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The Importance of Being Aspie: Autism-as-Asperger's on Television
1. The Importance of Being Aspie:
SOME Television Representations of
Autism-as-Aspergers
Nedda Ahmed
Arts Librarian, Georgia State University
@neddaahmed
2. The Big Bang Theory
(CBS): Dr. Sheldon
Cooper, played by Jim
Parsons, is rigid,
routine-oriented,
socially inept… and
brilliant. Although
never labeled as such,
the audience is meant
to read this character
as having Asperger’s.
3. Community (NBC):
Abed Nadir, played by
Danny Pudi, is
another smart-yet-
awkward character
audiences commonly
read as having
Asperger’s due to his
encyclopedic
knowledge of pop
culture and lack of
emotional awareness.
4. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
season 5: Dr. Dixon,
played by Mary
McDonnell, is a highly
successful, yet socially
awkward heart surgeon
with Asperger’s.
Psychology Today
writer Lynne Soraya
described this portrayal
of Asperger’s as very
over-the-top.
5. Touch (Fox): Kiefer Sutherland plays the father
of an “emotionally challenged” non-verbal boy
(read: autistic) with an “extraordinary gift” for
mathematics that borders on the
magical/mystical.
6. The Middle (ABC): Brick Heck, played by Atticus
Shaffer, is a non-diagnosed boy with Asperger’s-
like symptoms. On the show, he attends a social
skills group for children on the Autism Spectrum.
7. Parenthood (NBC): Max Braverman, played by
Max Burkholder, is an officially diagnosed pre-
teen with Asperger’s. Max has multiple areas of
savant-like abilities. This character is widely
regarded as being the most holistic portrayal of
Autism on television.