Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I'm in the process of writing a book about a boy with Asperger's aimed at the 8-12 age group. It's basically a planned series of detective books. The stories will focus on various mental health issues which I want to present in a positive, affirming viewpoint.
I've researched the subject but, not knowing any autistic children myself, I don't know if what I have so far is patronising or oversimplified.
So, I wondered if anybody far more qualified than me would give it a read and let me know their thoughts.
Thanks for that. Bob is a high functioning Asperger's boy of 11. He is very intelligent and can get a little obsessive. The story is told from the point of view of his best friend. They and their families have known each other from before the boys were born and Herb has grown to recognise and fully accept his best friend's traits. The book explores their relationship as much as anything else and also deals with depression and other mental health issues. Sherlock Holmes is another literary figure that might be considered as having Asperger's, at least in my opinion and the boys are 11-year versions of Holmes and Watson.
I would strongly recommend that you experience the autistic socially. Autism and Asperger’s syndrome prove to us it is a very broad spectrum. The high functioning do learn how to be social around others, but I have discovered for myself that I need intellectually stimulating conversation for me to be social.
Right now, The Good Doctor is getting a lot of great reviews about putting autism on the television. You want to do a detective story. You need to watch the first six-eight seasons of the original Crime Scene Investigation, showcase in Las Vegas. One of the main characters, Gil Grissom, behaves a lot like an autistic, especially early in the seasons because they created stories where Gil does not know or seem to care about the social aspects of ongoing relationships. I have loved CSI ever since I started watching the series on television as a teenager. I identify with Grissom a lot as an adult. In the show, they essentially made a high functioning autistic, Gil Grissom, the boss of a crime scene unit.
Personally, I have a great appreciation for the autistic and think we are really underutilized in society. Our attention to detail could be showcased in your storytelling where we can be great detectives. I’m curious how you plan to make your protagonists relatable.
Thanks for replying, Graham and Alburquerque. The points you make are very relevant and helpful and exactly the reason I'm trying to get someone who has personal knowledge to read the manuscript. It could be easy to judge what is imagined to be portrayed and, apart from the gang idea, I hope I have avoided many of the issues you both raised.
First do make to common mistake of having a check list of issue's and think they all have to be ticked. Because if not learned anything from hollywood it that all autisic's act very same way and all issues going all the time.