My Heroes Have Always Been Aspies
If there’s nothing wrong with me…maybe there’s something wrong with the universe!
~from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

Spock forgets the words to "Feelings"

Snoopy (Charles Schulz’ Peanuts)
Peanuts is an Aspie’s dream, full of private insecurities and loopy internal fantasy lives. I could have chosen Linus, but Snoopy was my first love. He’s a dog who thinks complex thoughts and fancies himself a famous author or Flying Ace…even if he can’t talk.
Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street)
Like so many Gen X kids, I grew up on a steady diet of Jim Henson programming (Henson himself was probably an Aspie.) Every other kid loved Big Bird or Cookie Monster. I dug Oscar, who was antisocial, set in his ways, and sarcastic. Every kids’ show needs a character like this.
Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson’s comic of the same name)
If Watterson isn’t an Aspie, I have some beachfront land in Arizona I’d like to sell you. I adored these guys for years and years and was so sad when the strip ended. The depictions of the “inner fantasy world” were so close to my own, it sometimes scared me.
Then, as I got a little older, the trend continued. See if you recognize some of these cult heroes (and heroines):
I know this isn’t the first post on this subject, nor will it be the last. I’m proud to be an Aspie, even if it makes me a little different and, at times, pretty uncomfortable. That’s one reason I enjoy my pop culture fixes so much. Like the Holodeck, it’s a place to go to feel not just safe, but validated. There’s so much AS influence out there that most NTs don’t even realize. Now all I have to do is finish this book of mine sometime before summer.
Any feedback from my readers, NT or AS, would be great on this one. Now, I think it’s time to go catch some NFL playoffs…
- Playoffs?!
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You nailed it on the head. There are fewer “normal” people out there than we think. Some folks can just hide their “weirdness” better than others. However, as I get older, the less I care about doing so.
By the way, I think I’m your age (also Gen X and proud!) and I was a Grover fan as a child. What does THAT say about my personality!?
Grover was my second-favourite! He had a really active fantasy life too. If it weren’t for the weird ones, there’d be no entertainment industry as we know it.
What is NT?
Good question. It’s short for “neurotypical,” which is basically anyone who isn’t on the autism spectrum. 🙂
This is a really cool post, and I’m looking forward to more of them!
Calvin & Hobbs, Lisbeth Salander, & Marcelo (Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X Stork) are some of my favorites.
Making the connection between Aspies and Star Trek was genius. 🙂 I never thought of it that way. I think that you could make a similar connection with Aspies and the X-men. I actually wrote about it once: thatawkwardkid93.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/parents-2/
Check it out if you so desire.