This is a list of fictional characters that have been explicitly described within the work in which they appear, or otherwise by the author, as being on the autism spectrum. It is not intended to include speculation. Autistic people involved in the work may be mentioned in footnotes.
Year | Character | Series/Franchise | Author/Publisher | Country | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Johnny Do | Psi-Force | Marvel Comics | USA | [1] [2] |
1996 | Claudette St. Croix | Generation X | Marvel Comics | USA | [3] [4] [5] |
2000 | Hikaru Azuma | With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child | Keiko Tobe | Japan | [6] |
2001 | Reed Richards | Fantastic Four | Marvel Comics | USA | [7] |
2003 | Black Manta | Aquaman | DC Comics | USA | [8] [9] |
2007 | Zone | Special Forces | Kyle Baker | USA | [10] |
2014 | Stephanie "Stephie" Bondu | Assigned Male | Sophie Labelle [lower-alpha 1] | Canada | [12] |
2015 | Mark Shiffron | Postal | Top Cow Productions | USA | [13] |
2016 | Brun Khoury | Questionable Content | Jeph Jacques [lower-alpha 2] | USA | [15] |
2016 | Emma | Jade Street Protection Services | Black Mask Studios | USA | [16] |
2018 | Norma Khan | Deadendia: The Watcher's Test | Nobrow | UK | [17] |
2019 | Scarlet Saltee | Archie | Archie Comics | USA | [18] |
2019 | Poison Ivy (as written by Tee Franklin) [lower-alpha 3] | Harley Quinn | DC Comics | USA | [20] |
2022 | Frankie | Frankie's World | Aoife Dooley [lower-alpha 4] | Ireland | [21] |
Year | Character(s) | Book | Author(s) | Country | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Manfred Steiner | Martian Time-Slip | Philip K. Dick | USA | [145] | |
1996 | Seth Garin | The Regulators | Stephen King (under the pen name Richard Bachman) | USA | [146] | |
1996 | Simon Lynch | Simple Simon | Ryne Douglas Pearson | USA | Adapted into the film Mercury Rising (1998). | [147] [148] |
2000 | Marty Zellerbach | The Hades Factor | Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds | USA | [149] | |
2000 | Patrick | Truth or Dare | Celia Rees | England | [150] [151] | |
2002 | Darryl McAllister | A Wizard Alone | Diane Duane | USA | [152] | |
2002 | Shepherd O'Conner | By the Light of the Moon | Dean Koontz | USA | [153] | |
2003 | Christopher John Francis Boone | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon | England | Although the blurb on the back of the book says that Christopher is on the spectrum, it is not explicitly stated in the story and was later denied by the author. [154] The book was adapted into a stage play of the same name. | [155] |
2003 | Lou Arrendale and his co-workers | Speed of Dark | Elizabeth Moon | USA | [156] | |
2004 | Ben | Niets was alles wat hij zei(Nothing Was All He Said) | Nic Balthazar | Belgium | Adapted into the film Ben X (2007). | [65] |
2004 | Natalie Flanagan | Al Capone Does My Shirts | Gennifer Choldenko | USA | Also appears in the subsequent novels in the series. | [157] [158] |
2005 | Victor Hoppe | The Angel Maker | Stefan Brijs | Belgium | [159] | |
2005 | Morgan Wiberg | The Stone Cutter | Camilla Läckberg | Sweden | [160] | |
2006 | David | Rules | Cynthia Lord | USA | [161] | |
2006 | Alan Wheddon | Dear John | Nicholas Sparks | USA | Adapted into the 2010 film of the same name. | [162] |
Richard Tyree | [163] | |||||
2006 | Taylor | Do-si-Do with Autism | Sarah Stup [lower-alpha 15] | USA | [165] | |
2007 | Blackwolf | Soon I Will Be Invincible | Austin Grossman | USA | [166] | |
2007 | Adam | Eye Contact | Cammie McGovern | USA | [167] | |
Amelia | ||||||
2008 | Jessica Fontaine | The Language of Others | Clare Morrall | England | [168] [169] | |
2008 | Gillian Grayson | Mass Effect: Ascension | Drew Karpyshyn | Canada | [170] | |
2008 | Mickey Tussler | The Legend of Mickey Tussler | Frank Nappi | USA | Adapted into the television film A Mile in His Shoes (2011). | [171] |
2008 | Peter Michael "Little Pete" Ellison | Gone | Michael Grant | USA | Character appears in all six "Season One" books, published between 2008 and 2013. | [172] |
2009 | Marcelo Sandoval | Marcelo in the Real World | Francisco X. Stork | USA | [173] | |
2009 | Geert | De Autist en de Postduif | Rodaan Al Galidi | Netherlands | [174] | |
2009 | Aliénor Malèze | The Winter Journey | Amélie Nothomb | Belgium | [175] | |
2009 | Ryan Scott | Into the Silence | Sarah Pinborough | England | Based on the TV series Torchwood . | [176] |
2009 | Malcolm Decter | WWW Trilogy | Robert J. Sawyer | Canada | Character appears in all three books, published between 2009 and 2011. | [177] |
2010 | Jacob Hunt | House Rules | Jodi Picoult | USA | [178] | |
2010 | Max Parkman | Saving Max | Antoinette van Heugten | USA | [179] [180] | |
2010 | Caitlin Smith | Mockingbird | Kathryn Erskine | USA | [181] [182] | |
2010 | Dwight Tharp | The Strange Case of Origami Yoda | Tom Angleberger [lower-alpha 16] | USA | [184] | |
Harvey Cunningham | [185] | |||||
2010 | Renarin Kholin | The Stormlight Archive | Brandon Sanderson | USA | Character appears in all books, published 2010 to present. | [186] |
2011 | Trueman Bradley | Trueman Bradley - Aspie Detective | Alexei Maxim Russell | Canada | [187] | |
2011 | James Donovan Halliday | Ready Player One | Ernest Cline | USA | [188] | |
2012 | Anthony Donatelli | Love Anthony | Lisa Genova | USA | [189] | |
2012 | Leah | Leah's Voice | Lori DeMonia | USA | 2014 Temple Grandin literary work of the year recipient. [190] | [191] |
2012 | Ivan Tarasov | Triggers | Robert J. Sawyer | Canada | [192] | |
2013 | Don Tillman | The Rosie Project | Graeme Simsion | Australia | [193] | |
2013 | Oscar | The Real Boy | Anne Ursu | USA | [194] | |
2013 | Harriet Manners | Geek Girl | Holly Smale [lower-alpha 17] | England | Harriet is never described as autistic in any of the six books, but Smale has retroactively labelled her as such after being diagnosed as autistic herself. [195] | [195] |
2014 | Rose Howard | Rain Reign | Ann M. Martin | USA | [196] | |
2014 | Kurt Bacon | Isla and the Happily Ever After | Stephanie Perkins | USA | [197] | |
2014 | Lin YuLong "Jade Dragon" | Michael Vey: Hunt for Jade Dragon | Richard Paul Evans | USA | [198] | |
2014 | Astra Ordott | The Gaia Chronicles | Naomi Foyle [lower-alpha 18] | England/ Canada | [200] | |
2015 | Paul Stephens | Paul and His Beast | Sarah Stup [lower-alpha 15] | USA | [201] | |
Tim | ||||||
2016 | Tiberius "Ty" Blackthorn | The Dark Artifices | Cassandra Clare | USA | [202] | |
2016 | Denise | On the Edge of Gone | Corinne Duyvis [lower-alpha 19] | Netherlands | [203] | |
2017 | Aster Grey | An Unkindness of Ghosts | Rivers Solomon [lower-alpha 20] | USA | [205] | |
2017 | Jack Kagen | There's More Than One Way Home | Donna Levin | USA | Also appears in the sequel, He Could Be Another Bill Gates. | [206] |
2018 | Luke Jennings | The Fox | Frederick Forsyth | England | [207] | |
2018 | Stella Lane | The Kiss Quotient | Helen Hoang [lower-alpha 21] | USA | [209] | |
2019 | Avery Lou | The Boy Who Steals Houses | C.G. Drews [lower-alpha 22] | Australia | [211] | |
2019 | Edison "Eddie" Matthews | The Things We Cannot Say | Kelly Rimmer | Australia | [212] | |
2019 | Khai Diep | The Bride Test | Helen Hoang [lower-alpha 21] | USA | [209] | |
2019 | Ewan West | Underdogs | Chris Bonnello [lower-alpha 23] | England | [214] | |
Kate Arrowsmith | ||||||
2020 | Elle | The Leap Cycle | Patience Agbabi | England | [215] | |
Big Ben | ||||||
2020 | Vivy Cohen | Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! | Sarah Kapit [lower-alpha 24] | USA | [216] | |
2020 | Keedie Darrow | A Kind of Spark | Elle McNicoll [lower-alpha 25] | Scotland | Adapted into the 2023 TV series of the same name. | [218] |
Addie Darrow | ||||||
Elinor Fraser | ||||||
2020 | Erin | Please Don't Hug Me | Kay Kerr [lower-alpha 26] | Australia | [219] | |
2020 | Unnamed protagonist | A Room Called Earth | Madeleine Ryan [lower-alpha 27] | Australia | [220] [221] | |
2020 | Hudson Tillman | The Rosie Result | Graeme Simsion | Australia | [222] | |
2021 | Jesse Broadview | Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse | Susan Vaught [lower-alpha 28] | USA | [223] | |
2021 | Lara Finkel | The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family | Sarah Kapit [lower-alpha 24] | USA | [224] | |
Caroline Finkel | ||||||
2021 | Ester Harding | Daughter Of The Deep | Rick Riordan | USA | [225] | |
2021 | Anna Sun | The Heart Principle | Helen Hoang [lower-alpha 21] | USA | [226] | |
Eve Brown | Act Your Age, Eve Brown | Talia Hibbert [lower-alpha 29] | England | [227] | ||
Jacob Wayne | ||||||
2021 | Zoe Kelly | Social Queue | Kay Kerr [lower-alpha 26] | Australia | [229] | |
2023 | Cassandra Dankworth | The Cassandra Complex | Holly Smale [lower-alpha 17] | England | [230] | |
2023 | Jacob | What the World Doesn't See | Mel Darbon | England | Darbon based the character of Jacob on her own autistic younger brother. [231] | [232] |
2023 | Phoebe | Finding Phoebe | Gavin Extence | England | [233] | |
2023 | Ariana Ruiz | The Luis Ortega Survival Club | Sonora Reyes [lower-alpha 30] | USA | [235] | |
2023 | Rose | Camp Damascus | Chuck Tingle [lower-alpha 31] | USA | [236] | |
2023 | Sunday | All the Little Bird-Hearts | Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow [lower-alpha 32] | UK | [237] |
Year | Character | Play | Playwright | Country | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | Dame Edna Everage | Various stage and television productions | Barry Humphries [lower-alpha 63] | Australia | [351] [352] |
1997 | "Spoonface" Steinberg | Spoonface Steinberg | Lee Hall | England | [353] |
2015 | Adhvik | Chains: Love Stories of Shadows | AK Srikanth | India | [354] |
2017 | Luke | Mosquitoes | Lucy Kirkwood | England | [355] |
2019 | Lyle Masterson [lower-alpha 64] | Albireo | Annahis Basmadjian | Canada | [356] [357] |
2019 | Laurence | All in a Row | Alex Oates | England | [358] [359] |
2023 | Various | How to Dance in Ohio | Rebecca Greer Melocik (book & lyrics), Jacob Yandura (music) | USA | [360] |
Year | Character | Actor(s) | Franchise | Medium | Country | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Michael Falk | John Cariani | The Onion | Satirical news, online videos | USA | [390] |
2019-2024 | Ayda Aguefort | Brennan Lee Mulligan | Dimension 20 | Actual play | USA | [391] [392] [393] |
2022 | Twyla Boogeyman | Kayla Cromer (TV series), [lower-alpha 44] Tangina Stone (singing voice) | Monster High | Toys | USA | [394] [395] |
2022 | Jiang Dong-ping | Peng Haoqin | Unlocking Music | Web series | Taiwan | [396] |
2023 | Asteria | n/a [lower-alpha 65] | Dungeons & Dragons | Tabletop role-playing game | USA | [397] |
2023 | Shuai Jiamo | Zhang Ruoyun | Under The Microscope | Web series | China | [398] |
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a term formerly used to describe a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Asperger syndrome has been merged with other conditions into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a diagnosis. It was considered milder than other diagnoses which were merged into ASD due to relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
Mary Temple Grandin is an American academic and ethologist. She is a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in early childhood, persists throughout adulthood, and affects two crucial areas of development: social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. There are many conditions comorbid to autism spectrum disorder, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, and epilepsy.
The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework for understanding human brain function that recognizes the diversity within sensory processing, motor abilities, social comfort, cognition, and focus as neurobiological differences. The neurodiversity paradigm argues that diversity in human cognition is normal and that some conditions generally classified as disorders, such as autism, are differences and disabilities that are not necessarily pathological.
The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with disability rights that emphasizes the neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally-occuring variations in human cognition rather than as a disease to be cured or a disorder to be treated. The movement aligns itself with broader disability rights and uses a human rights framework. Central to most human rights frameworks is a belief that the relevant community, in this instance the autistic community, should be able to self-determine who is in that community, what language should be used in discussing the community, and should be seen as the primary voice whenever discussions of interest to the community are held. One of the common mottos used, which was borrowed from the disability rights movement is the phrase "nothing about us without us."
Autistic Pride Day is a pride celebration for autistic people held on 18 June each year. Autistic pride recognises the importance of pride for autistic people and its role in bringing about positive changes in the broader society.
High-functioning autism (HFA) was historically an autism classification to describe a person who exhibited no intellectual disability but had some difficulty in communication, emotion recognition, expression, and/or social interaction. However, many in medical and autistic communities have called to stop using the term, finding it simplistic and unindicative of the difficulties some austistic people face.
Self-stimulatory behavior, also known as "stimming" and self-stimulation, is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, words, moving objects, or other behaviors. Such behaviors are found to some degree in all people, especially those with developmental disabilities such as ADHD, as well as autistic people. People diagnosed with sensory processing disorder are also known to potentially exhibit stimming behaviors.
Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps; the autism rights movement and the pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.
Classic autism, also known as childhood autism, autistic disorder, (early) infantile autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner's autism, Kanner's syndrome, or (formerly) just autism, is a neurodevelopmental condition first described by Leo Kanner in 1943. It is characterized by atypical and impaired development in social interaction and communication as well as restricted, repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests. These symptoms first appear in early childhood and persist throughout life.
Autism, also called autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of deficient reciprocal social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive, and inflexible patterns of behavior. While its severity and specific manifestations vary widely across the spectrum, autism generally affects a person's ability to understand and connect with others, as well as their adaptability to everyday situations. Like most developmental disorders, autism exists along a dimension of symptom severity, subjective distress, and functional impairment. A consequence of this dimensionality is substantial variability in the nature and extent of support a person with ASD requires.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.
Autism-friendly means being aware of social engagement and environmental factors affecting people on the autism spectrum, with modifications to communication methods and physical space to better suit individual's unique and special needs.
Stephen Louis Silberman was an American writer for Wired magazine and was an editor and contributor there for more than two decades. In 2010, Silberman was awarded the AAAS "Kavli Science Journalism Award for Magazine Writing." His featured article, known as "The Placebo Problem", discussed the impact of placebos on the pharmaceutical industry.
Fern Marie Brady is a Scottish comedian, podcaster and writer. She achieved fame as a stand-up comedian at competitions such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was then invited on to panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats. In 2020 she co-created the podcast Wheel of Misfortune.
The history of autism spans over a century; autism has been subject to varying treatments, being pathologized or being viewed as a beneficial part of human neurodiversity. The understanding of autism has been shaped by cultural, scientific, and societal factors, and its perception and treatment change over time as scientific understanding of autism develops.
Current research indicates that autistic people have higher rates of LGBTQ identities and feelings than the general population. A variety of explanations for this have been proposed, such as prenatal hormonal exposure, which has been linked with sexual orientation, gender dysphoria and autism. Alternatively, autistic people may be less reliant on social norms and thus are more open about their orientation or gender identity. A narrative review published in 2016 stated that while various hypotheses have been proposed for an association between autism and gender dysphoria, they lack strong evidence.
Chloé Sarah Hayden is an Australian actress, author, podcast host, social-media personality, and an activist in the disability rights movement. After gaining early attention on social media, she was cast to play Quinn "Quinni" Gallagher-Jones an autistic lesbian in the Netflix comedy drama series Heartbreak High, for which she won an AACTA Award and was nominated for a Logie Award.
Being neuro-divergent myself, being on the autism spectrum, it's always been something that was part of my life—talking and none of my peers understanding what I said.
Je ne sais pas si j'ai vraiment pu incarner un jeune autistique—il dit autiste—; normalement on dit que ce sont des enfants très beaux—il l'est lui-même—et qu'ils ont de la facilité à communiquer avec les animaux.[I don't know if I was really able to embody a young autistic person—he says autistic—; normally we say that they are very beautiful children—he is himself—and that they have an easy time communicating with animals.]
The wild card in the equation, as if there needed to be one, is Andrew Miller's autistic man.
So, I've gone over Meaghan's file, and I'm really glad you chose to bring her to us. ... We've been quite successful with autistic patients.
Sometimes. He [Karl] talks about her a lot. He's sort of obsessed with his rabbits. He's got Asperger's.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Nicholas Gray's directorial debut, If you Could Say it in Words, is a feature film about Nelson Hodge, a young African American guy with Asperger's living in Philadelphia.
No, Alan's not retarded, John. He's autistic.
It's just Michael's autism manifesting itself in a new way
Ezra is played by William Fitzgerald, and they both - actor and character - have autism.
(Several exhaustive psychological studies were done on Halliday following his death, and his obsessive adherence to routine and preoccupation with a few obscure areas of interest led many psychologists to conclude that Halliday had suffered from Asperger's syndrome, or from some other form of highfunctioning autism.)
"I'm an Aspie," said Tarasov
'Luke?' said Sue Jennings. 'But he's harmless. He has Asperger's syndrome. That's a form of autism. We've known for years.'
{{cite web}}
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(help)So yeah. Mandy's probably on the spectrum. As are Billy & Grim. Mandy is the cold, rational way I learned to view the world in order to survive. Billy is the fun and joyous inner-world where I like to spend my time. And Grim is the moral mediator between the two. It's really Id, Ego, and Superego to some degree. I haven't thought about that in a long time, but that was purposeful.
Cause you know, in our version of Mystery Incorporated Fred is slightly on the spectrum.
Ninety-five percent of characters with disabilities are played by actors without those disabilities. So, it is vitally important that the character of Sean is voiced by an 11-year-old autistic boy named George Yionoulis, who did not speak until he was three years old.
Max is voiced by newcomer Israel Thomas-Bruce, a 13-year-old eighth-grader who was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4.
I guess his ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) enables him to be open about his OCD. He doesn't really care what other people think, certainly a lot less than I do.
We don't get to see much of Curtis, but as it turns out, the actor who plays Curtis, Jonathan Simao, does in fact have Asperger's syndrome; so when you are seeing him on screen, you're getting the real deal.
For American and Canadian audiences, Bruno the Brake Car will be voiced by 10-year-old autistic actor Chuck Smith from Toronto.
In her defense, Dame Edna insists she has "mild Asperger's syndrome" and "says the things other people wished they could say" but keep a lid on.
Claiming to suffer from Asperger's, bi-polar, gluten intolerance, restless legs and attention deficit disorder, there might just be a clue to the truth in that list of conditions as to why this is a farewell tour.
Her powers speak to the mind but- ah- she does not know my language. I'm autistic, Chambers. Please keep up.
Being on the spectrum (and played by a fellow on the spectrum) he has things he likes (Laura, his umbrella, quiet, whiskey, his work...) and things he doesn't. (....things that aren't Laura, his umbrella, quiet, whiskey and his work.)
An orphan with an autistic spectrum disorder, she grumbles, mutters avoids eye contact and struggles to express her thoughts.
Mission Briefing: How did an insane introvert with Asperger's manage to survive in Sanctuary
She absolutely is!
...Ayda's just like weeping tears of joy, and she's got a whole stack of books that Jawbone has given for her about autism and about the autism spectrum.
And then I was thinking about my friends that I had modeled Ayda after, it was like oh, those are my autistic friends, oh my god, just putting it together of like, absolutely. So then I jumped in, I did a bunch of research, I was like if this character is around longer, is more nuanced, let's research this and get this right.