[off topic] Autism and Fiction

[Leitz]

Hey all, I'd like your help tackling a difficult topic. You all are the only social group I'm really a part of, so my apologies if this isn't strictly game related.

A decade ago atpollard started a Traveller game on another forum. The world was so richly populated that I couldn't resist writing fiction set there, just set several years after the game. Imagine writing "several years after the event", when the events were in the process of eventing! I wrote about the children of some of the PCs, and one of them developed PTSD. The planned "few short scenes" turned into a six book series.

I'm in the throes of writing my next novel, and one of the characters is autistic. My stories are about redemption, but this isn't a "he was cured and lived happily ever after" sort of thing. My books are "cozy sci-fi", I like "happily ever after", but the character is never "cured". He learns to live with who he is and to let his difference better the lives of those around him.

Living with autism, or with someone who is autistic, isn't always fun. I'd like to make sure the characters and struggles are portrayed well, and this is where you come in. If you want to talk, in public or private, feel free to reach out.

If anyone wants, here's an overview.

Delta Seven Baker

The Office of Naval Intelligence ran Delta Seven Baker until ten years ago. Naval staff were screened, and those with the right mental traits were offered Agent positions in the project. Being an Agent meant massive surgical (down to DNA) alterations and mental overlays with completely new personalities, memories, and "lives". Unfortunately, the techniques were experimental and dangerous. Few agents could take more than three or four overlays, six was the outer limit. On a deep cover mission, one agent nuked a city, thinking she was actually an enemy agent. The program was shutdown because of moral outrage and fear. All agents were "unraveled" back to their old lives, given excellent pensions, and told that revealing what they knew would result in termination.

All the agents, except one. The threats were too great, and knowing the risks, he kept accepting missions. His brain already processed things in ways that made the overlays stronger, and things worked well. Until now. The report was misrouted, and the branch director just found out that mission overlay number fourteen was not successful. The Navy doesn't know who, or what, he is.

Neither does he.

[Leitz]

John Anderson

Character has just knocked on a door that advertised "roommate wanted".

John stood there. After too long of a moment, he lowered his left hand, and, with his right, held up the "roommate wanted" flier.

The young woman in front of him looked shocked, and then her face turned bright red. It was a nice contrast to the deep blue of her fuzzy robe and gray sweat pants. He breathed in through his nose. No perfume, no incense, no drugs in the atmosphere. Dog, small, but clean. Likely the one in the very worn love seat five meters away, slightly to the right. A second person, female, staring at him and breathing heavily. She looked both innocent and guilty as she glanced around the tiny apartment.

He exhaled gently and looked back at the woman in front of him. Good posture, and excellent pronunciation on a back world planet where many leave such cultural mores behind. She was embarrassed; the robe, and him being male. Early afternoon. He flipped through social options and selected "Smile."

John smiled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just got here and there's no other place I can find. Do you know of any other apartments? I can pay my fair share."

Later that evening.

John sat on the one corner of his bed that was not pushed up against an olive gray wall. It was a small bed, and a small room. The sheets still smelled like someone else, thus they had not been cleaned. Perhaps the ladies just straightened up the room to show it to potential renters, and assumed they would have time to wash?

No art on the wall, but small holes where something had been hung. The tiny closet was empty, save for his few clothes now up on two of the three hangers that had been left. John took a deep breath, and made himself relax. The ladies were nice, and he felt mildly paternal to them. Something to be careful about, as they may not feel the same. Perhaps they were still hesitant about the arrangement? They seemed a bit more relaxed once he had transferred the funds and the bank manager spoke deferentially to him.

His forearms rested on his thighs, and he watched his fingertips dance to his command. The small pinprick he had made on his thumb yesterday was fully healed. It was an experiment, was he actually human? He felt so disconnected, and his brain seemed a bit...different. Yet he bled, at least a little, and his memories didn't recall such advanced technology as androids who bled. The ship's doctor had given him a checkup just before John left the ship, and said that he was glad John felt better. Bad headaches were a common human ailment, and science still had no cure for them.

But John didn't remember having a headache. In fact, he remembered very little of anything that was more than a day ago. Just that he woke up, found out who he was, and what he was doing. Pure deduction from evidence; documentation, technical manuals that sparked knowledge in his brain, a contract for work at a remote planet, and the details of the issues the site had.

Did he have a family? Nothing came to mind, but he thought of a school he had attended. The thought weaseled itself into a regular memory, but John watched it. It became a memory in that moment, it was not a memory that he brought forth. He buried his face in his hands and wanted to scream, yet that brought him comfort. One of the few memories he had, a real memory, was that he had felt this way before.

[dmw71]

Living with autism, or with someone who is autistic, isn't always fun. I'd like to make sure the characters and struggles are portrayed well, and this is where you come in. If you want to talk, in public or private, feel free to reach out.

It isn't anything I need to talk about, but both of my daughter's are on the spectrum, so I definitely have some perspective here.

[Leitz]

Living with autism, or with someone who is autistic, isn't always fun. I'd like to make sure the characters and struggles are portrayed well, and this is where you come in. If you want to talk, in public or private, feel free to reach out.

It isn't anything I need to talk about, but both of my daughter's are on the spectrum, so I definitely have some perspective here.

I'd love to hear your perspective! Most of my writing winds up better for ladies than guys, anyway. Not sure why. The impression I'm getting is that females on the spectrum aren't as recognized, and thus not given the support they need. People like to read things where they can identify with the character, and that's what I'm trying to do with John. While a guy, there should be some things in common.

[rredmond]

I think the diagnosis of ASD is something like 4 times likely in males. Or it's 1 in 4 diagnosed are female. Not sure if that's the same thing but I remember the numbers being pretty far apart.

[dmw71]

I've been binging the 3d6 podcast as they delve into Arden Vul and, in one episode (I wish I could remember which!), one of them made an off-handed comment about the TV show Survivor, which sparked a brief tangent amongst the group about how great that show was for really getting into how social interaction works and NPC motivations.

Despite it having been on the air for 25 years now, I watched my first ever episode of Survivor a few months ago.

I am SO hooked on that show! In three or so months, I have binge watched every episode up to season 39, which I will likely start watching tonight.

There's a point for my mentioning all this:


Apparently, there's a woman with autism competing as a contestant on the current season, 48, which the wife and I can't wait to watch (we strongly prefer to binge watch shows, so we're waiting for the season to finish before we start).

My wife is more tapped into current happenings that I am, and she mentioned a scene involving that woman that made public news not too long ago:

---

Moment of kindness between ‘Survivor’ contestants brings host Jeff Probst to tears

---

Again, I haven't seen it yet (so no spoilers!), but I am SO eager to see how she fares in, of all things, Survivor!


Another excellent show that really explores the social challenges of people on the spectrum is the Netflix series, Love on the Spectrum. It's not a joke when I say that almost every single episode of that series brings my wife and I to tears, but also rolling with laughter.

I'd love to hear your perspective!

If there's a particular situation you're interested in, let me know. I'm happy to share.

[rredmond]

Apparently, there's a woman with autism competing as a contestant on the current season, 48, which the wife and I can't wait to watch (we strongly prefer to binge watch shows, so we're waiting for the season to finish before we start).

Not really watching the show, but (just recently of course) I've become a big fan of Eva Erickson, particularly on her Instagram (goodness - help me - don't tell my kids I'm on instagram, they wouldn't believe ya) and have watched the important bits of her journey thus far. Pretty amazing honestly and seemingly well done. At least in the snippets I've seen.

[dmw71]

(goodness - help me - don't tell my kids I'm on instagram, they wouldn't believe ya)

I don't believe you, either.