Starry Nights: Random Book

My Experience With Autism

I'd love to see more autistic characters in media...so I figured, why not post about my symptoms and writing tips on my Wattpad? I mean, it is a platform for young writers, so if I wish something was written more, I ought share tips with some lovely aspiring authors ; )

Feel free to ask questions about any of these points or autism in general! Don't worry about them sounding offensive or anything, I'd love to help you learn something new! You can comment or DM me anytime : )
Also! If anyone wants to write or is writing an autistic character, and wants a beta reader to give opinions, I could happily do that for ya *finger guns*

•People with autism can absolutely pass as "normal".

•A lot of the time, kids get "less" autistic as they grow because they start hiding symptoms they were bullied for. For example I was snapped at a lot as a child by my babysitter for not being polite, and I was bullied by my classmates for liking girly or childish things. These caused me to become a people pleaser and hide my interests, even when people show an interest in them. Since quarantine I've made a huge number on both those insecurities I developed so uh, yay me?

•I don't look physically different than other people, and I don't know any autistic people in person who do

•Building off of that autism is very different from Down syndrome, I know it's hard for someone who's not educated on it but please just try to remember they're by no means the same, and very, very different.
Down syndrome is in the DNA, autism is in the brain.

•I have average intelligence, but I struggle more than average in some areas (math) and excel greatly in others (English).

•This is because autistic people (and ppl with ADHD) tend to either be incredibly dedicated to a subject or completely disinterested and zone out quickly and completely. If I don't like the subject I'll zone out and start drawing, writing or texting my friends and subsequently struggle in that subject

•Every autistic person struggles and succeeds with different things :) please keep in mind two ASD characters will never have all the same symptoms and your character doesn't need every single symptom either.

•Some autistic people are mute, vast majority are not.

•When there are too many sounds in a room I can't focus at all and it really really annoys me, this is called sensory overload, some people have it much worse than me and can get panic attacks from it

•Also related to sensory issues, some feelings are more gross to me than they are to average people. Fabric touching my dry skin/calluses makes me feel like I want to gag, so I procrastinate normal things like putting on socks or moving the blankets in bed.

•ALSO sensory, I don't like being touched, especially not kissed. I will say though that this may be because of anxiety and mild germaphobia, but many other autistic people I know have mentioned it, so! Perhaps it is because of that.

•I think I could touch and be touched by someone if I was able to put all my trust in them, for example a boyfriend. I still would not like PDA, though, because it's embarrassing.

•Most autistic people don't care if you call them "autistic people" or "people with autism". We aren't offended by the first. In fact, the second one sounds like you're trying too hard and making a big deal XD

•My tone of voice doesn't change much when I talk, I have been told I sound "sleepless"' "dead inside" and "monotone" -BUT I do not sound totally robotic, my voice does have little rises and falls, and sometimes gets a little higher with excitement...just picture it like someone who is tired, not a robot.

•I struggle (just a little bit) with facial expressions. My resting face is blank and in conversation I only really raise my eyebrows and smile where I deem appropriate, I can cry and laugh but I vastly prefer not to around others.

•As you can hopefully see from those last few, not all autistic people are giggly barrels of laughs. Sure, some are, and those characters don't go unappreciated! But characters who are stoic and grumpy are super duper relatable to many many autistics too! Including me!

•On that note, having variety in the personalities and ages of autistic characters is sooo important. Most of our rep is loud and naive little white boys, and as a quiet, slightly brooding teenage girl, I can't connect to them, which really sucks. They need to be written, but so do other types of autistic people.

•I don't like making eye contact. This one I...can't explain why? It just makes me uncomfortable and embarrassed so I often look down or away when I talk to others.

•People who bring this up, like snapping that it's rude to look away, make me feel terrible.

•Because of social issues and being easily overwhelmed, the vast majority of autistic people are introverts and need alone time with themselves and their interests

•Some autistic people struggle with empathy and understanding how others feel, I personally consider myself great with reading others, better than the average person. So yeah, not all symptoms apply to every person :) some may apply a little, or not at all!

•Special interests,,,,,almost every autistic person has a special interest, which is a subject they devote themselves to learning everything they can about, it can be a show, book, band, time period, hobby, animal, or something entirely different! My special interest is my novel in progress, but in the past it has been a variety of TV shows, and my fixation on those shows have usually lasted an average of three years each.

•It would be so cool to see autistic character's special interests be relevant to the plot, and to see them having fun with it! Most autistic characters do this pretty well, but man, it's fairly easy to write, and very recognizable and relatable to almost all autistics.

•This is the reason many geniuses and artists are assumed to be autistic -because autistic people often reach levels of obsession and dedication that lead to remarkable quality and quantity of their work.
Of course neurotypicals can be workaholics like this too, but it's rare in neurotypicals, and incredibly common in autistic people, so

•Going off the term "workaholic" special interests can cause issues. They can cause a person to lose sleep working or researching, and they can cause us to isolate from friends or family. This is rare, but could definitely work nicely in angsty characters.

•We're also extra passionate over short term interests! My short term interests tend to last maybe a month each and usually consist of a LOT of fan fictions and rambling

•You start to notice the r slur a lot more when you get diagnosed :(

•Some people, like me, are scared to "come out" about being autistic. I'm worried people will think I'm joking or they'll spread it like a shameful secret

•A lot of us stim (word comes from stimulate) which is a fidget to keep us moving, it can be tapping a foot, flapping hands, eating, twirling hair, etc. Personally I draw to keep me stimulated, and I also "happy stim" when I'm very happy which consists of hand gestures like pointing.

•Please avoid the group Autism Speaks as much as you can when you research how to write autism. I know it's usually the first to pop up, so it's annoying to avoid it, but they're actually a really awful group led by non-autistics that is known to often dehumanize us. Their goal is to cure autism, which does not sound at all appealing to happy autistics like me, and they spread dangerous false rumours about autism, for example, that vaccines or milk causes autism in kids. Honestly that's kind of funny because I'm lactose intolerant.