Autistic Characters

We've always been very open with both little superheroes about their Autism, ADHD, anxiety and everything in between. We want them to view their neurodivergent traits as a positive aspect of who they are.

Quite often when we are watching movie or television shows, the little superheroes will make the comment that they think one (or more) of the characters are Autistic and then they will list off the reasons why. Often the little superheroes relate to how the character views their world or the little superheroes will see traits in the characters that they see in themselves.

So from the thoughts of the little superheroes, these are just a few of the characters that they believe are neurodivergent!

[Normal is for Normal People.

Timmy Failure]

Timmy Failure is a character that both little superheroes believe is Autistic. Timmy Failure is the main character in a book series that was made into a movie and released in 2020. The movie has since become a favourite of L's! Timmy is a very unique individual with an amazing imagination. Timmy Failure also happens to be a great detective, even when there's no actual mystery to solve! O believes that Timmy is Autistic because of how focused he can become on topics that interest him!

L came to the conclusion that Goldilocks must be Autistic while we were reading the story for one of his school lessons last year during lockdown. He decided that Goldilocks must be Autistic because she only liked her porridge cooked a particular way and she's sensitive to how the bed sheets felt. He could relate to her sensory processing difficulties because he has similar sensory aversions.

[Rocket - His people are totally literal, metaphors go right over his head.

Drax - Nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too fast, I would catch it.]

Drax is a very obvious choice for this list. Both little superheroes love all things, well superheroes, and they love watching Guardians of the Galaxy. It was while they were watching the first movie, before they had even heard these lines, that they both commented that they thought Drax was Autistic based purely on how literally he takes everything! Both little superheroes are also extremely literal in their thinking and how they understand things.

[Hee-hee! Isn't this exciting? We'll do everything by the book 

and that will make my slumber party officially fun! 

Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony]

Twilight Sparkle is a character that O decided just had to be Autistic. O was, and still is although O won't admit it, a HUGE My Little Pony fan. It was while O was watching of the episodes, O exclaimed "Mummy! I know why I love Twilight Sparkle much. I think she has Autism too. She has meltdowns all the time. She loves magic but it's a huge intense interest for her because she doesn't just like magic, magic is her thing. She struggles to understand her friends sometimes. She reads books to work things out like when she was going to have a sleepover. And she prefers to be researching things to anything else. She has to be Autistic!"

O was able to recognise traits in Twilight Sparkle that O saw in herself.

[Being different isn't a bad thing. It means you're brave enough to be yourself.

Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter series.]

Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series is another very obvious character for this list. Luna is also another of O's most favourite fictional characters. One of the things that both O and I love about Luna is that she owns her differences. Luna knows that she is different from those around her, that other people don't particularly like her because of those differences, yet she loves who she is. Luna is one of the most under rated characters in the Harry Potter series and yet she provides the most life lessons - own your own style, being different is great, always be brave, keep your sense of humour close and always be there for your friends. O also decided that Luna doesn't realise that there is a box that some people like to stay inside, as Luna thinks way outside of any box.

[I got super fast brain like 80-HD!

L, 9 years.]

80-HD is a character from one of L's all time favourite books series - Dogman. The Dogman series is written by Dave Pilkey, who as a child was diagnosed with ADHD. The Dogman series are the books that really got L into attempting to read and he cannot wait for the next instalment to be released! 80-HD, which is clearly a play on the term ADHD, is very much, well, ADHD. L loves that there is a character with a super fast brain just like his own brain!

All of the characters that the little superheroes have decided are Autistic, show their traits in a positive light. This is a great thing for not only my little superheroes but also for other children who are Autistic or have other neurodivergent traits. More often than not, neurodivergent traits are portrayed in a negative light, so to have characters that are portrayed in a positive manner are fantastic.