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The Portrayal Of Autism In The Accountant, By Allie Mason

1832 Words8 Pages

The portrayal of autism in media often shapes public perception and understanding of the condition. "The Accountant" (2016), a fictional film starring Ben Affleck, presents an autistic character named Christian Wolff, who is a mathematics savant working as a freelance forensic accountant. In contrast, the news article “Autism makes travel a challenge”. Here’s how I learned to cope” by Allie Mason offers a real-life perspective on living with autism, focusing on the author's personal experiences and coping strategies. By comparing and contrasting the depiction of autism in the movie and the article, examining how each addresses the strengths and challenges of being autistic and their adherence to the neurodiversity model. This model views neurodiversity …show more content…

The emotionless demeanor stereotype that Christian exhibits, paired with his many assassinations, are also potentially harmful to autistic individuals due to autistic people being dehumanized by society for struggling with a lack of emotion (Houting, 2020). Additionally, the term “high functioning” is used in the movie, which many autistic people now find offensive. This term has contributed to some autistic individuals being denied the care they need because some falsely believe “high functioning” implies needing few or no accommodations (Eatchel, Lecture 1). Avoiding the use of this term would better adhere to the neurodiversity model, the the upcoming sequel. However, in the movie’s defense, in the scenes of the treatment center, the autism specialist gives a concise, accurate, and clinical overview of what autism is, and in the final Treatment Center scene, the specialist delivers powerful lines to parents worried about their non-verbal autistic son: “Neuro-typicals. The rest of us. What if we're wrong? What if we've been using the wrong tests to quantify intelligence in children with autism? Your son's not less

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