Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, on Screen and in Life<\/a>
\nNew York Times
\nBy Neil Amdur
\nAug. 3, 2009<\/p>\nThe three new movies would seem to have little in common: a romantic comedy about Upper West Side singles, a biopic about a noted animal science professor, and an animated film about an extended pen-pal relationship.<\/p>\n
But all three revolve around Asperger\u2019s syndrome, the complex and mysterious neurological disorder linked to autism. Their nearly simultaneous appearance \u2014 two open this summer, and the third is planned for next year \u2014 underscores how much Asperger\u2019s and high-functioning autism have expanded in the public consciousness since Dustin Hoffman\u2019s portrayal of an autistic savant in \u201cRain Man\u201d 21 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more I learned about Asperger\u2019s,\u201d said Max Mayer, the writer and director of the romance, \u201cAdam,\u201d which opened last week, \u201cthe better metaphor it felt like for the condition of all of us in terms of a desire for connection to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
People with Asperger\u2019s may have superior intelligence and verbal skills, and they often have an obsessive interest in a particular topic (astronomy, in the case of the title character in \u201cAdam,\u201d played by Hugh Dancy). But they tend to be self-defeatingly awkward in social situations, and romantic relationships can leave them at sea.<\/p>\n
The syndrome is generally considered a high-functioning form of autism, which in recent years has been diagnosed in more and more children. While the reasons for the explosion in diagnoses are unclear, increased awareness may be part of the explanation, and one reason for the growth in awareness is the rise of online parent communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Not sure there’s much else to say, but I wanted to record the link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More movies about autistics. Because apparently we\u2019re fascinating fictional characters, or at least fictionalized. Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, on Screen and in Life New York Times By Neil Amdur Aug. 3, 2009 The three new movies would seem to have little in common: a romantic comedy about Upper West Side singles, a…<\/p>\n
Continue ReadingRepresentations of AS<\/span> <\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[65,76,138,344,448,475,559],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-aspergers-syndrome","tag-autism","tag-characters","tag-high-functioning","tag-media","tag-movies","tag-portrayals","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nRepresentations of AS - The Autistic Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/autisticme\/2009\/08\/04\/representations-of-as\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Representations of AS - The Autistic Me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More movies about autistics. 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