Autistic Headcanon: Is it wrong to diagnose characters with mental disorders?

Was I wrong to highlight the autistic traits of Wednesday Addams? Is it wrong to diagnose fictional characters or historical figures with mental disorders?

Videos mentioned

Further Reading:

[SoraMuto-jetd]

As an autistic person myself, i like to headcanon certain characters as autistic because it makes me feel like my disability is being seen and acknowledged that it exists and even fictional characters can have it; it not only makes me connect to those characters more, but, it also makes me feel like it's being normalized and accepted instead of just...being aware of it. So I'm more likely to get really into something if i notice certain traots that seem a lot like my own or other autistic people i know or know about! (So long as it's done properly, of course!)

[NeurodiverJENNt]

Your videos are so concise, impactful, and informational. Keep up the great work!

[misspinkpunkykat]

No. But I wish people would find more characters and not just the modern Wednesday Adams. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables always comes up as a possible autistic character. So does the Murry family from a Wrinkle in Time. The Belcher family from Bob's Burgers, Zim and the Membrane family from Invader Zim. Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs.

[clarek]

I'm a neurodivergent psychology student, and I love your videos! I would love to see some content on ADHD and Autism from a behavioural neuroscience perspective. None of my classes ever cover concepts outside of a neurotypical lens, and sometimes I wonder how much of what I'm learning applies to neurodivergent brains. Like dual process theory, for example, would the state system be more sensitive in Autism?

[Kamishi]

Someone mentioned the show Dexter to me today, and while he's stereotyped to be a serial killer, I think a much better explanation for his behaviors is that he's autistic, since he manifests a lot of traits e.g. socially, he clearly masks and follows scripts though this was emphasized more in the early seasons, he struggles to read human emotions including his own, he clearly has some very specific routines he sticks to, his special interest could be considered his vigilante behavior and he has quite black and white thinking such as his ideas of what is right and wrong, his strict adherence to the Code of Harry and so on.

I would love for you to take a stab on this, since the show is already very psychoanalytical with everything told from his perspective, and it would clarify the differences between autism, antisocial personality disorder, narcissism, dissociation because of childhood trauma (is his dark passenger really more akin to an alter because of DID?) and so on.

[jonsumner]

One that I like to point out is Jordan Kent from Superman and Lois. For one thing many of us autistics really are huge fans of sci-fi and superhero shows and honestly we want a superhero we can identify with well Jordan Kent we can identify with. At minimum the show does state that he has social anxiety disorder badass the show goes on and his characters for the developed their definitely appears to be some classic autistic traits in this character.

And in terms of a historical figures the first one that comes to my mind is Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart.

[aleph]

3:25 you listed these 5 traits as the "Typical" representation of autism in media but mentioned Woo Young Woo which is neither of the 5 as she is not affluent, not white, not male, not a children and not high support. She does fall into the autistic = genius stereotype though.

[bethanythatsme]

"rigorous assessment" is still very fallible & based on each professional's observations, beliefs, and bias. I hope moving forward we will have a more balanced and nuanced form of diagnostics.
Appreciate this channel.
(And just to be a lil salty for fun, I'm already exhausted of the Wednesday comparison for so many reasons 🧂🖤)

[MichaelSullivanCincinnatux]

Many of the characters played by Anthony Hopkins could be viewed through an autistic lens since elements of his own autism will end up informing how he interprets characters and portrays them, unless something about the character convinces him to take a different approach.

And I think Parks & Rec characters in general were written and performed to lean into autistic sensibilities, even though the point is to do so cartoonishly rather than sincerely. Even outside of Parks & Rec, Aubrey Plaza gives me autistic vibes in pretty much everything she does.

In The West Wing, many of the characters (especially the speech writers) exude various autistic modalities (with unusually deep interests, social awkwardness, uneven cognitive capabilities, limited situational awareness, etc.), though my understanding is that Aaron Sorkin himself holds fairly narrow and ignorant assumptions about autism proper, so I doubt he ever thought of these characters in autistic terms.

But I think there is also the possibility that we could get confused between the effects of trauma/C-PTSD from other causes and the effects of trauma/C-PTSD from autism and comingled neurospiciness. For example, I think Adam Driver portrays Kylo Ren as a character whose range of social behaviors is constrained by lifelong trauma, but that can also seem autistic to me even though all of Kylo Ren's oddness can probably be explained by the trauma alone.

[lindaclairesartori]

"Characters"? To what are you referring? People? Fictional characters?
Headcannon???
Whatt??the f....
I am an old woman, diagnosed autistic last year.
Fiction has very little interest for me.