April is the month we use to recognize ASD or autism, so today I’m going to do a deep dive into one of my favorite characters in media who is portrayed as having autism or autistic characteristics.
Before we can take a deep dive in we have to look at what some of the characteristics for autism are. Some of the most common autistic traits are; very specific interests, extreme reaction to small changes in schedule, repeated motion (such as spinning, hand flapping, or rocking), little eye contact, or ‘big’ reactions to things such as colors, lights, or textures. There are also a lot of other autistic traits and you can still be autistic without having these specific traits. Autism is a large spectrum and while one person may have a lot of autistic characteristics another person may have only a couple. Now that that’s out of the way,
Jonathan Sims from The Magnus Archives, a podcast by Rusty Quill is a very good representation of autism in media. Jonathan often shows traits that are usually tied with autism. If you ask just about anyone who listens to the podcast they’ll say that Jon is autistic. Throughout the podcast Jon shows a lot of traits of autism, such as the fact that as a child he would often wander away from his home (a sign of autism), having a hard time understanding jokes and when people are being serious,and having a hard time communicating. While Jon was never confirmed to have autism and the writer of the podcast said that it was more by accident that he presents so many autistic characteristics, it does not discredit what a good representation he is in a world where autism isn’t widely brought up in media.
Autism is a part of many people’s lives whether big or small and it is important for it to be portrayed in media. When you watch a show it’s normal to feel happy or get excited when someone who looks or acts like you comes onto the screen but autism doesn’t have many good representations in media. While there are great characters with autism they are few and far between and even then a lot aren’t represented that well. They’re often portrayed as being carefree and childish which isn’t a good representation for the autistic community.
Jon displays autism and has autistic traits but it is not the only kind of autism, people can still have ASD without percenting any of these traits, if you think that you or a loved one has autism don’t be scared to talk to someone. You can talk to your doctor or therapist about scheduling an appointment for a diagnosis.
Remember go bulldogs, grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Websites I used while researching:
Signs and Symptoms of autism, Canada
Twitter / X
Gmail
(I made like 3 fake accounts to search for answers and emailed the writers of the podcast)
