Novel research questions about Asperger's

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Hello everyone! (I hope I posted this is in the right place)
I am writing a novel and was wondering if anyone would like to help answer some questions?
My main character?s sister has Asperger?s, so I?m trying to mostly get an idea of how she would seem from the outside since it?s not written from her point of view? What I want to do is give an accurate portrayal of a real person who has Asperger?s .
I?m going to number the questions and leave them here for anyone to answer (feel free to answer as many or as few as you'd like):

1. As a child she is told her parents have been murdered. Any tips on how she would react and how this would affect her as a child and then later in her teens?

2. I?ve seen a lot of talk about collections that may seem strange to neurotypical people, but I haven?t really seen many examples of what is meant by ?strange.? Can anyone give me an idea of types of collections?

3. Stimming. I?ve read up on it but am curious about when stimming would happen? is it something someone would do when they?re stressed, or would they do it randomly in any situation?

4. Are there any stims that are extra common or are they all very different according to the person?

5. Another thing I?ve heard a lot about is people taking everything literally and being confused by idioms. Does this include phrases like ?the cat?s meow? (kind of a weird question but could be relevant)

6. Are there any common misconceptions I should know about in order to avoid creating a stereotype?

7. Lastly, is there anything else I should know about to create an accurate portrayal of my character?s everyday life?

I hope none of these question come off as ignorant or rude!
Thank you so much for your time and help!

Dont know if I can help much as I am still awaiting formal diagnosis after an initial assessment:

1. As a child she is told her parents have been murdered. Any tips on how she would react and how this would affect her as a child and then later in her teens?

I don't know

2. I?ve seen a lot of talk about collections that may seem strange to neurotypical people, but I haven?t really seen many examples of what is meant by ?strange.? Can anyone give me an idea of types of collections?

I have huge collections but my hobbies are not strange. They also change regularly so I have acquired a number of collections of things over the years...

130 cross stitching kits along with years of magazines with charts in, nearly the entire range of the DMC threads, some anchor, a few non branded, various colours of aida

Books on anything that has appealed to me over the years ie parapsychology, ghosts and hauntings, myths and legends, the paleo diet/paleo nutrition, maths, geology and fossils.

Art supplies, most recently pencils...graphite pencils, charcoal pencils, colour pencils....

Pens...fountain pens, calligraphy pens, ball point pens, gell pens, novelty pens, bic pens, artists skecthing pens for pen and ink drawings....

Pocket watches..only have 2 thus far though.

Tapestry kits

The art of crochet magazine collection, big and little knits and sew and stitch

Exercise equipment

musical instruments: piano, violin, flute....thus far (new collection).

Key rings

DVDs

I mostly just seem to collect hobbies.



3. Stimming. I?ve read up on it but am curious about when stimming would happen? is it something someone would do when they?re stressed, or would they do it randomly in any situation?


I don't know if I stim...as far as i know I dont hand flap. I do rub pieces of silky material (which I call my tickle) but I just do that when I feel like it because its a nice sensation. I can also do it when stressed but it is not limited to those times. I just like doing it.

4. Are there any stims that are extra common or are they all very different according to the person?

No idea, i dont think i stim unless pacing, talking to oneself and rubbing peices of silky material called a tickle count.

5. Another thing I?ve heard a lot about is people taking everything literally and being confused by idioms. Does this include phrases like ?the cat?s meow? (kind of a weird question but could be relevant)

I don't know what the cats meow means.

I did once think someone was being literal when they asked me to change the record. They wanted me to talk aobut something else, but I thought they wanted me to put a different LP on the record player we had.


Other stuff doesn't confuse me much like raining cats and dogs...not possible unless there is a bizarre weather event.

Edited as i missed some collections i have:

Jigsaw puzzles, puzzle books, stuffed toy penguins.

I stim when I eat my breakfast for some reason.

In most every movie I've seen the filmmakers go out of their way to emphasize certain characteristics in spectrumites so that their differences are quickly visible. You can see this extreme awkwardness/marked social dysfunction in films like 'My Name Is Khan', 'Mary & Max', 'Snow Cake', 'Rain Man', 'Marathon', 'Adam', 'Mozart & the Whale' and many others. In reality, some people with Asperger's actually don't 'reveal' themselves right away. It may take a few minutes or hours before some people's quirkiness and other quantifying factors are presented that shows what they really are.

This has been a problem for some folks with Asperger's for some time. If you don't look or act like Rain Man you're not on the spectrum. I was diagnosed by a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in autism and Asperger's, but guess what? I've met some people. even members of my family, who don't believe I'm on the spectrum. Some people, like me, have learned to mask their symptoms after years of practice.

One of the best films about a character with Asperger's is 'Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud'. The kid is on the spectrum but it's towards the subtle, less obvious side. I think Max in 'Mary & Max' is a good representation of someone who is more 'obvious.' Some of us make eye contact, some don't. Some know how to talk to and socialize with people, some are awkward about it, prone to saying the wrong things, or simply become wallflowers at social events. Some stim and some don't. Some get sarcasm, some don't. Some, as children, appear as "Little Professors" and some don't. Some take everything you say literally and some don't. I guess that's what makes us all so different.

1. As a child she is told her parents have been murdered. Any tips on how she would react and how this would affect her as a child and then later in her teens?

The responses of autistic people to this sort of thing are probably even more varied than amongst NTs tbh.

So I guess that's an answer to all your questions - the best way to realise an autistic character would be to actually make them a character. Give them a full personality like you would for any other character. Autism should just be one facet of that.

Your character could have been extremely attached to her parents, in which case she'd be extremely distressed for a long time and maybe have PTSD. She could have just seen her parents as "those people who make me eat", in which case she'd maybe go "oh" and then never give them another thought. She could be almost anywhere in between!

If you have specific questions about stimming and collections such, then ask them and we'll help you (I don't have anything to add on top of what bumble said), but generally just write a character!

What Robin said is so true. Most people have no idea I am on the Spectrum until I tell them. My family was shocked when I told them. Some of us who are considered extremely high functioning are not obvious at all. Many people have told me that they just thought I was a little odd and it was when I told them that I am on the Spectrum that they realized that my little oddness was now making sense. So the first thing you have to consider is whether or not you want your character to be mild and more on the Asperger side of the Spectrum or whether you want her to be more classic or more severe. Also males and females often present differently with the symptoms especially when they are children so you will want to consider that as well.

Last edited by skibum on 25 Jul 2014, 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hello everyone! (I hope I posted this is in the right place)
I am writing a novel and was wondering if anyone would like to help answer some questions?
My main character?s sister has Asperger?s, so I?m trying to mostly get an idea of how she would seem from the outside since it?s not written from her point of view? What I want to do is give an accurate portrayal of a real person who has Asperger?s .
I?m going to number the questions and leave them here for anyone to answer (feel free to answer as many or as few as you'd like):

1. As a child she is told her parents have been murdered. Any tips on how she would react and how this would affect her as a child and then later in her teens?
This one could be pretty varied. It depends on what other traits she possesses: if she is highly emotional, she may melt down upon hearing the news; get violent, throw things, punch walls, ect. If she is less comfortable outwardly expessing her emotions, she may react very little, or withdraw within herself, minimizing her speech or reverting to more severe autistic behaviours. If she reacts very little in front of others, perhaps she will show more of her true feelings when she's alone, potentially making those around her feel as if she doesn't care; perhaps the pressure of maintaining an indifferent exterior causes the meltdown to occur later after the strain overtaxes her. There are a lot of ways you could take this. She will probably not react in a "normal" way to grief, ie burst into tears or look toward other people for support; in times of stress, most aspies need solitude, and too many people can be upsetting and overwhelming.

2. I?ve seen a lot of talk about collections that may seem strange to neurotypical people, but I haven?t really seen many examples of what is meant by ?strange.? Can anyone give me an idea of types of collections?
This depends on her special interest. One of mine is dinosaurs, and I have an entire bookshelf covered with figurines, books, videos, etc. This is more of a peculiar interest for a college-age female to have, however, if your character's interest is, say, horses (which is a very common and potentially stereotypical one for females, the equivalent of trains for males) then perhaps her collection will not look so out of place. I think any collection, if pursued in the obsessive manner of an aspie, will look a little strange, because very few NTs have such an all-encompassing interest in something as to amass huge quantities of memorabilia about it.

3. Stimming. I?ve read up on it but am curious about when stimming would happen? is it something someone would do when they?re stressed, or would they do it randomly in any situation?
Again, this depends on the type of person she is. If she is less emotional, she may only stim if overwhelmed or upset, if she is open with her emotions, she may do it more when she is excited or happy as well, or simply when distracted, or absently when engaging with other people. I am typically more reserved, but when exposed to my special interests, I will flap my hands and bounce on the balls of my toes in an effort to drain the intense pressure the emotion brings. I also stim when stressed; I rock when anxious and will shake my head when exposed to a sudden or loud unavoidable noise.

4. Are there any stims that are extra common or are they all very different according to the person?
Flapping, rocking, bouncing and spinning are all the most widely used examples of stimming, whether they occur more frequently or are simply the most obvious example of bizarre behaviour, I don't know. Virtually anything repetitive can be a stim, from repeating words or phrases over and over, to twitching one's fingers, to watching objects out of the corner of one's eyes (visual stimming), to smelling random objects or one's hands repeatedly.

5. Another thing I?ve heard a lot about is people taking everything literally and being confused by idioms. Does this include phrases like ?the cat?s meow? (kind of a weird question but could be relevant)
Your character's difficulty with this will depend in part on the severity of her condition. I understand 98% of jokes, figures of speech (at least I recognise them as not literal even if I don't know what they mean), idioms, etc. but there will be once in a while for no reason that I'll miss something and take it literally, like the time my step father and I were going out in the car; he said, "It's a good day for Purple Rain" meaning the band, and I instinctively looked out the window to see if there was any evidence of purple rain falling from the sky.

6. Are there any common misconceptions I should know about in order to avoid creating a stereotype?
A few stereotypes that include the idea that all aspies are brilliant at math and computers, or that we all display no emotion and never smile are a few that can make for a stereotypical autistic character. Using stock special interests like horses, trains or computers (as mentioned above) can also be cliche. A good way to make a character more unique is to give her a special trait or behaviour, such as a love of a particular off-beat band, or the need to count the petals on every flower she sees for example. In the novel The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous (about a pre-adolescent autistic girl) Merilee doodles dragons on everything, which is a minor detail, but helps set her apart from all the other autistic novel characters. On the TV show Perception, paranoid Schizophrenic professor Daniel Pierce has a specific "outfit" that he wears in every episode -- which includes a winter coat and scarf, even in the summer -- as a means of making himself feel secure. He also listens to nothing but classical music (on a walkman because he's paranoid about modern technology), and blocks out the world when he's overwhelmed by conducting it to himself.

7. Lastly, is there anything else I should know about to create an accurate portrayal of my character?s everyday life?
Basically treat her like any other character: don't turn her into a cliche by avoiding the pitfalls above, make her relatable to at least some, but not all people (because that will make her too broad and bland,) and don't turn her into a Mary Sue, or a character who is brilliant at everything and can save the day by thinking about the problem for three seconds. If you want to give her a savant-like gift (which does occur in approximately 10% of autistics) make sure she has plenty of flaws to even it out. If she's a gifted writer for example, show how bad she is at something else, like conversation, or cooking, or math. Also, keep her traits consistent throughout the story (difficult to do if the writing takes a long time, I know from experience); if your character has a meltdown at a party because of close proximity to too many people one day, don't have her enjoying herself at a crowded restaurant the next, unless there are specific mitigating circumstances that are specified for the reader (ie, someone she trusts to keep her calm, sensory protectors like earplugs or sunglasses, or the ability to leave temporarily.)

I hope none of these question come off as ignorant or rude!
Quite the contrary: I appreciate your taking the time to do your research in order to provide a more accurate portrayal of autism for readers who may not know much about it. If you feel like sharing, I and, I'm sure, others here on WP would love to take a look at your draft. Stories involving autistic characters are my favourite kind.
Thank you so much for your time and help!

Last edited by StarTrekker on 25 Jul 2014, 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

An extreme bout of nervous giggling is a valid option.


I have a collection of giftwrap-style tissue paper. The kind you'd stuff in a giftbag to hide the gift. I collected it because it's good paper for making flowers out of, which was my obsession at the time that I built the collection, but I'm not on an arts and crafts kick anymore, so it's just sitting there now...

When I was younger (somewhere between 6 and 10), I had an obsession with collecting iron fillings from deposits in the dirt driveway leading up to our house - we lived in the foothills, not the city; that's why the driveway was dirt instead of concrete. After a good rain, you could see loooooong trails of iron in the dirt. They were like rivers. I collected it with magnets, and I kept it in ziploc bags. I tried to hide the bags from my mom, but she always managed to find them and throw them away. Playing with magnets in iron-rich soil is SO COOL and if you've never done it, you should try.


I stim when I'm stressed, but I might be stressed about something that no one else could even guess is stressing me, which would look pretty random. Things outside observers might not know are stressing me include: Bad memories stuck on repeat; loud bass coming from a car outside; a light shining in the corner of my eye; something I think I did wrong that no one else noticed; and so on.

I also stim when I'm really focused on something or thinking hard -- note that since I regularly get hyper-focused on thoughts that aren't related to what's going on around me, this can also look really random.


There are a lot of common stims, but there are so many possibilities of ways to stim that I think everyone on the spectrum has at least one stim that's unique to them. Also, not everyone keeps the same stims for their whole life or even all month.


Here's an example from my childhood: Because my mom would say that she was putting my hair "in a ponytail," I thought that hair ties were called "pony tails." My mom went along with calling them pony tails (I guess it was cute or something), and me and my two sisters just thought that's what they were called. Never questioned it. I called hair ties "pony tails" well into my second year of college, when I finally figured it out and forced myself to call them by the right name.

Another example from my childhood: My mom taught us the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." One day, my brother hit me. I hit him back. My mom only saw me hit him, and she scolded me. She told me to remember the Golden Rule. I very seriously responded with something along the lines of: "But I did follow the Golden Rule! He hit me, so that means he wants me to hit him back!" I just figured we were both following the Golden Rule. LoL. *facepalm*

So... I don't take everything literally, but... it happens. XD


We don't all rock and flap our hands/arms! Also, be clear on the difference between a meltdown and a temper tantrum; that's a really big deal.


I am going to answer "yes" here, because you asked a yes-no question, but I don't actually have anything useful to add. LoL!


You're welcome!

Edit: I forgot to add: I'm a 27 year old female living in the USA who is "high functioning" in the old sense of the term (meaning, what it meant when Asperger's was diagnostically separate from "high functioning ASD").

Last edited by AmethystRose on 26 Jul 2014, 12:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Good question, it will varry a lot. It may depend on her age when she is told her parents are dead. She might not show any emotion, she might or might not be rather unforgiving by NT standards. Some people with AS have very long memories. How emotionally cold you want to make her / how unforgiving will depend a lot. If you are trying to write a version of "death wish" with a aspie as a new version of Paul Kersey then you might want to make her a person with a long memory, but if you are about to write such a book I would advise you to be very careful and consider the effects of you actions now rather than later.

If you are going to write a book with her as the aspie version of Paul Kersey please for goodness sake do not write a tale about some vengeful aspie who takes violent revenge on every last person who crosses her, frankly it would make a bad book / film and it would do our community a lot of harm and win you no friends here.

I would say that the moment she is told her parents are dead is likely to be a stressful moment, at such a time the mask is more likely to slip. She might be often able to pass as a NT but under stress she might be less able to pass as NT. Inappropiate laughter might well occur when she is under great stress, or she might ask the policeman or clergyman who gives her the bad news some rather odd and off topic question.



The collection may not be objects of a concrete nature, her collection could be notebooks containing notes about a subject which is far more advaced than a typical person of her age. Consider if she was ten she might have notebooks packed with ideas which would be normal in an undergraduate of the age of 20. Plus some university level textbooks stashed somewhere in her home, if you are going to make her collection notes about some academic topic then to make it more realistic choose textbooks which are about thirty years old (.second had) and make them look like they have been well thumbed (read under they start to fall apart, but read by a person who never abuses a book. This type of damage would be a line of finger grease on the very edges of the pages where they have been turned thousands of times. You can only see this if you close a book and then look at the edge of the pages which is furthest from the spine.



Impossible to answer, every aspie has different a set of stims to the next one.



Yes





Please see above, also bear in mind that few people with AS have super special gifts like rainman (who did not have AS). You would be well advised to make her educational profile very unbalanced, you could have a person who can hardly write but has an understanding of physics / calculas / algerba which you would expect of a person with a PhD in physics / maths.

Here is a good first-hand account that attempts to highlight some of the benefits and specific challenges faced by females with Aspergers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_TIztg ... 4cCx62QOjw.

I'm male, but the following observations, which are touched in the talk above, seem to apply widely to males and females:

1. Hypersensitivity to certain kinds of sensory input. The severity and details can vary widely between individuals.

2. Exhaustion resulting from social interaction, even for those who enjoy some level of socialisation.

3. Not being able to respond intuitively to emotional input from others, and corresponding delays in reaction by one of more seconds (and sometimes much longer, if the situation does not seem to make sense). The delay is the result of the need to consciously process emotional input in order to fully understand it. I like to call this process the "social radar", which develops over the years as a result of being perceived as weird or repeatedly being perceived at responding "inappropriately" in social situations. With experience the conscious social radar gets better and better, but two issues remain: (a) a delay in responding to social/emotional input and (b) exhaustion from operating the conscious social radar.

4. Non-conformance to any kind of social hierarchy, and a resulting reduced ability of tolerating office politics.

5. Autistic burnout caused by sensory overload, social stress, and related depression, and resulting effects on family life and the ability to participate in a "normal" work environment.

6. One or more special interests, which can become as important to some Aspies as eating or breathing. However, the stereotype of collecting or arranging physical objects is much too narrow. Because of individual differences, perhaps the common denominator boils down to obsessive perfectionism in specific areas. My special interests keep me alive. Saying they define me would be an understatement. Hence, it should not really be surprising that some Aspies, if given the room to develop their interests to the fullest, are capable of achieving what may seem to lie beyond human capability. Society only notices the achievements of a few, and ignores the failures of the many, who tend to be held back by (a) hypersensitivity and/or (b) the conformance expectations of typical society. From the outside, it is all too easy to underestimate the devastating effect of intentionally or often unintentionally interfering with the special interests of an Aspie. This may lead to behaviour that is perceived as weird or inappropriate.

Am curious how many people would agree with this synopsis, as the concrete personalities and symptoms differ significantly between individuals. As noted in the talk above, the diagnostic criteria were originally focused on children, and specifically biased towards boys.

5. Another thing I?ve heard a lot about is people taking everything literally and being confused by idioms. Does this include phrases like ?the cat?s meow? (kind of a weird question but could be relevant)

I think its more subtle than obvious metaphors. I would even declare this more myth than fact. It's things like "how are you?" and "is everything all right?". Now obviously everything can never be all right. It's a stupid question. What it apparently means is "can you tell me something so I can invade your life?". So in order not to be invaded you have to say "yes" which is obviously untrue. And they think we're weird!! !!

6. Are there any common misconceptions I should know about in order to avoid creating a stereotype?

No empathy. In fact they feel too much. Perhaps Hank from Parenthood is the best example of Aspergers on a TV show because there is nothing to see at all. Max is a stereotype but that doesnt mean nobody is like Max. There could be someone exactly like Max. There are just more hidden like Hank. For me its more an inner life and an internal dialog (mono log?). It's what happens and what you miss out on. The connection isn't always obvious.

7. Lastly, is there anything else I should know about to create an accurate portrayal of my character?s everyday life?

You could summarized this forum for the common topics. Firstly the character should be misdiagnosed with everything else. Like Susan Boyle being told she was brain damage from lack of oxygen at birth. Its so common, btw I picked her as Aspergers before she sang a note on BGT.

Another thing is people thinking you are a serial killer. I'm told that to my face once a year. I wonder how many times it happens I don't know about.

Bullying and being denied opportunities or promotion etc. Schoolyard bullying, work place bullying, family bullying, "friends" bullying. Eventually many give up and stay home to avoid the abuse. Then people say "you should go out more".

Remember you don't suffer from Aspergers, you suffer from other people.

Perhaps another answer to 7. is that you can't. The experience is so outside the experience of typical people you cant portray it in a reasonable amount of time. Its like "If a lion could speak, we could not understand him." - Wittgenstein

She would proably react like most children. As a child, she would hardly understand the concept fully and maybe create her own stories about, where they really are. As a teen, she may try to dig deeper into it, and as an AS girl, she would probably be more obsessive and thorough than most. If she is angry and curious or in pain is up to her personality.

It may be an unusual subject, like old soap boxes of a certain brand, or a collection of noted train- or flight departures over many years. It can also be a less unusual subject (it often is with girls), but highly systemized in unusually numerous categories. Aspies are often systemizers.

Most people stim, but it is often more the case with people with autism. It is a response to inner tension, positive as well as negative.
For girls twirling fingers/hair is very common. Biting lip or finger and maybe quietly pulling out hairs as well, or being a little fidgety.
She could do any discrete repetitive movement from time to time, from knee bopping, finger tapping or pen clicking (the socially acceptable stims, that most people exhibit now and then).
Pleasure from looking at spinning things and moments of body rocking, when the stress is bad would be percieved as more autism specific behavior.
That depends on the person. Most grown people, - including late teens with ASD have learned to understand well, but yes, there is a tendency to literacy and concrete thinking.
A classic is: Somebody says: "How are you", and you start scanning yourself in order to be able to give a detailed explanation. The notion, that a standard answer is expected doesn´t come intuitively, but has to be learned, - in general.
A rather concrete thinking can make idioms confusing, but don´t exaggerate it in adults. It is subtle. Moreover, most has a need for a logical language. Orders given in a gramatically incoherent daily language often doesn´t go in, - for me, at least.
That aspies have stiff faces and can´t empathise and move like robots. They do empathise, but many have difficulty expressing it or are afraid to make matters worse. She doesn´t have to be reclusive or unemotional. She can just as well be outgoing and very emotional and very caring. Like all other people.
People with ASD are easily stressed. Socially active periods usually need to be shorter due to sensory stress, or strain from reading others and talking for hours and maybe from many shifts in functions, so at job she may need 5 minutes away now and then.
Need for structure and routines, or many to-do-lists would be typical. Room for her interests is essential. She may have husband and kids, - or a wife, - but she is also likely to be a single, - and more so, than NT´s.

Good luck with your character.

Wow, thank you all so much for the great feedback!These responses are way more helpful than the numerous impersonal websites I've been seeing. Also, I'm definitely going to check out the different films, links, and such that have been mentioned!

Don't worry, I'm not going to let it be her sole attribute, it's just the one I thought would need more research on my part. Plus I have a huge love for developing characters so I wont be skipping out on creating her personality by any means!


I mean if you have the time, that'd be awesome! I don't want to inconvenience you though, so only if you can/want to.


Thank you, I'll remember that once I've written it!



Oh no, it wont be like that at all. And I would never wish to hurt anyone or the community!
I just was coming up with the character and decided she would be an aspie... I mean, I've written different characters before but they've all been NT, but not everyone in the world is NT so why should all my characters be, right? (other than the fact that a while back i might not have considered it, in fear of messing up... but with all of this info i feel more confident and will try my best)


Again, thank you all so much!

1. As a child she is told her parents have been murdered. Any tips on how she would react and how this would affect her as a child and then later in her teens? As stated, this depends on her other traits. Personally, I would withdraw completely and deal with it myself, becoming very stoic when I'm around other people and extremely quiet (and have a lot of trust issues).

2. I?ve seen a lot of talk about collections that may seem strange to neurotypical people, but I haven?t really seen many examples of what is meant by ?strange.? Can anyone give me an idea of types of collections? This is more just taking an interest to the extreme. For example, if she likes ducks, she might have tons of duck statues, shirts, plushies, etc. She'd likely know all sorts of facts about ducks that might seem interesting to others (like their diets, differences between types, etc). Just keep in mind that this can happen with pretty much any interest, such as things that are a certain color to relatively small things.

3. Stimming. I?ve read up on it but am curious about when stimming would happen? is it something someone would do when they?re stressed, or would they do it randomly in any situation? I do it pretty much all the time but it's way more common as I stress. For example, I might just be sitting down and I'll start to rock. If something starts to stress me out, I'll start to wring my hands, pinch my chin/ears, crack my knuckles, check my watch a million times, etc.

4. Are there any stims that are extra common or are they all very different according to the person? Rocking while sitting down is a common stim. As stated, it's likely anything that can be repetitive. I've caught myself stimming at work by dialing up a random extension and hanging up before they can answer to relatively minor things like hair twirling or "doing the wave".

5. Another thing I?ve heard a lot about is people taking everything literally and being confused by idioms. Does this include phrases like ?the cat?s meow? (kind of a weird question but could be relevant) Yes, when I saw that I thought "does the main character have a cat?" but only for a brief second before realizing the true meaning. Like mentioned, this could change depending on several factors such as whether or not she's officially diagnosed (able to recognize her own symptoms or had formal training to help with them), her degree of autism, etc. For the most part, it might take a second for her to realize the true meaning of most, but she'd probably understand them (though might miss a few, especially new ones).

6. Are there any common misconceptions I should know about in order to avoid creating a stereotype? That Aspies are completely void of feelings. Aspies do have feelings and care a lot but often have a tough time showing it. You could make this into an interesting plot twist actually where the main character feels that she doesn't care but finds notes that show otherwise. Also, try not to lump all the stereotypes and symptoms into the character, as Aspies are actually quite different from each other. For example, it may be a stereotype that Aspies prefer talking through text or online, but I have Aspie friends who would rather talk on the phone, even though it's a bit more difficult. Some Aspies I know are slobs, but I know a few who are complete neat freaks and have to shower at least twice a day. Try to develop a unique personality rather than a stereotypical character.

7. Lastly, is there anything else I should know about to create an accurate portrayal of my character?s everyday life? As stated, don't turn her into a walking stereotype. For example, many of my colleagues and friends don't know I have Aspergers. They simply think I'm a normal person with OCD and says some weird things every now and again. Try to create her as a person first who you can relate with and then figure out what impairments you make.

I hope you're willing to share your draft. It sounds interesting!