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turtlesontoast
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24 May 2011, 1:27 am

This thread seems really out of place, but I'll go ahead and ask anyways.

I'm currently trying to develop a webcomic, focusing mostly on the characters lately. I have one character, an autistic man by the name of Matthew. At first I wanted him to have a major interest for trains, but then I thought, "How stereotypical" and switched to toys, but I don't like it much. I would love to do planes and aircraft, but I have another character who's an aspiring pilot and I think their storylines would end up pretty much the same. Nothing else ever seemed genuine.

So, I asked this question: What are you all interested in? What's your hobby? Feel free to tell me all about it--I am all ears. :)

As a bonus question: Do you think that people with autism are accurately portrayed in the media? What are some good films are books I could look at with convincing autistic characters? Any tips or comments you have to help me out? I'm really pouring my heart into this character and just want him to be the best he can be so just a small little tidbit would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance! -Turtles



IdahoRose
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24 May 2011, 2:24 am

This topic isn't out of place at all! We love being asked about our hobbies and interests - that's why no one ever complains whenever multiple threads asking us to list/talk about them are made. :) I also think it is very considerate of you to do research on autistic people in order to create an accurately-portrayed fictional character. Hopefully once you get a feel for all of our different interests, you will be able to choose one for your character.

I myself have three interests: Tim Burton's movies, Doctor Who (and its spinoff, Torchwood), and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I know a lot of trivia about them and the people involved in creating them. Though they are all distinct from one another, I like them all for the same reasons: they provide escapist fantasies for me, and they have more emphasis on atmosphere and adventure rather than social interaction and "reading between the lines" as opposed to, say, a romance movie would. Most of all I like them because of the "larger-than-life" and eccentric personalities of the characters. They're easier to understand than "normal" characters. I hate watching movies and shows with "normal" characters and situations in them because they're boring and more difficult to understand.

I have been interested in Tim Burton's movies for around 16 months. Though my level of interest has waxed and waned, my deep-seated love for them has not. I have seen nearly all of them, in part or in whole, and I don't dislike any of them. However, I do have a few which are my top favorites: Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and Sweeney Todd. I have seen each of these multiple times, to the point where I have memorized a lot of the dialogue.

I have had an on-again-off-again interest in Doctor Who for around 5 or 6 months. It's one of only two television shows that I'm hooked on, the other being Torchwood, which is its spinoff. I discovered it on Netflix one day and decided to give it a shot since I had heard good things about it here on Wrong Planet. My first episode ever was "The Leisure Hive" starring Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor. I fell in love with the series instantly. I have since seen several more episodes and I have to say that my favorite Doctor is the 10th one, played by David Tennant.

Pirates of the Caribbean was a bit of an acquired taste for me. When Curse of the Black Pearl first came out, I was 12 at the time and had no interest in live-action entertainment whatsoever due to the fact that I was completely obsessed with anime at the time. I didn't understand the hype surrounding it. Then, when I began to obsess over Tim Burton's movies last year, I decided to finally give Pirates a shot since Johnny Depp had become my favorite actor. I liked it, but it took awhile for it to become a full-blown obsession. Though my passion for Pirates didn't happen overnight like my other two obsessions did; I love the movies just the same and I'm happy they are still making more. :)



tomboy4good
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24 May 2011, 10:26 am

My interest is in photography. It's also about photography books too, as that's how I learn. I prefer shooting landscapes, flowers, my dog or other dogs, & objects. Not really into people portraits as I am not fond of people.


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24 May 2011, 11:19 am

My interests are in armed forces, weapons, World War Two, conservatism, Boston (band), Electric Light Orchestra (band), and mostly railroading. I can tell you anything regarding those topics.



tomboy4good
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24 May 2011, 11:43 am

USMCnBNSFdude wrote:
My interests are in armed forces, weapons, World War Two, conservatism, Boston (band), Electric Light Orchestra (band), and mostly railroading. I can tell you anything regarding those topics.


Small world! ELO used to be a special interest for me. Got into their music in the mid-70s. I think I had pretty much every album they made up through Balance of Power. But my favorites were On the Third Day, Face the Music, Eldorado, A New World Record, Out of the Blue, & Time. I liked the fuller sounds of the earlier albums (with the strings). But Time had a lot of great music too. Jeff Lynne was brilliant, but I detested the direction the group was headed in starting with Balance of Power. It just wasn't the same. I don't listen to their stuff that much anymore, but I still appreciate ELO's style. Through ELO, I also got into the Move, & a band called Idle Race. Yeah, I was pretty obsessed. :lol:

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24 May 2011, 11:49 am

tomboy4good wrote:
USMCnBNSFdude wrote:
My interests are in armed forces, weapons, World War Two, conservatism, Boston (band), Electric Light Orchestra (band), and mostly railroading. I can tell you anything regarding those topics.


Small world! ELO used to be a special interest for me. Got into their music in the mid-70s. I think I had pretty much every album they made up through Balance of Power. But my favorites were On the Third Day, Face the Music, Eldorado, A New World Record, Out of the Blue, & Time. I liked the fuller sounds of the earlier albums (with the strings). But Time had a lot of great music too. Jeff Lynne was brilliant, but I detested the direction the group was headed in starting with Balance of Power. It just wasn't the same. I don't listen to their stuff that much anymore, but I still appreciate ELO's style. Through ELO, I also got into the Move, & a band called Idle Race. Yeah, I was pretty obsessed. :lol:

Tomboy

Out of the Blue is the best hands down, IMHO. :)



tomboy4good
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24 May 2011, 11:57 am

USMCnBNSFdude wrote:
tomboy4good wrote:
USMCnBNSFdude wrote:
My interests are in armed forces, weapons, World War Two, conservatism, Boston (band), Electric Light Orchestra (band), and mostly railroading. I can tell you anything regarding those topics.


Small world! ELO used to be a special interest for me. Got into their music in the mid-70s. I think I had pretty much every album they made up through Balance of Power. But my favorites were On the Third Day, Face the Music, Eldorado, A New World Record, Out of the Blue, & Time. I liked the fuller sounds of the earlier albums (with the strings). But Time had a lot of great music too. Jeff Lynne was brilliant, but I detested the direction the group was headed in starting with Balance of Power. It just wasn't the same. I don't listen to their stuff that much anymore, but I still appreciate ELO's style. Through ELO, I also got into the Move, & a band called Idle Race. Yeah, I was pretty obsessed. :lol:

Tomboy

Out of the Blue is the best hands down, IMHO. :)


Yup, Out of the Blue is a great album. For me though, I have a difficult time choosing just one album. I also think it depended a lot on my mood & what I was going through.


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24 May 2011, 2:13 pm

Pretty normal stuff actually...

Presently: Arts and crafts, Palaeontology and Lady Gaga lol

Previously: Para-psychology, health and fitness, meditation, madonna and pink, photo editing, writing poetry

As a child: collecting bank forms and lining up toy cars.



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24 May 2011, 2:29 pm

Musicals.


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24 May 2011, 3:31 pm

My biggest interest is animals, particularly their behavior. But I'm also interested in neuroscience and some medical stuff. I'm very interested in The Smiths (a band), but I don't know if it's a special interest...I'm mostly interested in the meaning behind their lyrics.

About Autism in the media: I don't think it's accurately portrayed. It seems a lot of the general population thinks that autism is pretty much the same as mental retardation, some people even think everyone with autism is mentally delayed. For portrayals: I hear Ben X and My Name is Khan are good, but I haven't seen them. I think Abed from the show Community and Sheldon from the show The Big Bang Theory are fairly good portrayals, but of course they have to add a comedic effect to the characters since it's TV. I think Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds is a good portrayal, but I don't know that he's mentioned to have AS.


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24 May 2011, 10:04 pm

I do my hobby well. My hobby is anything that's related to The Kinks and their early years.


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turtlesontoast
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25 May 2011, 12:36 am

Wow, thanks for the replies, everyone. It was interesting to hear from you all and I appreciate the answers. You don't mind if I stick around here, do you? I really like this group of people. :)



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25 May 2011, 1:22 am

Well I pretty much just like one type of plane: The Spitfire. I'm obsessed with it but still haven't been able to buy myself a model.

I like sci-fi such as Stargate, Doctor Who and Star Trek. Stargate is the dominant interest. I do creative writing relating to my interest in sci-fi.
I'm into astronomy.
Got so obsessed with physics at one point taught myself year 12 physics.

Autism special interests are usually centered around just one part of that interest. When I did astronomy last year I was just focused on pointing my telescope at Sagittarius, now I'm trying to get a glimpse of Saturn. That's why I just like the Spitfire and why I usually focus on one character on Stargate at a time.
As for portrayals, you have to search really hard to find something. On the crime shows I watch they are usually quoting numbers or having a savant skill. I think the portrayal of Max on Parenthood is good even if he does seem a bit bossy. It really depends though because we are all different with different experiences, different symptoms and different levels of severity. I usually study the autistic characters closely and instead of trying to relate to them think 'oh yeah, they did a good job - not too stereotypical.'
I don't relate to Max much because I didn't talk to people, though I wasn't non-verbal and I was more stubborn than argumentative.

I guess it depends on what you want your character to be like. People here will probably criticise my use of labels when talking about severity but I think they are important. I'm not a severely classic autistic but nor am I like someone with Asperger's.


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25 May 2011, 1:25 am

turtlesontoast wrote:
Wow, thanks for the replies, everyone. It was interesting to hear from you all and I appreciate the answers. You don't mind if I stick around here, do you? I really like this group of people. :)

You're welcome. Of course you can stay around. We like you too (or at least I do!)



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25 May 2011, 4:23 am

My interests aren't unusual at all. I do Zumba a few times a week and I am determined to get everything right. I hyper-focus on the teacher and can remember each dance after one or two demonstrations. My other thing is painting. I think about this a lot and I have a bit of an obsession with finding my style. A few others have mentioned ELO, I love this band too and go to see a great tribute band when they are in town. I'm not obsessed by them though. My 5yr old AS daughter loves Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, Scooby Doo and nature.



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25 May 2011, 5:28 am

For me, linguistics and constructed languages are a major interest. I would not mind, and actually be happy if your character would create its own constructed language. I can even give you ideas how to do it well :)


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