- What is an Autism Spectrum Disorder?
- What aspects of the disorders do fiction books accurately and inaccurately portray?
- Is fiction a reliable source for information on life with an Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Before reading the books I had only limited personal knowledge about the topic. From my reading and from the other activities such as talking to my father and watching videos on the topic I have acquired a lot of useful information. Autism is a developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior. In most of the books, the emphasis was on the difficulty with social interaction. From speaking with my father who works closely with my topic, I have learned more about autism from a diagnosis standpoint. One thing he gave me was the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5. This was published in the year 2013, which in some cases is newer than the books I was reading. From reading through the section on autism in the DSM-5 I learned that specific disorders within the autism spectrum no longer exist, like Aspergers. In place of that outdated method, ASDs are now described on a spectrum of severity level.
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In the most recent weeks, this next question has been on my mind. After reading articles and watching videos over break I have begun to question whether fiction can accurately portray autism. Since then I have become a lot more critical of the books I have read after realizing the trend that they follow. This quarter I have read five books so far and out of that only one book featured a girl with autism, and only two out of the five showed the more difficult aspects of autism. The other three books all featured male main characters who were exceptionally gifted. Although they suffered with social interactions, their autism caused nearly no problems that were expressed in the book. On the other hand, Wish and Ginny Moon have a more realistic portrayal of life with autism. In Wish, the main character Bobby had severe autism and the book expressed the struggles he and his family encounter. Similarly, Ginny Moon follows an autistic girl whose birth mother was abusive. Ginny now lives with her 'forever parents' who are expecting a child, which causes them to worry about Ginny's past and how she might treat a child. Both books cover the ups and downs of autism, therefore only some books truly can convey a realistic portrayal of autism.
http://autismmythbusters.com/general-public/home/portrayals-in-the-media/
Overall I would say select fictional books can be a reliable source for information on autism, and for a better well-rounded basis of information, one should include resources of multiple genres and mediums.
I think it's a really good point to be somewhat skeptical about the fiction that you've read. I can definitely see why the authors write it and get people interested in the topic, but I'm sure if you compared and contrasted with nonfiction, there would be a significant difference.
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