What Do Autistic People Look Like?

Look, I know that sounds like an odd question but for many of us, the answer to ‘What Do Autistic People Look Like?’ is this:

What we’ve seen so far in the mainstream representation is someone who is white, male, thin, heterosexual, worried/stressed/flat faced, unsmiling… and possibly a savant.

I don’t know who created this meme but I’ve seen it many times online. This stereotype presents us with male autistics (or presumed autistic, in the case of Sheldon (top left) from The Big Bang Theory) in popular television shows. The other images are of the character of Shaun Murphy from The Good Doctor, Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds (not named autistic on screen but the actor who plays him says he is), and Sam Gardiner from A-Typical.

What’s missing from these images? Black, Asian, female, trans, gender diverse, aged, culturally and ethnically diverse people… the full spectrum of humanity. I searched on the #actuallyautistic tag and ran through my social media feeds to take screen shots off what I could see and this is what came up.

The austistic spectrum is as varied as neurotypical spectrum. I definitely see it as part of my life’s work to shift the currently held views about what autism looks like to improve inclusivity and acceptance.