Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, I'm currently in the early stages of producing a short drama film. One character who is on the sprectrum. He has been written with the assumption in mine that he is hight functioning, but lacks in verbal skills. Im writing this post for a few suggestion on the portrayal of this character and some advice on how to accurately display autism on screen. Any feedback or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Synopsis:
Aaron a young man on the autism spectrum is trapped inside his apartment lift, with a stranger who is terrified of small spaces. Both are frightened of the situation. However, both cope in there own unique ways with the predicament. Despite Aarons social awkwardness, he tries to handle the situation as best as he can but his efforts result in a panic attack. With only the aid of a stranger who doesn’t understand his condition.
I myself am on the spectrum. I have Aspergers syndrome and have written the script with my own behaviours in mind. If anyone wants to read the script, I don't mind sharing. Once again I appreciate any suggestions here.
Many thanks in advance.
Joe
Out of curiosity, if you are on the spectrum and have personal insight, why do you write a character that is not like you, you create a fictional character with no verbal skills while you have no experience of this. Why not a character more like yourself, or like some other real autistic person. Maybe you should seek advice from someone non verbal. I am HF and I have no idea at all what it could be like to be non verbal. Are you even sure that being non verbal is compatible in one person with functioning more like yourself? I don't know the purpose of your film, have you lived any tricky experiences, 1:1 ith a NT here you autism as a key feature of the dynamic, what did you learn about yourself, about NT. Maybe you can draw on such personal experience to tell a story that only an autistic person can tell..