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

Abstract

Background: TV-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 procedure: In 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 results: Autistic adults rated three improvement factors as most important: (1) Appointing autistic writers, (2) Having an autistic consultant, and (3) Representing greater di- versity 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 implications: Participants 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.