Does Odo actually qualify for this? He can feel and comprehend and interpret emotions just fine, he is just deadly shy and insecure behind his stoic enforcer facade.
The doctor doesn’t fit either, just because he is modeled after an egomaniac asshole does not mean he is autistic.
ASD coded, not literally ASD. The thematic struggle with social convention counts IMO. But Data has no self loathing or whatever. He just wants to understand. We stan Data.
He can feel and comprehend and interpret emotions just fine, he is just deadly shy and insecure behind his stoic enforcer facade.
This is basically describing autism too. We can feel emotions just fine. But expressing them is hard because we do so in a way that can sometimes be upsetting to others. So we become shy and put up a facade that hides how we feel about things.
Also, “ASD-coded” is different than ASD. These characters don’t literally have ASD, but the fantastical sci-fi backgrounds the writers set up allow them to write the characters to behave and experience struggles in a way that is similar to someone with ASD. Especially problems fitting in with a group, socialising, and forming meaningful connections with others.
Autistic people can feel and comprehend emotions like everyone else, no difference. Not sure why those two were on your list. As far as interpreting emotion, we can, we just have to learn how instead of doing it innately, which it seems Odo did for all human behavior.
Agreed, but terrible bedside manner isn’t indicative of autism. And the Doctor seems to be garden-variety crotchety, which makes sense given that he’s modeled on Lewis Zimmerman. I’d need other criteria to convince me he’s supposed to be autistic.
The more I hear and talk about with others about autism, the more I think that it all just has to do with just being human and a person with a unique set of personality traits and conditions.
Some of it might be healthy, some of it unhealthy, some brought about by upbringing, some brought about from trauma, some brought about my neglect but some also brought about because of having everything, or nothing, or too much, or too little.
It’s like gender identity … some people identify one way or another … some strongly identify, some don’t, some are just in the middle and some are off the spectrum … and many change over time and over a lifetime.
It’s the same with autism … some have a little bit of it, some don’t, some are aware, some are not, some are more affected, some are just a little affected but everyone has no clue and no one is capable of measuring it.
It’s just part of the human condition that we are all different … and its the differences that made us who we are as a civilization and a global society. We were successful not because of one person or one group of people … we were successful as a species because of all these individuals doing what they did and being who they were. It’s our chaotic mess of personalities, whether good or bad or perceived as good or bad that make up all the amazing things we have created, generate, construct, produce and imagine.
I think it’s a great thing … it’s worked for us for thousands of years … and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Ehh, I do agree that dealing with different personalities is part of being human, and everyone has their own strengths, weaknesses and quirks. I would have to disagree that somewhat on the “no one is capable of measuring it” part. It seems to lean towards the “everyone is a little Autistic” saying, which is not scientifically accurate. Autism is something we can test for and while it’s something we still don’t understand completely, recently scientists have been able to identify which genes are responsible. So I think putting it on a level with a personality trait or gender identity is a bad comparison.
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