Feedback for TV Pilot about an Autistic Girl with Psychic Powers

Absolutely.  I agree that whilst many of us have some skills honed because of our autism, calling it a superpower doesn't help any one and certainly doesn't help the public understand; they'd be thinking 'Rainman'. But yes it would be interesting to see whether Maria (as compared to Sam) expresses her power differently due to her autism or uses it to good effect it to compensate for her weaknesses in other areas.

Yeah I'm making an animated series. Yeah I've seen Mob Psycho and it's a great show! The main difference with my show is that Mob is great at his abilities but had to repress a lot of his emotions because of it. With Maria, she struggles to control her powers in a lot of situations due to sensory overload and stressful situations. But I do want to play around with the idea of her repressing her autistic traits when she goes to school as a way of female masking, and how harmful masking actually is by having the repressed psychic energy damage her body.

Wow, that's a really interesting view of it. That didn't initially cross my mind but I love your idea of her psychic sense, where she can feel the spiritual aura of the situation but gets overwhelmed by the real world. I didn't realise that the psychic sense is something everyone has, its just some people channel it better than others.

That's actually why Maria has psychic abilities. A common trope with autistic characters in media is that they treat autism like a superpower. I personally think it's a harmful trope as it romanticises autism in the worst way possible. So instead of treating Maria's autism like a superpower, rather her autism effects her powers. So what better superpower to go with than one that's controlled with the mind. This is why her sister Sam is also psychic, despite being neurotypical. Just to make it clear that psychic does not equal autism.

Maria can use levitation, set things on fire, create lightning and telekinetically move things. But because she gets easily overwhelmed from sensory overload and stressful situations, she struggles to focus and control her powers sometimes. But because she's creative, she performs her powers more creatively and less direct  and formal than her older sister. 

I do really like your idea of the psychic sense though. That's something I can totally play around with for episode ideas. Thank you so much and thank you for reading my script! I'm glad this idea has excited your imagination.

animation?

oh.... your making a anime?

theres a anime like this already called "mob psycho" about a autistic like boy who is a social outcast who has psychic powers but all he wants is to get a buff body and get a girl which he cant do and hes not really too bothered about his psychic powers and thinks nothing of them. 

I wonder whether we rely on this ancient sense, also often present in animals but which the modern world no longer taps into, because we struggle with our other senses.  Maybe by using it we make it stronger and it kind of compensates, I think.

I might miss the unspoken intentions and motivations of strangers, but some people I love deeply...I always know what they are thinking without a word.  Yet I'm not reading that in their body language or facial expressions.  Their back can be turned to me or we are in the dark and I will know.  Doesn't work with many people, but one or two I am atuned to.

Dawn said:

For me, I may not be able to read the subtle paralinguistic cues of other people, but by god I can read the energy in a room and very, very occasionally, if the intentions of some one I've just met are not good, I KNOW before they open their mouths.  I say nothing, stay away from them and watch.  Within weeks they will be causing trouble to people around me....hmmmm... list goes on.

This is so intriguing for me as a not-yet-diagnosed-but-thinking-I-must-be-autistic adult. I can’t work out what sensory issues I have, beyond some tactile and interception issues, and have been trying to find a way to describe exactly what you’ve described.

Since thinking I might be autistic, this feels like an important part of it. My son (who’s diagnosed, and has led me to wonder about myself) definitely has this too. He’s so sensitive to the energy in the room. And I feel like I can sense what he senses intuitively, when others can’t.

Animation isn't really my thing, but I like your concept very much.  I did read over the script.

Funnily enough the connection between the senses and psychic ability is something I was pondering the other day.  I'll have to watch it now, this is where folks will think I'm bonkers, lol.... but...

I am a Spiritualist and a very developed psychic sense does run in my mother's family.  We do just know stuff, sometimes future tense, or about the contents of letters we haven't opened yet etc without knowing how we know.  My mother has it, my aunt had it and so do I.  Now of all the senses listed which can be problematic in autism...beyond the main five into balance, interoception, proprioception etc... (and I seem to have issues with them all lol), the psychic sense is never listed.  The post-Enlightenment world doesn't believe in it, but it exists.  Personally, I think we ALL have it, but in the modern age people pay little heed to it and it is stronger in some people than others.

For me, I may not be able to read the subtle paralinguistic cues of other people, but by god I can read the energy in a room and very, very occasionally, if the intentions of some one I've just met are not good, I KNOW before they open their mouths.  I say nothing, stay away from them and watch.  Within weeks they will be causing trouble to people around me....hmmmm... list goes on.

So, with that, I find the concept of a lass who's so easily overwhelmed by the sensory intrusion of the physical world, yet adept in using that 'other' sense very intriguing.  What will be the relationship between her autism and her sensory difficulties and her sensory talents?  Can she marshal the latter to compensate for the former?

Additionally, it'll be good for autistic girls to see a hero figure just like them.

You've excited my imagination now.  Very good luck to you.  I hope it's a success.

Thank you so much! I'm glad your daughter enjoyed the script!

That sounds amazing. I let my daughter, who's autistic, read the script and she was speechless. She was so into it when reading it. From that, I can tell you that it is perfect already. You represented Maria really well. Good luck!!!