Writing neurodivergent characters

Author Life

Writing neurodivergent characters — ASD

Some of the reactions and behaviour of my main male protagonist, Sinha — a man headed lion turned lion-man shapeshifter — are flat on purpose. What do I mean by this?

There are several traits I recognize in my two loved ones with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):

• They are unable to recognize friendship, appreciate it, and understand it. This probably stems from limiting eye or physical contact. But they have friends, lots of them, who seem to appreciate and understand them. This is central to Sinha’s journey through the novel.
• They are reactive to external stimuli. They forever lose their attention mid-conversation to the slightest change in the environment, sound, or scent, which can often put them in defensive mode and make them reactive. Sinha would rather be a cat. This oversimplifies his desire to just live in the moment. Can you just accept my response to stimuli?
• They have specific interests that border on obsession. Sinha is obsessed with watching over the people with whom he has interacted reincarnated. He feels comfortable with them. He has a hero complex. The people he rescues have the agency to get out of their problems on their own.
• Repetitive behaviours. Sinha very frequently stretches, readjusting his body, and has nervous ticks. He loves doing yoga as it calms him. He doesn’t care who’s watching or what time of day it is. If he needs it, he does it.
• Intense reactions to minor changes in routine or surroundings. He withdraws. Especially when he feels he can not control the outcome. He withdraws when he is hurt. He doesn’t know how to process those feelings. He will bury himself in his mission or routine as an avoidance tactic.

When I say that the character is a bit flat, I mean WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). This is where the secondary characters draw out his personality and reactions, and he constantly discovers himself and the universe around him.

He’s an open book. He has full control over himself, his thoughts, and his actions. He is stoic. His flaw is not realizing how likeable, valued, and loved he is. He sees himself as a construct or a tool. As such, he must figure out how he, an invincible immortal, fits into a vibrant universe full of life, decay, and death.

There will come a time when he loses his shit, but that’s for another book.

-DM De Alwis