Tommy Westphall on St Elsewhere had Asperger Syndrome.

Let’s start with what Asperger’s is. The syndrome is named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian doctor in the 1950s who noticed social development problems in his child patients. Today, Aspergers is more widely considered to be a syndrome that belongs on the autism spectrum. Aspergers in a nutshell is an exhibition of abnormal social behavior. But that’s putting it far too simply and a bit confusing. So here are a few common traits of Aspergers. Keep in mind though that every Aspergers patient is different, something we will explore further in our exploration of tv characters with Aspergers.

Those with the syndrome are sociable although they don’t interact within normal social bounds. They tend to become fixated on a topic or subject but won’t recognize signs that the conversation needs to end. One of the biggest symptoms and most dysfunctional aspects is the lack of demonstrated empathy. People with Aspergers do grasp the concepts of emotions, they simply don’t recognize them. This often makes them seem insensitive. That isn’t the case at all, they just don’t perceive emotions as easily.

Unlike autism, individuals with Aspergers don’t have language issues. They can speak, read, and write just as well (and often better) than anyone else. The intense focus and inability to perceive social cues is what changes. They tend to speak their mind whether that means a ten minute monologue on a specific topic or an insensitive comment. An example might be a friend’s unflattering new haircut. While most of us would refrain from commenting, one with Aspergers is more likely to say the style is ugly. It’s not to be rude but an observation and one not perceived as important to keep quiet. In addition, Aspergers patients often speak very literally and have extensive vocabulary. They enjoy humor but are less likely to get a pun or bit of wordplay.

JJ Jones on Skins has Aspergers.

The final primary symptom is displaying interests and activities that are restrictive, repetitive and abnormally focused. This is actually one of the most prominent features of Aspergers. A lot of people are socially awkward without having Aspergers. An Aspergers individual will often focus on a topic until they know every detail. However, its often a very narrow focus. An example might be knowing every constellation’s name without caring how a star is formed. As one gets older, those interests can become more narrow and unusual.

At this point, Aspergers doesn’t have a cause. It seems to be genetic but no specific gene can be found. It has been established however that Aspergers occurs at a very young age, although it is often undiagnosed until a child reaches grade school and social awkwardness becomes more obvious. Aspergers doesn’t have a treatment either, or at least not a one size fits all treatment. Most doctors encourage therapies to help with social interaction. It is also important for family members to participate in therapy as well. Understanding Aspergers is a key to living with it or with someone who has it. While some (about 20%) seem to outgrow the syndrome, adults with Aspergers can struggle. Those with more serious forms can be taken advantage of or have difficulty fitting in an adult world. We’ll go into why this isn’t just the problem of the individual in the next installment.

Now that you have a better understanding of what Aspergers is, let’s look at who on tv has Aspergers. I’m going to focus on four shows, two dramas and two comedies. I do this because they show a variety of ways to deal with Aspergers and a variety of intensity levels for the individual character. We will focus on Max Braverman on Parenthood, Temperance Brennan on Bones, Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory and Abed on Community.

Max Braverman of Parenthood.

Max Brennan is the best example. This is in no small part due to Jason Katims (the head producer and father of a son with Aspergers)’s diligent work in portraying the struggle of a child with Aspergers. Max is one of the best examples of how focused on an interest an individual with the syndrome can be. His current obsession is with bugs and he is shown to fixate on the topic for long periods. Max is also a great example of how families have to alter their own behavior to work with him. Max is the only character of the four to have been officially diagnosed with Aspergers on screen.

Bones Brennan on Bones.

Temperance “Bones” Brennan is our other dramatic character. Hart Hanson, the creator of Bones has stated that Temperance has Aspergers but the show didn’t say so in order to reach a larger audience. Temperance is an example in particular of the inability to perceive social cues. She often misunderstands pop culture references and doesn’t read emotional cues. She is however more broad, comparatively speaking, in her interests. While she doesn’t pick up on social cues, she can take direction in social behavior from friends and understands what society perceives as acceptable even if she doesn’t agree. Hart Hanson is considering makes Bones’ Aspergers a part of the season six storyline but is cautions because he wants to portray it accurately.

Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory

That’s a struggle Chuck Lorre, creator of The Big Bang Theory is familiar with. The character of Sheldon has been unofficially labeled as an Aspie (the self-imposed nickname of someone with Aspergers) but not diagnosed. The main reason is that Lorre feels that diagnosing Sheldon would mean a greater responsibility to accurately show Aspergers and could take away from the comedy. Still, Sheldon exhibits both the intense focus (with physics) but especially the insensitivity. Sheldon always speaks his mind. Even when told he is being rude, he usually doesn’t understand and persists in his own ideas.

Abed from Community.

Lastly is Abed, from Community. Abed is one on the lowest end of the Aspergers scale. He reads emotions and can live on his own. But Abed exhibits the intense focus on a topic with his obsession with film and memorization of film lines. He also struggles to interact with others without relying on film references. It’s a very slight exhibition of Aspergers but still strong enough to notice.

Finally, September will explore the significance of Aspergers’ characters and what it means for television and society. I encourage you to watch a few episodes of each show mentioned here. Pay attention to the characters. It will give you greater insight into Aspergers and more familiarity with the characters talked about.