Short report: Autistic adults' recommendations on how to improve autistic portrayals in TV-series and movies.
Autistic adults say hire autistic writers and show many kinds of autistic people on screen.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Orm et al. (2023) asked 77 autistic and 54 non-autistic adults to fill out an online survey.
The survey listed 18 ideas for making autistic TV and movie characters feel real.
People rated each idea and could add their own thoughts.
What they found
Autistic adults gave the loudest yes to hiring autistic writers and consultants.
They also wanted more types of autistic characters: girls, adults, people of color, and different support needs.
Non-autistic adults liked the ideas too, but rated them a little lower.
How this fits with other research
Darazsdi et al. (2023) found that therapist bias hurts autistic clients. Stian’s paper shows the same problem in Hollywood: decisions made without autistic voices can wound identity.
Lde Leeuw et al. (2024) let autistic youth write their own digital Social Stories and saw gains. Stian’s call for autistic-led scripts extends that same rule to mass media: when autistic people author the story, quality goes up.
Diemer et al. (2023) showed that outdated male stereotypes delay diagnosis. Stian’s push for diverse autistic characters tackles that gap by making girls and women visible on screen.
Why it matters
If you teach social skills using movie clips, pick shows written or advised by autistic people. Share the credits with clients and families so they see authentic models. When you recommend media to parents or employers, ask, “Were autistic people paid to help make this?” That small check builds dignity and may steer them away from harmful stereotypes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: TV-series and movies are important sources of knowledge about autism for the general public. AIMS: This study's purpose was to elicit autistic adults' opinions on portrayals of autistic characters in film and television productions and how this can be improved. METHODS AND PROCEDURE: In this study, we examined the recommendations of autistic adults (n = 798, Mage = 30.3, 48% female) and non-autistic adults (n = 1463, Mage = 35.0, 62% female) from 90 countries on how film and television productions can improve autistic portrayals. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Autistic adults rated three improvement factors as most important: (1) Appointing autistic writers, (2) Having an autistic consultant, and (3) Representing greater diversity in autistic characters. Compared to the non-autistic groups, autistic adults rated "Appointing autistic writers" as more important. Autistic participants also endorsed "Having an autism-expert consultant" and "Making the character display all relevant diagnostic criteria" significantly less than non-autistic groups. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Participants strongly endorsed that autistic adults should to a much larger extent be included as writers, consultants and actors to enhance the making of autistic characters in film and TV.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104484