: Re: How to avoid basing an autistic character too much upon myself? One of the characters in my current piece is autistic. I'm on the spectrum myself, so I have some idea of what this is like,

@Ravi5107385

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Most fiction and much of the best fiction comes from real life.
This even brings to mind the old writer's adage, "Write what you know." You haven't really said why you should change the details.

If The Story Is Good

If the story is good and the character is interesting and seems real there is good reason to not change things just because you identify with them. Also, most of those things are general characteristics that could be displayed by many people. That is a good thing, because it means your character is realistic.

However, if you don't want to be identified in the character that is reasonable and in that case you may just alter things to be analogous with the items you want to change.

Here are some examples:

Instead of speaking out loud, maybe have the character whisper to herself. The character (Brick) in the sitcom The Middle does that.
Maybe make the character hyper-aware of other people's attire.

"Why do you always wear ties? Ties are uncomfortable. I don't like
them."

Make the character extremely polite. Always apologizing and opening
doors, and having others take the first slice of pizza, etc.
Finally, make the character a Nationally Recognized Chess Player instead of an technology person.

But, if you believe that all those changes have changed the character so much it is someone different, then now you know that the traits you pointed out are your character and they simply accurately describe the character you are trying to create.

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