Rowan_Doll
Acolyte
Being nero-divergent myself, I find it hard to find good fantasy book, that represents nero-diversity well. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Sherlock Holmes is probably a near perfect example of a clearly autistic dude solving crimes, just he wasn’t depicted as being such. I am not of the same opinion that talking about neurodiversity is just a trend, but more that we now have more awareness of it. I suspect there are a lot more ND people in the world than is currently estimated. I think for young people growing up today have the advantage of knowing more about neurodiverse conditions because differences can be better understood, accommodated better and even celebrated rather than chastised. It wasn’t all that long ago that people generally thought of those with dyslexia as dumb, those with autism as odd and those with ADHD as just badly behaved, so I think better understanding and more representation is a good thing. I think bringing this new understanding and ownership into fiction writing is like any other aspect of a higher understanding of the human condition. I am not of the opinion however that writers need be pressured into writing something that fits into a box.I was thinking something along those lines. ND is kind of a new trend. Many books might have characters that might be considered such by today's standards, but it wasn't a thing when they were being written. Sherlock Holmes for instance seems to have a lot of peculiarities and a genius like focus. Might he be presented more as ND if he were written today? So, asking for a body of work featuring these is likely to lead just to today's trendy writers. It would be hard to point to classic well known books in their realm when the window is so small. And to have them be quality... I suspect there is a lot of slush there still not sifted out.
I agree with this 1000%Sherlock Holmes is probably a near perfect example of a clearly autistic dude solving crimes, just he wasn’t depicted as being such. I am not of the same opinion that talking about neurodiversity is just a trend, but more that we now have more awareness of it. I suspect there are a lot more ND people in the world than is currently estimated. I think for young people growing up today have the advantage of knowing more about neurodiverse conditions because differences can be better understood, accommodated better and even celebrated rather than chastised. It wasn’t all that long ago that people generally thought of those with dyslexia as dumb, those with autism as odd and those with ADHD as just badly behaved, so I think better understanding and more representation is a good thing. I think bringing this new understanding and ownership into fiction writing is like any other aspect of a higher understanding of the human condition. I am not of the opinion however that writers need be pressured into writing something that fits into a box.
I don’t know. What I get from this is that you don’t think neurodivergence is real? And that people who ‘identify’ as neurodivergent play the victim card all the time? And bringing this into fiction is just trendy? In the past many autistic people would be sent to institutions and have no human rights.I would agree with it marginally.
The great attention on this is relatively new, and a side effect of it is a greater propensity to find it, in professional diagnosis, or in self diagnosis, where it may not actually exist. And the danger of that is setting people up to have built in maladies that explain away lack of personal achievement (not dissimilar to using it as a type of victim mentality). And so...I would be greatly on guard for that. We don't need reasons to say this is why you cant. Better to think you can.
For many people, its a real thing. Its a real thing now, and it was a real thing then, and evolution of its awareness is a good thing. But for many different people, its an identity-thing they have fallen into, largely in part to its prevalence of discussion in the culture. So, I would say its both at the same time. Sometimes separate. sometimes together.
That is also different and separate from the word of media, for which getting more characters of this sort is a trend. Its hot today, it might not be tomorrow, and wasn't in the past, cause it was not prevalent on anyone's mind. Which goes back to, it could only be found directly in more recent stuff. Since time has not passed to sort out the good from the bad, there's less well known titles to pull from.
Its not my job to sort it out. If you say that's your issue, I'll accept it. But I am also an observer of the world. A lot of it makes me question.
I don’t know. What I get from this is that you don’t think neurodivergence is real? And that people who ‘identify’ as neurodivergent play the victim card all the time? And bringing this into fiction is just trendy? In the past many autistic people would be sent to institutions and have no human rights.
There may be some aspects of what you are saying within popular culture; young people especially like to discover what their identity is, and may gravitate towards a tribe, that is only a natural path to adulthood. But by and large we are talking about real people’s lives. An autistic brain for example actually looks different on an MRI scan to a neurotypical brain. It’s not just an excuse for bad behaviour or anything else along those lines
Reading a character in a book who is similar to you who you’ve never come across before because you’re underrepresented is empowering.
As a person with ADD in the south, it's unbelievably common for people here especially teachers and principles to completely reject the notion of ADHD and then get all awkward when you confront them about it. Despite being diagnosed and dealing with issues and struggles related to ADD my entire life I still face constant ridicule every time I bring it up. It's especially disheartening that my daughter inherited it from me and the teachers here refuse to adjust the way they teach her. Some people are just so stubborn that just because something isn't obvious they think it doesn't exist. (The ironic thing is when you know what to look for ADHD/ADD is EXTREMELY obvious )I wasn’t insinuating that asylums were filled only with undiagnosed autistic people, it was just an example to show how far we have come in understanding that neurodivergence in itself is not the same thing as mental illness, although those with neurodivergent conditions are more likely to suffer from mental illness.
*Gasp* No one has mentioned "On The Edge of Gone" by Corinne Duyvis?! Sci-fi apocalypse with autistic MC and the author is also autistic. <3Being nero-divergent myself, I find it hard to find good fantasy book, that represents nero-diversity well. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Beyond that. I would recommend tv shows.
Fantasy =
Owl House--MC is DEFINITELY ADHD. XD Queshire agrees it is an amazing show, I would assume.
I remember Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts striking me as Neurodivergent, but it's been a little while.
Non-Fantasy:
"Community" does a pretty decent job with the autistic character, Abed.
"Everything's Gonna Be Okay" is the first show to have an ASD character played by and ASD actress (Bless Kayla Cromer) and it's also really funny to me because the director and actor of another MC on the show discovered he is also autistic while filming the show and started about getting disgnosed.
Also, a show that got cancelled way too soon: "As We See It." Autistic group home with various goals and struggles.