Short report: Autistic adults’ recommendations on how to improve autistic portrayals in TV-series and movies

Abstract

BackgroundTV-series and movies are important sources of knowledge about autism for the general public. Aims: This study’s purpose was to elicit autistic adults’ opinions on portrayals of autistic characters in film and television productions and how this can be improved. Methods and procedureIn this study, we examined the recommendations of autistic adults (n = 798, Mage = 30.3, 48% female) and non-autistic adults (n = 1463, Mage = 35.0, 62% female) from 90 countries on how film and television productions can improve autistic portrayals. Outcomes and resultsAutistic adults rated three improvement factors as most important: (1) Appointing autistic writers, (2) Having an autistic consultant, and (3) Representing greater diversity in autistic characters. Compared to the non-autistic groups, autistic adults rated “Appointing autistic writers” as more important. Autistic participants also endorsed “Having an autism-expert consultant” and “Making the character display all relevant diagnostic criteria” significantly less than non-autistic groups. Conclusions and implicationsParticipants strongly endorsed that autistic adults should to a much larger extent be included as writers, consultants and actors to enhance the making of autistic characters in film and TV.