I did a character reveal for Darth Harley yesterday on Secular Web Kids blog HERE as part of my end of summer posting that I also did on my Secular Frontier blog. It turns out that while Harley is a bright kid, he also has significant mental challenges he is managing. I wanted to create a character who would be inspiring to neurotypical kids and kids with disabilities alike for Harley’s will to overcome that any kid can cultivate.
In recent years, there have been a number of TV and movie characters who had to manage mental challenges that were inspirational
The autistic character on Sesame Street is named Julia. She is a 4-year-old Muppet with bright orange-red hair and green eyes who was introduced in digital and print resources in 2015 before making her television debut in 2017. Her character was created as part of the Sesame Workshop initiative, Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children, and she is performed by puppeteer Stacey Gordon.
Dr. Shaun Murphy, the character in The Good Doctor, is depicted as having autism spectrum disorder and savant syndrome, but the actor who plays him is neurotypical. The character Dr. Shaun Murphy (played in the series) is explicitly written and portrayed as an autistic surgeon. The actor Freddie Highmore, the English actor who stars as Shaun, does not have autism in real life. Some autistic viewers appreciate seeing a character with autism in a prominent, capable role and find certain behavioral traits relatable. Many members of the autism community and critics argue that the portrayal relies on stereotypes, noting the lack of autistic writers or an autistic lead actor leads to a depiction shaped more by neurotypical perceptions than lived experiences.
Forrest Gump does not receive an official clinical diagnosis in either the film or the novel, though he is explicitly portrayed with an IQ of 75 and cognitive limitations. An IQ score of 75 indicates limitations in intellectual functioning. Combined with his slow processing and concrete thinking, his profile aligns most closely with a mild intellectual disability. Many educators and behavior analysts note that his behaviors—such as literal language interpretation, intense focus on specialized interests (like ping-pong), social naivety, and repetitive routines—mirror traits of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). His low-range IQ placed him in a demographic that was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War under initiatives like Project 100,000.
In my time working in Special Education and Gifted Self-Contained Education I have experienced a wide variety of exceptionalities and Harley’s profile certainly fits well with what I’ve encountered. It is an incorrect bias of thinking to assume mental illness can’t go along with intelligence. A portion of self-contained gifted classes often reflect gifted students who are also learning disabled.