Ambiguously Autistic

Myrmidon · 2011-07-23 15:41:24

I could have sworn I already made a thread complaining about this trope, but apparently not.

So here it is.

DYRE · 2011-07-23 15:42:27

This is a trope?

Myrmidon · 2011-07-23 15:44:10

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmbiguouslyAutistic

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-07-23 15:47:19

It seems like a valid character trope to me. Looks like the main problems are shoehorning and unfortunate implications.

DYRE · 2011-07-23 15:47:21

So... yes in the TV Tropes sense, but no it's not actually a real trope (since it could be summed up as just "Quirky characters are quirky" which has... nothing to do with autism). Got it.

Myrmidon · 2011-07-23 15:49:45

We don't have "Ambiguously ADHD" or "Ambiguously OCD" or "Ambiguously Dyslexic" is all I'm saying.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-07-23 15:51:48

Have either of you read/watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Lisbeth, one of the main characters, seems like a valid example of this trope, but most of the other examples...well, they look like what DYRE said about "quirky characters are quirky."

GLORIOUSLeader · 2011-07-23 15:55:30

Why do people on the Internet think that being autistic is a good thing?

DYRE · 2011-07-23 15:57:10

~~Because they like to pretend to have autism to justify their difficulties interacting with other people but don't want to admit that it's a serious problem.~~

Crimson · 2011-07-23 16:11:15

^^~~Same reason why Tongpu thinks being a Sociopath is a good thing.~~ They either believe that how a autistic person thinks is superior to how normal people think, or standard "us vs them" thinking.

AHR · 2011-07-23 16:18:24

GL: They probable don't, it's just a very easy way to characterize someone.

Stormtroper · 2011-07-23 16:27:20

What bugs me about the trope is that it's pretty much a list of character traits (not unlike other tropes) with the addendum that the character must not be canonically an autist or not, as if it'd make something about the work different.

nohaynicklibre · 2011-07-23 16:31:08

They say Ash is autistic

Waltzy · 2011-07-23 16:46:58

reasonably positive example

seems kind of

has been theorized to be

it's a popular fan theory

vaguely autistic

in theory

canonically speculated

often considered

could be taken as this

God I'm already sick of trying to read that page through all this crap. e_e