Stereotypes on the Small Screen: Applying a Media Rating Tool to Portrayals of Autism in Television Series 2010 – 2019

Images of disability in media, both accurate and stereotypical, have a powerful effect on the opinions and actions of individuals. Although researchers have noted and categorized ways that disability has been portrayed in movies and on television over many decades, little research has focused on more recent media. Furthermore, extant research has focused on physical, sensory, and psychiatric disabilities, leaving autism spectrum disorder (ASD) under-researched. This paper describes and analyzes portrayals of ASD in the past decade (2010–2019) in television series produced primarily in the United States and marketed for popular audiences. This media content analysis utilized a movie rating tool designed to assess the presence or absence of previously researched disability stereotypes (Safran, 2000). Using this tool, trained undergraduate students rated twelve television series spanning eight genres. Numerical and narrative data were used to categorize series as more positive/realistic or more negative/stereotypical. Results revealed ten of the twelve to be overall positive/realistic, although stereotypes of disability persisted throughout all series. ASD is increasingly visible on the small screen; it is imperative that images in media consumed by the general public present disability, and specifically ASD, in accurate, positive, realistic, and non-stereotyped ways. The paper concludes with recommendations toward this goal.