brilliant actor and I’m hoping it is accurate. Except it does make the assumption that if you have autistm you have this genuis like you mentioned. If you watch it tell me what you think
I’ve watched the whole first season of The Good Doctor, and while the rep is quite accurate, I did NOT like the way the writers started focusing much more on the other (NT) characters and their (everyday) problems (like breaking up with a partner or whether to start a family), and Dr Murphy’s autism became “oh, look, he’s the one who doesn’t get social cues.” :/ Very disheartening, especially since they were doing so well. I won’t be watching the second season (if it gets broadcast).
I think they had to make more of the other characters too, (the first few episodes I didn’t think much of them) otherwise we would have hated them all and if I hated them I wouldn’t have watched it. But that’s just my opinion, they could easily just focus on Sean and I’d still love it. Amazing character and I’m glad that the rep is accurate.
I guess you’re more likely to notice if things are not being looked at properly than me but I can only learn. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I really appreciate it because otherwise I wouldn’t have a clue if it’s accurate or not.
I really want to watch the Good Doctor actually! I’ve heard really good things about it, although it does do the typical genius/savant/white/male rep which is something we get a LOT. And it’s not bad, but it’s just a pity media doesn’t really explore the other types of people who have autism?! (And I’ve heard Rain Man isn’t great rep actually haha, but I’ve not seen it.)
That’s what that documentary was saying. I watched Rain Man because of the actors and it does make you think the wrong things about autism.But you’re not to know unless a documentary tells you. I know now but when I watched it in my teens I didn’t have a clue. Raymond is a genius, he has to have a routine or he gets agitated. I liked it but now I know it’s not a good rep it has lessened my opnion but that’s hollywood or whatever for you.
Well it’s hard because even with stereotypes, they ARE usually elements of truth in them! (Like for getting agitated out of routine, haha that’s so me.😂) Although autistic savants are actually not usual, whereas media makes them sound like the norm?! Which is harmful for sure. I’m glad you saw the documentary to unpack some of the problems with it then. (Although I still kind of should watch it at some point because everyone references it and I’ve never seen it. 😂)
I don’t get intently focused on the “deeper” aspects of autism (stimming, meltdowns, sensory issues) until the second book, but my YA fantasy series features 2 autistic characters! They’re both female, and they’re at about the same place on the spectrum, but they do have different triggers, different coping mechanisms, and different responses to certain things, especially social situations. Also, one is an adult (so she’s had longer to adjust) and the other is a teen. I also address how families might respond to a diagnosis, and whether their reaction is helpful or not.
There’s a lot more “deep” ASD stuff coming up in the third book (which is not yet released, but will be this spring).
“Masters and Beginners” is Volume 1 (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/masters-and-beginners-daley-downing/1126998956), and “Rulers and Mages” is the immediate sequel (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rulers-and-mages-daley-downing/1127527926).
Of the ones you mentioned, Cait, I’ve hardly read any (but that’s also because most of them are contemporary, and I just don’t read contemporaries 99% of the time). That goes right back to there not being very good rep in fiction — including fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, and magical realism. (Although in All The Crooked Saints, I think Beatriz displays some neurodivergent traits…)
I love that you’re doing autism in a fantasy setting!! It’s SO needed omg. And I really hope to do that someday too. 🙊 (I have a heist-fantasy series planned with an ASD main girl character and I’m very excited about it. If I get around to writing it ahh.) Also I didn’t pick that up about Beatriz but I want to reread soon so I’m going to keep a bigger look out! I REALLY like headcannoning autistic characters! It makes me very happy.
Amen to this! Especially the point about autism not being a person’s sole personality trait. I’m not autistic myself but I have family and friends who are and they are completely different than each other. Also, that point about people loving diversity except for disability is spot on. Someone I know with autism told me about filling in a form once where there were huge drop-down lists for race, sexual orientation, and religion, but disability just had a yes/no box. I remember thinking that was a pretty accurate representation of our culture’s “diversity”.
Thanks for writing about this. It’s great to hear.
Yes yes exactly!! I have two nephews and a niece who are also autistic and…I mean put all of us together and we are ALL SO DIFFERENT. 😂(Except both my nephew and I will literally take a book and read it and ignore everyone forever. 😂😂) And yes ugh I totally agree about the disability rep in books these days. I mean, I guess I’d rather NO rep than BAD rep? But I think people could try harder to give us good rep and stop hiding away what they consider “shameful”…we deserve stories and personalities in books. It’s really empowering and can really change readers’ lives.
Thanks so much for reading!!
This is such an important post, Cait! I’ll do my best to share it on social media. <3
Aww thanks, Bee!!💖💖 I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Ugh, I wish there was more low-functioning rep. I really want to see more non-verbal autistic characters. I’m high-functioning autistic myself, but my brother was non-verbal as a child (he’s verbal now, well and truly). It’s something I really wish was portrayed more. I do get why it’s difficult and intimidating though. I’ve written characters like that before myself and it wasn’t always easy to get across what they were thinking or feeling if they weren’t the narrator. Still, just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.
I can’t think of a book right now, but I really liked the autistic Blue Ranger, Billy, in the recent Power Rangers film? That’s a film, not a book though. It did have a few stereotypes, but I liked it.
Also, always want scones and jam. Always. I am British, so I’m probably biased, but still. Scones.
I definitely agree on the whole disability rep thing. It seems to be forgotten about a lot. I’m a part-time wheelchair user and I really, really wish that was portrayed more in media. Everyone always assumes that you’re faking it if you can get out but it’s actually more common than being permanently in a wheelchair. It’s just frustrating. I feel like showing that more would be really, really helpful in changing people’s perceptions?
Anyway, great post! I really enjoyed it.
Yes I so agree! That’s why I put Afterwards on the list even though it has some problematic themes (like they pretty much tell the nonverbal autistic kid they wish he wasn’t autistic so “he can be free”….grrr) but it had GOOD non-verbal rep and we need that. :O It bothers me that books just go for the male autistic who’s a genius and obsessed with trains or dinosaurs…there’s so much more to the spectrum than that!
I haven’t seen the Power Rangers film but I heard about the autistic character and now I do want to see it. 😀
(SCONES ARE GREAT THOUGH.)
And yes yes for the disability rep. I also hate it when we have more of an “invisible” disability that people just make so many horrible judgements. It’d be good to have more books out to combat that?! Make people THINK before they make snap judgements. Definitely would help change perceptions. Basically we need more disability books of all types.😭😭
This was so informative, Cait. I’m not autistic, but I understand the feeling of going into a book hoping for really great rep and instead getting something…not good. I remember you talking about Maybe in Paris on goodreads and I know how frustrating it is going into a book hoping to see yourself in it and then instead find yourself to either be a one-dimensional blob with your entire personality revolving around “Minority” or offensively stereotyped, or cannon fodder.
I’m glad that there are slowly becoming more and more books, though, even if they still seem to be few and far in between. I have noticed, like you pointed out, that the YA community talks a lot about POC and queer rep but doesn’t talk a lot about disability rep. Hopefully that starts to change, though.
Yes absolutely! I think most of us marginalised readers kind of are torn between excitement/dread when we see a book dealing with our experiences?! I’ve honestly read way more insulting/bad autistic books than good ones, which sucks. *cries* And ugh will never be over how mad Maybe In Paris made me. It hits EVERY SINGLE ONE of my “don’t” list.
And yes, sigh I mean I LOVE that the diverse community (especially around here) is really triumphing the poc/queer rep, but it’s leaving disabilities in the dust and it’s really frustrating. Even mental health these days too??? I mean I guess it’s too much to ask for ALL THE GOOD REP.😂(But I still ask!)
I really loved this post! I found it so incredibly helpful, as someone who doesn’t have autism and struggles with figuring out what is good and bad representation. And I appreciate you acknowledging that everyone’s experience is difference, especially with something like autism that’s a spectrum. Thank you for writing this!
p.s. LOVED the hummingbirds
p.p.s. Very curious about cereals and Hogwarts Houses, just so you know…
Ahh I’m SO GLAD, BREANNA!! That’s exactly why I wrote it and I’m so glad it’s working eep.
(And I totally need to go ahead with the Hogwarts cereal now, right?! It’s a post that calls to us.😂)
My sister has autism, but I don’t think I’ve read many books about it. The kid in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time seems autistic to me, but I don’t think he’s ever diagnosed on the page. I read Mockingbird for a children’s lit. class in college, but I don’t remember it very well. I’ll have to check out the books you recommended.
Yes the Curious Incident is definitely an autism book!! However I did hear some weird stuff like that the author barely researched for it?! But eh, it’s been year since I read it but I LOVED it back when I did so *shrugs* I’m saying it’s good right now.🙊😂
I LOVE THIS POST, CAIT! (and i 100% agree with not supporting autism speaks. my mum sometimes shares their posts on facebook and every time i tell her how awful they are she ignores it, which sucks.)
I haven’t read a lot of books that have Autism rep because I’m always nervous that the rep will be terrible and it’ll feel patronising or insulting, but I’m glad to hear that it’s not always the case 😊
I’m still going back and forth on whether to make the characters that I write Autistic or not because they’d definitely be coded, but I wouldn’t want to put it across that my own experiences are the only experiences that there are. If that makes sense lol
(Agh same with my sisters haha. I don’t really know how to bring it up?! I’m not very close to my sisters but anytime they’re all for an Autism speaks thing my soul dies a little. I know it’s ignorance mostly and not intentional harm on their part, but it’d be nice if everyone ignored Autism Speaks until they just….WENT AWAY.)
And I totally understand about being worried about the rep. Honestly sometimes when someone tells me there’s an autistic character in a book, my initial reaction is “oh no I can’t take more bad rep”. It’s so anxiety spiking too?! I’m sick of reading books where autistic people have to get “better” in order to be loved.
And it does make sense! I find myself still writing mostly autistic boys even though we NEED more autistic girls, but just because I want that line between me vs them?! I don’t want to author self-insert.🙊🙊
Great post, Cait!! I feel like I’m a lot more aware than I used to be (although I know I still have plenty to learn), thanks to our friendship, but I bet a lot of these things wouldn’t even occur to most people.
*whispers* I’m a little sad that Failure to Communicate didn’t make the cut.
Can you believe I literally forgot ABOUT Failure to Communicate?! 😂😂 For some reason I didn’t put it on my Autism Goodreads shelf and therefore my brain is like: what book. *facepalm* Anyway it’d definitely be on the recommend pile because it was so accurate.
Also you are lovely and fantastic.💖
💚
This is really helpful for me and my writing. Now that I think I about it I should include autistic characters in my books and this helps me to remember what to do and what to not do. I think I really agree with you on the hole making them characters because I feel like too many authors represent minorities as just minorities and not characters which seems pretty wrong. Oh and thank you for warning about Autism Speaks I was not aware of them and now know to avoid them. That seems like a pretty misleading name, wouldn’t that mean they do more aiding then “curing”? Also I don’t really know any good autism rep books but if you want some really good ethnic diversity try The Epic Crush of Genie Lo. Most (or perhaps the entire) cast is Asian and it does a good job of showing stereotypes as well as breaking them and people who are stereotypes are really well developed and dimensional.
Yes ugh Autism Speaks just makes me so angry. They really should be Autism Silences. *eye roll*
And yes it’s definitely important to include all types of characters in writing (!!) although I always say be careful if you don’t know a lot about it yet haha. 😛 I mean I would assume you’d do a ton of research anyway! But even I am constantly researching for my ASD characters and I’m on the spectrum myself.😂 Good rep is so important.
I so want to read The Epic Crush of Genie Lo!! Everyone absolutely seems to rave over it?!
Cait, these posts are tremendously important and I thank you for opening up and sharing with us. 🙂 Thank you for setting me straight on so many things. I didn’t realize how closed-minded and just ignorant I am when it comes to autism, but your posts help me understand more. ❤
omg thank you, Emily!! The support means so so much honestly! And you’re not close-minded AT ALL if you’re interested in posts like these. <3
Cait, thank you for such an important post on such an important topic. There is so much bad information out there–especially for females. When people think of autism, they think of, as you said, that stereotypical boy with no social skills who is really into dinosaurs or math or whatever he’s really into. And there are so many aspects of the spectrum. It’s especially difficult for females, who don’t register a lot of the same symptoms, and are therefore harder to diagnose because the information just isn’t as vast!
I actually just read a really excellent #OwnVoices book, THE KISS QUOTIENT by Helen Hoang, coming out in early June that I really enjoyed. I also just heard people talking about A GIRL LIKE HER by Talia Hibbert and how good it was, but you can only buy it on Kindle, not any other platforms, so I can’t buy it for my e-reader! I don’t know if you’ve read it and what your thoughts on it are!
Aww thank you for reading, Bonnie! I’m so glad you like this. And AGREED. I mean that steroetype (of the trains-obsessed boy) isn’t altogether wrong…I know one.😂But it’s EVERYWHERE and I think it just gives people such a narrow view that when people like me appear (and I’m not an oddball on the spectrum, there are TONS like me) who’s a girl + creative…everyone’s first instinct is to go “oh surely you’re not autistic then”. Which is why we need way way more diverse rep.
And omg I haven’t heard of either of these so thanks sooo much for the recs. I’m going to goodreads right now!
Amazing post! I’ve spent all weekend plotting a sci fi adventure with an autistic MC and it’s my new FAVOURITE thing. There’s space stations and competitions and people dying. I can’t stop thinking about it and it’s very exciting!!! We definitely need more books where autistic characters DO STUFF! I want spaceships and dragons and stuff please! I’m not even diagnosed with ASD (yet. Trying. Soon. Maybe. Scary time as I never know where I’m allowed to interact and where it’s not my place)
I read the state of grace last month because I was very excited to see a female autistic MC and while I thought the rep was good…. It was contemporary and I felt like nothing actually happened plot wise. Trouble with being a SFF girl.
Have you read Carry The Ocean? Is a dual pov with an autistic character and a character with anxiety and depression. I just loved the start so much where he describes all the ways he’s learnt to manage and how theres different types and everyone is different. The book is a little preachy maybe but I loved it.
(welp.my Internet died so I’m not sure if this already posted)
I’m not “officially” diagnosed (in terms of I am not going back to the shrink and sitting through 6 hours of testing and evaluation when I have 2 kids to take care of), but when I was about 19 I was diagnosed with a learning disorder, so I’m sticking to “I’ve been diagnosed.” 😉
And don’t ever say it’s “not your place.” I know Cait would be happy to see anyone here who wants to learn more about autism, diagnosed themselves, suspected, or completely neurotypical.
Thank you. I totally get that. I’m chronically ill so the idea of sitting through a whole load of testing when I’m already mostly bedbound is a big stretch. But also I want to do it for me too.
I don’t know what country you’re in, JJ, but for me (as an adult) I just had sessions talking with a psychiatrist to get my diagnosis. I didn’t have to go through like mountains of stressful testing. (Although I find talking stressful so…it was still huge and terrifying for me.) But that’s what it was like an Australia at least for me?
I’m in the UK. What I meant by a whole load of testing was going in for a full morning of talking to an assessor (which I’m sure doesn’t sound like much to a lot of people who have been through more). But it’s a massive thing when I’m not well enough to leave the house for even short trips without getting sick.
Oh no I do understand how hard that would be while being chronically ill. 😔 That’s really difficult.
@JJ Crafts: I just heard about Carry The Ocean and I reeeally want to read it now ahh!! I’m always on the look out for good rep. Also so glad you’re using your ASD-perspective to add autistics into the action-adventure literary world. 😉 We need that for sure!! I also think space stations and competitions SOUND SO AWESOME so good luck!!
REALLY important post, Cait.
As someone with no disabilities or challenges, I know exactly 0% about any of them. I feel like we now live in a culture where if someone asks and they word it wrong, or it could be MAAAAybe taken as offensive (even if all the intentions are innocent), others attack, defending those who cannot defend themselves (or some crap like that.). It makes it hard to understand when I’m not allowed to ask. And I mean this for all issues: race, gender, disabilities, etc.
Thank you for writing this. <3
I do totally get what you mean and I do see BOTH sides of why that offensive/snappy-replies happens! Like for a lot of marginalised people it gets exhausting explaining again and again what *should* be basic knowledge. But at the same time, it’s hard when you genuinely ARE new to things and don’t want to be rude/offensive and just want to ask questions! That’s why google is good though tbh.😂 You can do a lot of self-educating these days which is great.😂😂
But anyway I’m glad you enjoyed this post!! SO GLAD.
Yes, I do see both sides, too. And of course it is up to each marginalized individual where their comfort level is, or if they want to answer, etc. I’m referring to people who aren’t black, or hispanic, or autistic, or LGBTQ+ who come across as though since they are more “woke” than me, they get to whisper indignantly “How dare you ask questions? You should already know!” That’s usually what has happened to me.
Google is a wonderful asset! For all our educating, murdering, and bookish needs. XD
Yeah it’s really hard! I don’t like it when people jump straight to being angry even though I sometimes can understand why they do? And I often would rather not ask a question instead of offend someone too. Hence google is my friend a lot. And reading memoirs and articles by people who are already volunteering their knowledge without me having to ask.😭
Thank you for posting this! As a mom with one son recently diagnosed with ASD and another son who is non-verbal, I’ve been trying to find more books to read with character on the spectrum. I’d love to find more about characters who are non-verbal. Thank you again for this great post!
Aww, Dara, I’m so glad you liked this post! And I’m glad you’re looking out for books (I totally recommend the Nerdy Shy and Socially Inappropriate + Look Me In The Eye memoirs btw. I found them really helpful in particular because they’re from an autistic’s perspective.) But it’d be good to see more non-verbal ASD characters for sure. Which is why I still put Afterwards on my good list because of that!
(Please do a post sorting cereal into Hogwarts houses…)
Cait good. Autism Speaks bad.
Gotcha.
Why do they need to “fix” it?
Mate, if more people were like you the world would be an amazing place.
I love Eliot and The Art of Feeling. And I know basically nothing about autism, but head cannon totally accepted.
(I should right?! It would be a magnificent post of good cereal feels. *nods*😂)
I’m glad you agree with my Eliot headcannon haha. Especially when he googled how to be a good friend. I DIED. HE’S SO PERFECT.😂
This is so helpful! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading it!
I had no idea that The Traveler was an autistic book… I don’t remember seeing that in any of the promotion for it but maybe that’s a good thing since you said it’s bad rep.
Thank you for this extremely helpful list!
~Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
The narrator has an autistic brother, so he’s not like a HUGE part but one of the worst scenes is when she time travels to a different reality where he’s not autistic and she was…so…happy. 😳 I was so freaking mad. I can’t believe people put those narratives out there. It’s like if you’re going to write about a minority, imagine a person from that minority READING YOUR BOOK. And if you wouldn’t want them to –> DON’T WRITE IT. 😭😭
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!!! eeep!! 😍
This was so interesting and helpful to read! I . . . don’t actually think I’ve read any autistic rep books? I’ll have to fix that.
One minority that is SUPER unrepresented are homeschoolers! And also the Asians who do a lot of studying type (instead of the Asians-who-try-to-fit-in-with-the-Americans type, like Lara Jean), though I did find one that was REALLY good and accurate. (Homeschooled Asians are even rare . . . as in, I don’t think there’s one????? LET ME KNOW IF YOU KNOW ONE).
Ahhh I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Hanne!! (I was a bit nervous haha, but it’s really great to be able to talk about all of this!) And OMG YES TO THE HOMESCHOOLERS!! Or just how homeschooling is usually portrayed as a negative? Like we’re all coming out the other side as horrible socially delinquent idiots?! UGH.
I’m pretty sure I’ve never read an Asian homeschooler either?!? That’s so sad, we NEED ALL TYPES OF BOOKS HERE.
I recently read The Nowhere Girls, and that had an autistic character in it. I can’t say for the sure that the rep was done well, not being autistic myself, but it seemed fairly good… She definitely felt like a very real character, and her autism wasn’t ever portrayed as a bad thing.
And I’m definitely going to check out some of your recommendations. I’d really like to read more books with good autism rep.
Oooh I haven’t even heard of that one!! This is excellent, I shall look it up.💖😍
I really liked this post. Unfortunately, I have only read Lady Midnight and love Ty. Every time you listed one of the dos, I couldn’t help but think about an example from Lady Midnight lol. And now that I know something about representing autism, I want to read of course more books about it.
Regarding the minority question, I am a minority in my country (sort of) and I read a LOT OF English language books and even though the Americaness (is that even a word lol) doesn’t bother me, I get so freakingly excited when an author mentions either my home country or even a place I’ve been to. Btw I am Croatian (a South Slav) and anything Slav will get me excited 😀 So I somewhat know why representation matters. It makes the world aware that you exist and it’s a great feeling. People are reading about something that makes me ME and it makes you proud about who you are. And also I am woman and it sometimes really sucks to be a woman in a Slav country but it’s manageable 😀
Anway, enough rambling. Great post as always and stay awesome 😀
Aww I’m so SO glad you loved Ty too! And also this post, heeh. And I do hope you find some great ASD books sometime soon eep.
Also totally understand that feeling of seeing your country represented, because I imagine that’d be pretty hard, especially with American books right? IT’s just such a good feeling to see yourself (or your minority or country!) in a book and we ALL deserve so much more of it! I love that pride feeling too. :’) Books are so empowering! I’m really glad you’ve found some set in Croatia too. 💖💖
While i’m not autistic I am physically disabled in other ways, as well struggle with depression, anxiety and ptsd from abuse & a house fire, and it is so hard to find any disability rep or people even mentioning the need for disability rep in books when they mention diversity! Yes all diversity is important…so why is disability swept under the rug and ignored? If I get a crumb of disability rep anywhere i’m in love, even though it’s never exactly the same but can often relate to things here and there. I have vacterl association, which is impossible to find in any media.
I’m sorry I went off a bit there. It’s just where you mention “I also admit to being frustrated at how wildly the YA community champions diversity…except for disability. It’s like that just gets forgotten?! We need to do better.” I couldn’t help but be like YES.
I’ve read Queens of Geek and loved it! And I really related to Taylor’s anxiety, it mirrored mine so much I was crying as i’d never seen that in a book before. I just went in expecting a bisexual MC, cute fluffy f/f romance and some supaCon fun, and I got that, and more! I definitely need to read more books with autistic characters though.
Yes yes absolutely THIS. It’s like the diverse community is wildly excellent for so many other categories…but then they completely overlook disabilities altogether?! I basically feel it’s queer and POC rep that gets talked about, which is GOOD and we need it. But disabilities and mental health shouldn’t be shoved aside just because they might look “invisible”. And omg it’s like so sad that we’re so desperate for the crumbs right?! I literally nearly cried when there was an autistic shadowhunter and he’s not even the main character! We shouldn’t be so deprived argghh. It’s not fair.
And don’t apologise! I’m glad we can talk about this. I think we all NEED to talk about it more.
Taylor was so amazing and omg Queens of Geek was just all-round so fantastic. And CUTE AND FUN!?? It’s amazing just to get a book that deals with disabilities (and queerness!) and just gives everyone some cute fluff moments?! We like more than angsty storylines too over here.
My friend’s son is autistic and he’s so much fun! He loves things like clocks and speed bumps and washing machines with so much intensity!
Also, I had NO idea about Autism Speaks. That’s terrible and I’m glad you mentioned it.
Have you ever read The Real Boy by Ann Ursu? It’s a fantasy novel/Pinocchio sort-of retelling with an autistic (?) Main character. The author based his character on her own son. It’s never named in the book, but she did a good job of creating a story about someone with autism (or maybe it was Asperger’s? It’s been too long since I read the book and can’t remember. But it’s still an awesome book, either way.)
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Aww I’m so glad to hear that about your friend’s son!! And see, that’s the awesome way to talk about it, right?! Instead of “here is my autistic kid who can’t do this and this and this” …which is how I feel books introduce us most of the time. *sighs* And omg Autism Speaks just gets worse the more you know about it. 😭😭
I feel like I’ve HEARD of that book but not read it?! But omg I’m super keen now to find it. And Asperger’s IS autism haha so it’s alright! They’ve merged the labels!
Oh I didn’t know they merged. Good to know!
The only autism rep I’ve read is Mockingbird, and I kinda feel bad now for liking it. But it was before I started blogging I think so I was young and naive! XD. But I liked it because I was able to relate to it, but I only have anxiety. (That I know of.) And I thought it was interesting because it was about an autistic girl and most of the time in fiction it’s a boy. And also my cousin has Asperger’s and I was curious. Oh well.
And oh I tagged you for the 20 Questions Book Tag if you want to do it. 🙂
https://frozenbooksblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-20-questions-book-tag.html
Eeep thank you for the tag!
And haha no worries about Mockingbird. It’s my opinion that it’s problematic so another autistic might not think so? I just thought it was completely horrible how it basically said the girl needed to be “taught” feelings and empathy. It’s a really bad stereotype. Autistics are SUPER emphatic, we just often don’t display it how we “should” according to neurotypical people. But yes we DO need more ASD girls in books! I think I can count on one hand how many ASD girls I’ve found…gah.
Oh Cait, this post is FABULOUS! It is really helpful to know what someone who experiences the thing actually thinks about the rep in a book- in many circumstances, but I agree that autism and disability in general are super overlooked. And great to mention that no one person knows all the experiences, always good to keep in mind!
That is so cool about Made You Up! I agree that he reads that way, and I love that you have confirmation! I didn’t know all of this about Autism Speaks- I mean, I knew it had problems, but not that they were as awful as they are, and WOW, this is good to know. Thanks for sharing that information. (Sad about Afterward too, ugh.) I want to read a bunch of the books on your “books to try” list, so that is good news- I even have several, yay! And I only wanted to read one on the avoid list, and it won’t break my heart not to hah.
I honestly have found reading about autism to be frustrating because every time I have seen it in a book, it’s a minor character, and like you said, it’s just one big stereotype and “poor family” stuff. I think I might have told you about this before, but I have training and experience in working with kids diagnosed on the spectrum. And I worked with one kid for almost 4 years, and this kid… well I loved him so much, and his family was the best, etc. And as you become attached, obviously it’s hard when you hear these cruel stereotypes, and he had to face them all the time, of course. So when I see that stuff, I want to scream. Like, he was the absolute light of his parents’ lives, and he was straight up a social butterfly, and funny as hell- I mean, this kid cracked up every room he was in, and not in a way that people were making fun, in a way that he was genuinely freaking hilarious, like you said. Seeing bad rep is infuriating because like- it just perpetuates this stuff. Because he was sweet, and loving, and just a wonderful person, but there were people in his school who avoided him just because of his diagnosis, and it was like… WHY!? And I think in a lot of cases, media can be SO enormously helpful in dismantling these stereotypes and negativity- or they can be complicit in keeping them going.
That was my little tangent for the day ha- but I am SO glad that you have found a lot of really GOOD rep, too- of course, there’s tons of room for more, but it’s great that there are some books out there that people can check out!!
SHANNON YOU’RE SO LOVELY❤️❤️ THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT EVER I JUST LOVED READING THE WHOLE THING.
And the diverse community does GREAT things but honestly I feel like (since forever? lol) disability is the thing people like to not think about or look at too hard because it’s “uncomfortable”. And we do so need to do better with that. In books and IRL! But yes, it’s totally good to remember (and remind myself) that one experience doesn’t equal all. And omg I was so excited about Made You Up! I was too nervous to ask the author and then Mish did and ajfdkslad it was such an awesome moment knowing (a) I PICKED IT I SAW IT MILES, and (b) IT WAS TRUE!! 😂😂
Also there’s a ton of “mother autistic” books coming out recently that are just GROSS and disgustingly abusive to their ASD kids and I literally feel so ill when I hear about them. They are NOT helping.
But like yesss I’m so glad the kid you knew was funny too! I mean you know I have a wild sense of humour, and I swear, my autistic nephew/niece are the most hilarious people.😂It’s like people forget that humour ISN’T just sarcasm?! Plus autistics are just so varied. Like literally every other human lol lol.
Anyway you are BEST and I love being able to chat about this with everyone!
But actually I would love a post about sorting breakfast cereals into Hogwart Houses. Can we have that please? 😉
But, you know, this one wasn’t bad either. No joking, I really appreciated this post. As someone not on the spectrum, I really want to be able to understand and represent others well. So THANK YOU!!! This is so important and thank you for being someone who is just so open and comfortable with taking about Autism. I think Autism is really cool, but it’s so often represented really negatively or just awkwardly (by non-Autistic people, really), which is not cool. Sure, it may make some things neuro-typical people find easy a little harder, but there are also abilities that Autistic people might have that others don’t. But that often gets left out or overshadowed by all the “problems” with Autism. UGH. I’ll stop ranting… but thanks again for the post!!!
You know what? I’M TEMPTED. IT’S ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA.😂 Everyone needs to know if Cornflakes are Hufflepuff or Gryffindor…
I’m so so glad you liked the post too!! 😉 🎉🎉 I was a bit nervous about it and everyone’s been so lovely and ajfdkslad. I think the negative representation is the worst part, honestly, because I can read books with really accurate characters and then the underlying theme will be how they’re such a burden or need to “get better” and change and just ughghhh. We deserve better. And there are absolutely things autistic people struggle with and really wrecks us and it’s NOT always fun at all. But we’re still humans! Books sometimes need a bit of a kick to be reminded of this.
Nooo you’re not ranting, I loved your comment so much!
Thank you so much for sharing this post! You’re totally right that the YA community doesn’t do the best job championing disabilities, and it’s something I’ve noticed recently and that I’m hoping to be more aware of in the future and educate myself more about. And this post is so helpful!! (And you’re humor is on point as always! I was literally laughing just from the title, because you know me and my love of lists so, so well!)
Aww thanks Dani!! YOU ARE LOVELY AND AMAZING. 😍 I feel like there just isn’t a lot of disability YA in the first place too?! Which is sad and hopefully if we all call out for it more, publishers will listen too! (And omg I’M SO GLAD YOU LAUGHED. I was actually worried this post was too serious. 😂😂)
Omg, just died a little of shame when I reread my comment. I PROMISE I know the difference between your and you’re!
Seriously though, I’m 100% with you in making sure publishers know there’s a demand so they can put more out there and do it well. And you did a great job balancing the serious topic with your usual style. I think you nailed it!
Also, I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOUR BOOK!!
I didn’t even notice the typo😂😂 Plus I am the typo queen so YOU’RE FINE.😂
ahhh this was such a good post!! disability rep is definitely a must in ya because there’s hardly any?? whenever i read a book which has an autistic mc i get really hyped – I’m so sick of people using the word as an insult to describe things sjsjskdk.
also the books!! out of them I’ve read three: kids like us, queens of geek, and dark artifices. they’re all so so good!!! especially kids like us <3
Ugh it’s so true right?! I feel like the diversity community is being AMAZING…for literally every other aspect except disability. *cries* I mean, I get that authors might not want to write something they haven’t experienced, but we’re not aliens and our experiences aren’t wildly unrelatable?! (And ugh using autistic as an insult is so gross and wrong.)
YES Kids Like Us was so absolutely precious. 😭❤️❤️
This was a very informative post and on a topic that really should shed it’s taboo cloak! The more we talk about this the better it will get for good representation 🙂 Thank you for all of the recommendations and I will be sure to avoid the books that deal with this subject badly! Thank you for talking about this 🙂
xoxo
http://gingersnaphattie.blogspot.co.uk
I don’t think talking about autism is so much taboo anymore? More like people just don’t think to discuss it, unless they’re talking about all the “problem” side? Which is so sad. But yes! We deserve and need better and more representation!
I love this post, I was looking for good book rep for autism! I’m wondering if you’ve ever read Puddle Jumping by Amber L. Johnson? It’s a kindle exclusive short story that the main male character is on the spectrum – Aspergers I think it specifies. If you have, I was wondering what you think of that rep? I read it a long long long time ago when I didn’t think about rep, but now that I do think more of rep, I’m wondering how it is. And no one seems to be talking about rep on goodreads for it either 🙁 Anyways, thanks for making this awesome list!! 😊
I haven’t read that one actually but I’d like to look it up for sure now. I’m always looking for more ASD books!
Thank you for this! There was a big “joke” going around when Tower of Dawn came out that basically said people in wheelchairs are better because you can have sex with them in a bunch of “fun” ways, and gosh did that make me mad.
Uhm, so my husband has Cerebral Palsy, and he’s insanely high functioning that unless you saw his legs, you couldn’t tell. That being said, anything that was damaged due to his birth (he had air cut off from him during birth), it’s been to the brain, and it’s so exhausting sometimes to live with him. He’s never been diagnosed, but I’ve had so many teachers, friends, and my autistic buddy ask if he’s autistic because he displays SO many of the symptoms. He probably is, but I don’t know if we’ll ever get him diagnosed (found someone a few hours away who might be able to help us with that). But I’ve always felt drawn towards disabled characters because of his mental and physical issues, and it really does sadden me that there is next to no rep for people who are disabled. I’ve read a few books where people had CP or ADHD, and absolutely none of them felt right. The characters all lost their loved ones because of their “problem” or the character with a disability was a freaking idiot.
So thank you for this list of books.
Omg seriously??? That’s horrible. Sometimes I think humans are great and then stuff like that happens and just…uhg.
I’ve honestly only read ONE book with CP rep and that really frustrates me too. Like I get that a lot of authors wouldn’t want to write about things they don’t experience, which is fair! Because bad rep is often worse than no rep. But this just means we need more disabled authors, right!? And it breaks my heart when a disabled character can be well-written in the book, but the underlying theme and messages is how they’re a “burden” or how much “better off they’d be without the disability”. Um, some of us are living great lives?!? It’s 2018 already, let’s stop being ashamed of differences!
(Loved your comment so much and thanks for reading my post!!)
Exactly! I’d love for my husband to write a story about a CP, ADD, ADHD, or whatnot character. But he’s not really a word-type. If he could tell me what to write, I think we could do it, lol.
I’ve read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Such a beautiful book! I don’t anyone with autism personally so I can’t properly which representation is good and bad. I want to thank for highlighting not only the ‘do & don’t list’ but also listing books to avoid! It’s now gotten me thinking about the TV shows I watch as well!
I adored it omg, it was one of the first ever autistic characters I discovered in media and, back then I didn’t know I was on the spectrum, and was like “Why do I relate to this kid so much.”😂😂
I’m really glad you enjoyed this list!!
Personally I haven’t read many books with autistic characters. Maybe only 3. Curious Incident…, Mockingbird – apparently I enjoyed it enough to rate it 4 stars back in 2014 so my opinion may have changed, especially as I’m now more familiar with autism, and Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig which was a recent read that I thought quite good in it’s portrayal of autism, everything that let it down was the neurotypical adults *rolls eyes*.
This post is actually quite helpful since I am planning a book with an autistic main character. Hester is AFAB genderfluid who goes by ‘they’, rages if people use ‘she’, is queer, obsessed with the number 3 and perfectly straight lines. Super sensitive to noise and fabric. They are the key to the fae girl Kendra’s history, how has she forgotten her people and who she is etc. Still very work in progress on the specific details.
As for character rep: more lesbian, bi and queer girls that aren’t doing it for attention. More trans people. More fat heroes/heroines that aren’t all diet, weight loss bullshit.
A lot of people do like Mockingbird so yeah! My biggest problem with it was equated autism with low-intelligence…and learning disabilities of course can happen with autism, but it definitely didn’t differentiate between. Plus it basically was about teaching the girl (I can’t remember her name haha) to have “feelings” and that’s such BS.😂Autistic girls, especially, have SO many feelings…it’s just how we present them that’s different.
And agreed about Ginny Moon! THOSE PARENTS WERE HORRIBLE I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. I was so raging.
I’d definitely recommend you get a sensitivity reader for your autism rep! (The obsessions there sound more like OCD than necessarily autism, btw!)
And agreed with your list of characters who need more rep.
Ahhh this is such a wonderful, wonderful post, Cait. Thank you for opening up about something that’s very personal, but very important. I didn’t know about Autism Speaks–that sucks. :/ AND YES PLEASE TO GIVING AUTISTIC CHARACTERS MORE FEELINGS!!! It’s ~very~ evident that you lovely humans are just as amazing as everyone else, and have more things to do and think about than your condition.
Thank you also for the list! I’ve actually been wanting to read What to Say Next for a while now, since I’ve read the author’s previous book and enjoyed it. I’m really glad When My Heart Joins the Thousand has awesome rep, since it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year!!
THANK yOU AIMEE, THAT MEANS A LOT TO ME!! (I was actually kind of nervous to post this haha.) And omg yes it’s just frustrating how people think diverse characters have to be pigeonholed into “Diverse books” that only deal with the issue?! We can have personalities and adventures too. 😂😂
What To Say Next is frustrating because the rep of autism wasn’t BAD (it was pretty spot on!) but the ultimate underlying theme was to make him less-autistic…so like, nope. Outta here.😂
Great post! Super cool that you spoke out about something so important in the book community! I don’t have autism myself, and I have only read a small handful of books that have autism representation but this has totally opened my eyes to it. It’s so true that we are so focused on LGBTQ+ and race diversity, but the disability rep is lacking!
Do you think you’ll ever write a book about autism?
Yes exactly! I think the diverse community is doing GREAT things but disabilities just get sort of shoved to the background…which is just basically an ancient tradition of hiding the “shameful”, you know?
And I have definitely written about autism and hopefully one day everyone will get to read it! 😜
WOW Cait! I love how consistent and how original your posts our! I would KILL to get into that mind of yours and find where you get your amazing topics! I have to admit, I haven’t read a SINGLE book that has a character with autism in it., I HAVE, actually sat down and watched a few episodes of The Good Doctor with my parents and have to say that it is very interesting to watch. In short, I loved this topic so much! Great post as usual Cait!
I’d love to see The Good Doctor! I’ve heard it’s really good rep. 🎉
I just ordered Lady Midnight from the library, I keep being intrigued by the cover and I don’t know much about autism, so…this is a good place to start! (Then I will have read…5? books this year. xD)
Eugh…Autism Speaks sounds awful.
Hmm, what I want in books…would probably be about emotional distress or anxiety sort of stuff. Guess I better get back to camp nano!
Yayyy! I hope you like it!! And I think you can read it without having read the rest of the Cassandra Clare books, although it does make more sense having read The Mortal Instruments haha. But it’s such good ASD rep. <3 Makes my heart so full.
And yes to more books with mental health/anxiety representations!! And also good ones?? Where the character just doesn't get killed off at the end...
Thank you so much for posting this! I always wonder exactly how accurate books are when it comes to representation and not #ownvoices. I just got Queens of Geek and I’m even more excited to read it now! I don’t think I’ve read many books with autism rep, so I’ll have to check out some of your recommendations.
I have a semi-rare chronic illness, and I would love to see more rep for that! All I see is cancer (and half the time the patient dies), or asthma being used to help prove how “nerdy” a character is. And don’t get me started on Everything, Everything… 😡 Give me a book about a character living the best life they can with chronic illness, and all the joys and frustrations that come with it. Oops, sorry about that soapbox…
Oh Queens of Geek is SO CUTE and perfect! I really hope you love it!!
And omg I will absolutely stand with you on Everything Everything…I am so rage for that book. Just the underlying message of how “you’re not living” unless you go out and experience all of everything?!? What. What. I just feel so disgusted that chronically ill teens would read that hoping to see themselves and then it turns around and says: “lol no it’s OKAY!! SHE’S NOT REALLY SICK!! SHE CAN BE HAPPY!” *eyeroll*
So never say sorry about that soapbox! (And chronic illnesses in general are so so underdone in YA! I hope that changes one day and you get to see characters like you too.😔😔)
Thanks for writing this, Cait. It taught me a lot of things; I don’t enough about autism. A kid I babysit, who’s like my little brother, is autistic. Just like you said, he shows a really cool passion for the things he loves to do. Honestly, I love that about him. He gets so excited when we do his favorite activities. Your post reminded me of him in the best way; I loved reading it.
-Sarah
Aww that’s lovely!! And autism is definitely a huge struggle at times, but it’s so uplifting and encouraging when people can actually point out the good parts and not just focus on the negatives?! I love that. (My autistic niece gets so excited about craft it’s just adorable.😍😍)
Thanks so much for this, Cait! I’ve read a couple of books on your ‘bad list’ because I was younger and I didn’t really know what to look for. I have to say that I read The Rosie Project and half of the Rosie Effect earlier this year, and I gave up on The Rosie Effect because I realised that Don’s social awkwardness was always the butt of the joke and it was really cliched and annoying and refused MANY opportunites to give a diagnosis…so yeah stay away from those. I have to say that I love book with Indian charachtes but I really feel like my story does not fit the classic ‘immigrant narrative’ (because I’m second/third gen, biracial, moved back to India and went to an international school) but it’s okay *shrugs*
Omg I read page 1 of The Rosie Project and put it back on the library shelf.😭😂 I guess I didn’t give it a proper chance but it just really wasn’t a me book, but I hate that it used his social awkwardness as all the humour?! Definitely not going to bother with it. (And I get that some people are opposed to the “label” but also feel it’s problematic to be anti-labels these days when getting help can sometimes even save your life??? But like that’s more of a personal opinion for me.)
I can totally understand how hard it’d be to find characters living your life. (Would you write one someday!?)
I’ve written various characters living bits of my life but not the whole thing. All the MCs I write, so far at least, are biracial though. I do have another question which is about connecting autism to a disability. I know that for some people it’s really debilitating and for some they’re quite high functioning, a spectrum like you said. To what extent/ when is autism a disability and when is it a ‘condition’ whatever that means?
I think using the word “disability” probably depends on the person? I lot of people don’t consider their autism a disability just a way of living (like you said, a condition!) so I think it’s more personal choice. My only hesitation is when people fight that (high functioning) autism ISN’T a disability, because it leaves a lot of us who still don’t function super well feeling like we should be doing better?! So yeah. Personal preferences there. I would think anyway.😂
Great of you to post this. On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis is one I really enjoyed.
I read another one by a Dutch author where one of the side characters was autistic but i struggled a lot with how the main characters saw him. There was so much talking over him instead of with him in cases. I really hope he gets his own point of view in the next book. It was a fantasy by the way. It wasn’t all horrible by the way. There was some focus on his positive traits. Just not enough.
I’m sooo annoyed with myself for not having read it yet!! Especially since it’s #ownvoices and I really want to read more of those!!
And totally understand about the side character there, sigh. I mean sometimes it’s realistic to portray things really negatively!? But so long as other characters (and the autistic one) are fighting back, I think it can work.
This is so helpful Cait!! in all honesty, I haven’t read many books with a good autism rep ever, so I’ll definitely need to check some of your recs out. Have you seen Atypical at all, I watched the first couple episodes but didn’t really get stuck in; didn’t think they gave a very good rep as well.
Lexie x
http://www.whatlexieloves.blogspot.co.uk
Aww thank you so much for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
And ugh no I’m very opposed to Atypical. Sam was just stereotype after stereotype PLUS they were ridiculously dramatised too (he’d been in therapy his whole life but had zero social skills?! It’s insulting to our intelligence. It might be harder for us, but we’re not dumb) and they used his autism as the butt of a ton of jokes. So definitely don’t recommend bothering to finish.😭😭
oooh my phoenix!! I loved this post!!!!! I’m taking your recs cuz I haven’t read any book of autism cuz I didn’t even know there actually were good books doing good austims rep. I don’t think I belong to a minority (? Idek, I should disappear), I’m Christian, does that count? Although I would love to see more topics on immigration and more Latin America native characters on books.
I’m glad you like my recs! But please don’t think belonging to a minority equals a special status or anything…that’s really definitely not what this post is about! (And I’d love to see more books about immigration too since it’s such an important topic!)
So, I have read only a single book with an autistic character, which really isn’t that great. I’ve probaly mentioned it before, but it’s called Shooter, and it”s about two things: a school shooting and not judging people based on first glance. So, one of the MCs is autistic, this kid Noah. . He would, from what I’ve seen here, be a good represtation if it wasn’t for the fact that a) only MC without an arc and b) lived through a school shooting and forgot about it right away after. I’m not autistic, so I don’t really know, but I feel like anyone would have trauma after a school shooting?
Oh, and this post was super informative, and my TBR has increased, but that’s’ a good thing.
It’s really hard to find good autism books that’s for sure! And I find it so weird that it’s unusual to find ASD characters, because in a lot of western countries, it’s basically 1 in 70 people are on the spectrum!? So you’d think it’d turn up in books more.🙊
I find it so interesting that I read this post today after just finishing a book last night featuring an autistic (and Australian) MC. It’s called The Rosie Project – have you heard of it? It made me laugh out loud so many times in the best ways. I didn’t love the MCs love interest because she states ‘if you could change this and this and this you’d be perfect,’ which bothered me (though she does seem to get over it), but I really loved the MC. I felt it was well done. Now I’m wondering what your opinion would be. 🙂
I haven’t read it actually although I definitely know about it.😂 I’ve heard it might be a problem because the MC’s social mishaps are the butt of the joke?? And I’m not a fan of that being used, but since I don’t know how it’s done, I haven’t really an opinion. 🙊
The MC does state that he intentionally became a ‘class clown’ and rolled with it for comfort purposes, so I suppose there is that. I guess I felt it was part of what made him, him. When he did have awkward social interactions I felt he handled and recovered it very well. There were some moments that were more cringe worthy in that respect because you just feel for the guy. The laugh out loud moments, for me, were more because you were so in his head, you could totally see where he was coming from and how other viewpoints were just ludicrous to him. I hope it’s not offensive that I enjoyed the book. I thought the MC was quite endearing.
Well I’m glad it came across will for you! I honestly try not to make opinions on things I haven’t read/seen too much. 😂😂
Thanks for this post! It’s so helpful for figuring out whether something has good rep or problematic themes about autism/disabilities. But as you mentioned, disabilities are so rare in books that it’s hard to even find them when you’re reading. I think the only YA that I’ve read with disabilities rep was Lady Midnight, so thanks for the recommendations! I’ll definitely add them to my TBR!
I’m SO glad it’s helpful because that was definitely why I wanted to write it haha. And absolutely, I think it’s a shame how rare they are. It kind of just cements the thousand-year-old rubbish that disabilities need to be hidden. They really don’t! (Lady Midnight is BEST. 💙💙)
This was a great post. I have many friends who have children who are on the spectrum so am always interested in learning more. In movie and TV form I’ve seen Rain Man while the rep may be spotty and shoddy, at the time it was all that was available. I was always mad at Raymond’s parents for tossing him aside. Boston Legal introduced Aspergers (also probably spotty and shoddy rep) with a lawyer who was first introduced as “Hands.” but as his character grew that shifted and he was Jerry. The Good Doctor is interesting, Besides being on the spectrum there is a lot of grief in his past. I dropped out before the writers started focusing on the other characters or maybe just as it started. I also had a hard time because the show is very intense and I had to watch it with the sound very low and captions on; you miss nuances that way.
One of the problems in trying to silence Autism Speaks is that it has the foothold like Susan G Koman. It was first to create a platform (no matter how terrible), so now that is everyone’s go to. Really and truly stinks that no matter how much you educate people about the bad charities they still think of them first. 🙁
Thank you so very much for the lists! With regards to the books featuring diversity as well as disability Angles Club is a chapter book series set at a therapy horse ranch. My friend gave me Falling in Love with Grover Cleveland that dealt with “at risk” teens spotlighting mental health issues. In my point of view both seemed well written and good at providing insight. However, I have no point of reference so these also may be spotty shoddy rep for the featured characters..
It’s good that you are using your knowledge to help educate.
I haven’t actually seen Rain Man, but I’ve heard most of the autistic community is pretty 100% done with it haha. 😂 Being a savant is unusual, not the norm! And I’d like to see The Good Doctor for sure, but I just haven’t figured otu where to watch it yet.
And yes, ugh, Autism Speaks isn’t going away…and I know they’re not *as* bad as they used to be (but they still support ABA therapy so like, burn it with fire) but it’d be nice if an organisation could rise up and overtake them that actually truly supports/cares about autism. (I’ve heard Autism Speaks doesn’t even have a single person WITH autism working for them….smh)
(Although mental health issues are different to disabilities. 😉 But I’ll have to look up Falling In Love With Grover Cleveland!)
tHanks so much for reading!
You should definitely write a post sorting breakfast cereal into Hogwarts Houses– even better desserts! 😍
I’d like for diversity to wildly contaminate fantasy and sci-fi, most importantly disabilities and mental illness because as for now it feels like they feature in issue books solely. 😕
Thank you for writing this very informative post. 😊 I’m going to save it!
I’M TEMPTED.😂 We all need sorted Hogwarts cereals in our life clearly. (Also cakes! There’s so much post POTENTIAL HERE.) 😂
And it’d be amazing if disability was better represented in scifi/fantasy/adventures! That can help stop the stigma of if you have a disability it’s “all you are”…because we all have a ton of interests outside of that too.😂
Thanks so much for reading!! 💕💕
CAIT! CAIIIIIIIIIT. I saw this post on my feed and was already SO EXCITED AND HAPPY. This autistic gal is loving it. Thanks for writing such important, wonderful posts. <3
I must say I haven't read any books with canonically autistic MCs, but all of your recs are going on my TBR. I need more characters to relate to, lol. But I've read a couple books where the MC seems unintentionally coded as autistic and honestly? I still love it. Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts movies is one of my favorite characters for that reason- although I sadly think that JKR and the crew would probably never have intentionally done it, I'm still taking my headcanon and running with it.
Ahhh thanks so much for reading it and I’m SO glad you enjoyed it!! (Also it’s so awesome to meet author ASD bloggers?! *hi fives*) And agreed! I do still love it when the characters seem autistic but maybe aren’t labelled! Especially for sci-fi/fantasy. I get a bit annoyed when the label is constantly avoided in contemporary though, because I think it needs to be stopped being seen as a “bad word”?
But holy HECK NEWT IS SO AUTISTIC AND THE CUTEST. As soon as I finished watching Fantastic Beasts, I was like to my sister: “Well he’s super autistic.”😂 I also headcanon that Luna is autistic too!! She’s so precious and I love her. (And lol sob yes I doubt JK Rowling would intentionally write a diverse character…she just takes claim afterwards. *sigh*)
*hi fives!* LARGE YES TO AUTISTIC LUNA AS WELL. I love them both so much!! I feel like FB is one of the rare occasions where I’d almost rather have the representation be unintentional instead of intentional bc a) yeah I doubt JKR & crew would do it and b) it would probably be worse so I’M JUST GOING TO TAKE MY HEADCANONS AND RUN AWAY.
YES I KNOW, RIGHT?! Sometimes I actually think some authors/books/shows do autism BETTER when they don’t know what they’re doing.😂 It’s like the actually go “here I’m writing a person” instead of “here I’m writing a list of diagnosis material.” 😭😭😭
Yesssss, I definitely agree! I really wish authors would include some of the non-stereotypical traits of autism because I feel like a lot of people with autism (especially girls) don’t necessarily identify with the “classic” autistic traits. I know personally, the biggest autistic trait I have is kind of heightened sensitivity – you never see that in books!
Have you read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine? As well as featuring really great autism rep, it’s just such an emotional and interesting book – I absolutely adored it!
Exactly! And it was a really confusing moment for me when my parents and I first started wondering if I was on the spectrum because I’m so artistic and my #1 reaction was “but you can’t be if your autistic?” because media is like numbers! boys! no eye contact! The end! 😭😭 I wish autism got a more well-rounded representation in media. Especially girls! (And I’m really affected by sensory issues too.)
I haven’t read Eleanor Oliphant but I’m so excited for the rec!!
I didn’t realize that Autism Speaks was so negative—that makes me sad! We actually did a run with them when my oldest was a kid. She was never technically diagnosed as autistic, but she had a lot of spectrum behaviors that sort of always put her on the brink of “maybe?” with the doctors. To this day, we’re not fully sure. Like you say, there’s no “one thing” that completely defines autism, and it’s not always cut and dry. I will definitely plan to read your suggestions and keep this post in mind when I see autism rep in books in the future!
It is really sad! You’d think Autism Speaks would be FOR autism, but heh, more like “Autism Silences”…it’s so very sad. (I’ve further heard that they have hired an autistic person to be on their board, but the ASD person quit because they hated what they were doing. So yeeeah. That says a lot.)
Oh for sure with how “not one thing” defines autism. And the spectrum is so large and so varied. Your daughter isn’t out of school yet, right? You might get a better idea when highschool ends…that’s when I really fell apart.😂 (Not that I hope your daughter does!) But the trying to switch into adulthood was a huge failing for me and when we started realising all the “weird” stuff I did might be more than me just being an oddball.
Thanks so much for reading it!! And I haven’t seen the Good Doctor yet, but I do want to! I have an ASD friend who says it’s really good. (Avoid Atypical haha, that’s a really trashy representation.😝)
Thank you so much for this post! I’m autistic myself, but finding books with good autism rep is the hardest. I did make a list on Goodreads, for books by autistic authors (if your books aren’t on it, please feel free to add! I’m out of slots), because I was so desperate for them. I thought, If I could make an ever-growing list of books by autistic people themselves, I’d be set! I really wanted it, because I want to support more autistic authors and throw it into Autism Speaks’ faces! But that’s not to say non-autistics can’t write great autism rep, or perform in general great autism rep. Snow Cake (movie) is a great example of this, methinks; it got a lot of mixed reviews, but…I’ve never related to anyone more than I did Sigourney Weaver playing an autistic person. I laughed in places non-autistics wouldn’t (and, frequently in the movie, stood and stared in appall), but it was definitely great.
I’m totally bookmarking this. I had no idea you’re autistic until I saw your comment on someone else’s blog and decided to come search your blog for autism (heh). I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE TBH. UGH, SO GREAT. I am older than you by four years, which still makes me feel like I’m really freaking old in this community, but it’s really comforting to know I’m not the only autistic in here…because I thought I was. It really put a damper on book recommendations, by which I mean overtly non-autistic characters featured in books make me feel like I’m torturing myself to death—and I don’t know how to kindly decline or to explain this issue, i.e. “oh I’m autistic and this character is burning holes into all the characters s/he makes eye contact with, and this other character who doesn’t is presumed to be an asshole SIMPLY BECAUSE HE DOESN’T MAKE EYE CONTACT, and that hurts my heart”.
It’s a bit triggering—in the sense of having so much stigma in reality (online and offline, but what I’m referring to here is outside fiction)—to read something reinforcing the stigma surrounding autism and there being this idea that autistics are worse than anything else. It hurts. It breaks my heart. I can’t handle it, because I’m living that life everyday. Older generations like to pick at “triggered” Millennials, but…I have PTSD, too. I have experienced stress from triggers so bad that I’ve experienced serious medical conditions; I can’t take it. The authors of those books tend to say, “Well, it’s not for autistic people themselves, it’s for non-autistics,” but isn’t this just hate? Isn’t this essentially the paradox of tolerance? And it’s not like non-autistics know certain books aren’t intended for actually autistic people, so when they suggest we read them, it’s not our fault if the books just fall into our laps. If there were warnings, saying, “This book was written for non-autistic people, not autistic people,” they’d never be published by the houses at all because that kind of talk is discriminatory. (Of course, the warnings would actually say something like, “This book was not written for people with autism,” instead, because that’s the non-autistic’s language preference.
Ugh. I just remembered To Siri with Love. Didn’t read it, but I did see screenshots and photos and quotes from the book. :/
Aww hi Jane! I SO appreciate and love this comment and it make me really happy to meet author autistics online. 💛 Also I relate SO HARD to everything you said here!! I absolutely love books BY autistic authors and glad when we get a voice and can share like the truest version of the autistic experience on page. But also non-autistic authors can do well! I admit my most favourite and “omg this is me” moment for an ASD characters has been by a non-autistic author. And I do like that. I think when people say non-autistic authors can’t write about us it’s like saying “omg no one can possibly understand what it’s like to be autistic they’re so alien”. Cue heavy eye-roll and frustrated growling. We’re not actually that incomprehensible, I don’t think?!
Except for the eye contact. 😂 Lol when two characters are like “and I read all this emotion in her eyes” and I’m like: YOU DID WHAT. HOW. AVOID EYES. WHY.
😂😂
Also I think no book should EVER contain an autistic character but not be appropriate for autistics to read. That’s despicable I think. And I know it happens. The To Siri With Love made me so frikkin’ angry and miserable and I 1000% believe that women abused her child, profited from it, and have people applauding her martyrdom. It makes me physically ill.
Have you checked the Wikipedia List of autistic fictional characters (wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autistic_fictional_characters) to see if it includes all relevant books? If not, I recommend you update it.
I haven’t checked haha. I don’t really have time to update wikipedia articles unfortunately.
It’s great that we have access to books like these nowadays. My mother really struggled with my autistc brother, born in the 70’s she had no help. Now I am bringing up my son who is also autistic, but somehow things aren’t that hard
It’s definitely important that we have way more information now! And I think the mentality of autism is also changing…since more HF autistics are speaking out and reminding people not to change but love us and let us just be. (Obviously things are always going to be different levels of challenges depending on how much help and assistance and autistic needs.) Hope you and your son find some good reads!!
Hi ! Loved this article !
I am definitely adding the books you mentionned on my TBR list!
I agree that the rep of minorities is still… Well, there IS progress, but I’m not sure that I could find ten GOOD books with one of the main character (if not the main character) in a wheelchair – my big sister is bien with a brain disability that prevent her to walk, that’s why I have this exemple.
Also, here in France, we don’t talk about autism. Like…??? Unless you, or a member of your relatives are autistic, it’s impossible to learn much about autism ?? As if it was some kind of secret hidden world ???
Also, the only time I heard about autism, it was defined as a “disability” or an “illness” but now that I know you, I’d like to know what… Terme? I should use? One that is correct and non offensive. Like, I dunno… When talking about autism saying : “autism is a perticularity” instead of “autism is a disability”
I don’t know if it makes much sense, but I hope so ^^
Always happy to learn 🙏🏾 thanks again for this post!
Xoxo
Wow. What a great post. I really wasn’t expecting you to be talking about fiction critique. Exceptionally good advice about character development of characters with ASD and how to portray in a way with agency. Impressive post. Very insightful.
How is Lady Midnight about an autistic character? (I’m a big fan of the Shadowhunters, so this could be cool.)
Hi! I have a book inspired by my lived experience as being autistic coming out in 2023 called GOOD DIFFERENT! I’d also recommend Elle McNicoll’s books and Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!
I would add to the list to avoid: Rain Reign Rein, To Siri With Love and Curious Incident on a Dog in the Nighttime. Also, Prom Theory, although that is technically Nonverbal Learning Disability, which is similar. The author basicallymakes the main character’s difficulty reading people into the butt of a joke and the entire plot. It is so horribly and obliviously and ignorantly written.
But on a positive note, some books to add to the great list: Dear Mothman by Robyn Gow, A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll ( which was turned into an AMAZING TV series with a neurodivergent cast), Speak Up by Rebecca Burgess, Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen, State of Grace by Rachel Lucas, and Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman.