When you first opened this book, curious about its contents, you probably didn't expect to see this.
But it needs to be addressed.
Countless stories with autistic characters include the autistic character being in a relationship with someone who isn't autistic. But the relationship isn't portrayed as something that's healthy or something that you'd see in everyday life. They make the fact that the autistic person is in the story the defining factor of their relationship. The character's "autism" is discussed every page of every chapter. Most of the time autism is mentioned in the title, in the description, and in every comment.
A great example of this? The story 'Autism' by @/iamjourneygrace. The main character, who is Justin Beiber, apparently, is autistic. And you figure that out by reading the cover, the title, the description, and every.
Single.
Flipping.
Page.
Of.
The.
Story.
Autism is made out to be this romanticized "condition" and the character's autistic-ness is written out in detail, like it was copy-pasted from the Autism Speaks website. Authors are using this neurological dynamic to write characters to reel people in to such difficult relationships (/s) with difficulties because the character's autistic and can't apparently handle real-life, which is garbage. People write these stories because they need something to get views, not because they actually care about what autistic people think. If they did, they wouldn't romanticize what autistic people go through and make our existence just another love story for people to pick up and put down after a glance.
YOU ARE READING
Everything Wrong with the Autism Representation on Wattpad
Non-FictionThe title speaks for itself. Unlike autistic people, who according to Autism Speaks, can't speak for ourselves. Go figure. (Not satire.) (I made this more for myself than anyone else.) (You're welcome.)
