It Gets More Atypical Than ‘Atypical’

I enjoyed Netflix’s “Atypical” more than other autistics warned me I would. The argument posed by the autistic community is that the main character, Sam, is just another example of a “white, verbal, savant, autistic man.” 

TV shows are often the most autism exposure people will get, especially in the comfort of their living room. So, when that allistic (non-autistic) person meets an autistic in real life, the collision of expectations for that interaction … well, it’s hard for the autistic. If TV shows actively portrayed intersectional autistic characters, allistics could have a clearer understanding of the vastly diverse autistic experience.

Allow me to list identities that transform an individual autistic’s personality and experience.

Non-verbal autistics.

Autistics of color.

Autistic women.

Queer and trans autistics.

Autistics with ANY comorbidity (ADHD, BPD, epilepsy, etc.)

Autistics with trauma.

Financially insecure autistics. 

I cannot speak on behalf of all these identities, but certainly neither can Sam from “Atypical.”

Having characters like Sam, Sheldon Cooper and Spencer Reed solely represent autistics on screen is dangerous. Shows like “Atypical,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Criminal Minds” not only give insight into the life of just one “autistic example,” but also only that “autistic example”’s relationship to society.

More often than not, people tell me that they never would have guessed that I am autistic. They say things around me thinking they are safe from any ear of the disabled community. I have been called the R-slur many times because I do not look like Sam from “Atypical.” Black people are arrested or shot for “acting suspicious,” when really they are acting autistic. 

This is all because we only have a picture of what a white autistic man looks like.

Representation in film generalizes specific experiences; that is unavoidable. I wish anyone who watched TV would critically examine characters that carry a marginalized identity. Especially if they are marginalized and white or marginalized and a cis man. 

Despite these critiques, I still enjoyed the show “Atypical.”

Because of TV’s lack of diverse autistic representation, the autistic community began “coding characters” as neurodivergent. You see, characters like me who don’t match people’s idea of “autistic” slip into TV scripts all the time. The writers just don’t call them autistic — we do!

Sam, in “Atypical,” has two close relationships that the autistic community has coded neurodivergent. Both Sam’s best friend Zahid and girlfriend Paige exhibit strongly coded neurodivergent (ND) traits. 

Paige drops out of college and struggles to work a “low-level” job that she is clearly over-qualified for despite its incompatibility with how she functions. Zahid barely finishes school, struggles to form structurally healthy relationships and medicates with large amounts of weed. Zahid talks about his own personality as if everyone could relate, and Paige controls anything around her as best she can to mitigate anxieties. 

The show represents individuals who are clearly ND, but do not have access to the same diagnosis, and thus support nor acceptance, that Sam has. More than that, they are accurate representations of the subsequent struggle of an undiagnosed neurodivergent. Because they do not look enough and behave enough like white boy, autistic Sam. This reality of not having the support, and not knowing why you struggle so deeply … it’s the shared experience of late-diagnosed autistics like me. 

There were so many moments watching the show when Sam said something rude or inconsiderate. Everyone but him understands what is wrong, and teaching him what is wrong is not highlighted as much as getting everyone to see his point of view. When Sam criticizes the way he is being helped, the people around him simply adjust. They do not call him ungrateful, manipulative or sensitive the way multi-marginalized people often are. What a concept!

As a woman with autism, I am not as free to be rude or free to interrupt. I am not free to disregard the people I claim to love. And I shouldn’t be! Yes, socializing is hard. Yes, considering people I do not fully understand is hard … but I am expected to try harder to compensate whereas autistics like Sam and Elon Musk can pass off their lack of emotional intelligence to their autism.

Arguably, a lot of films showcasing an autistic character also have these side characters. Those who are neurotypical-passing and must suffer or struggle to find success because they do not have the same support. 

In the show “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay” on Freeform, autistic teen Matilda was diagnosed with autism at age three. The actress, Kayla Cromer, is autistic in real life, which provides such detailed insight into her experience. 

The actor that plays her brother also wrote the show, and was diagnosed with autism after the first season was released. This led him to diagnose his character in the show with autism. Before he was diagnosed in the show, many of his autistic traits were jokingly passed off as quirky or attributed to his gay identity (like his speech imdediment). 

“Atypical” showed me what full support looks like for a white man. I am a white woman, and my experience is much less free, much less forgiving and much less accepting. Imagine the dangers of the stereotypes not representing Black autistics. 

Black autistics are murdered often because they “looked suspicious.” Imagine not being able to make eye contact, or needing to stim, and that being your death sentence. Black autistic kids are forced into more abusive therapies geared to deter autistics from acting autistic, and the only other option is risk being misunderstood, arrested or worse.

So, I liked “Atypical” because there was some nuanced accuracy that stirred a lot of thought for me. But would I recommend it to someone who doesn’t know anything about autism? Absolutely not at all. 

Ableism runs deep in the history of understanding autism, so the best way to learn is from autistics themselves. TikTok, Instagram and blogs are the best way to hear straight from an autistic. Be wary of allistics speaking on behalf of autistics. May it be special education workers or caregivers — an autistic will know their experience better and best.