There is a habit for the media to portray autistic people as inspirational or exceptionally talented. Probably the most famous example of this is the film Rain Man [1] which focuses on the relationship between two long lost brothers, one with autism and the other without. The non-autistic brother’s intentions are to steal the autistic brother’s inheritance, but throughout the film he ultimately finds the brother inspirational and ends up fighting for his rights. The autistic brother is shown to be exceptionally talented as he can hold conversations, stay on schedule, compile statistics and memorise information quickly. This adds to the medias portrayal of disabilities in general being inspirational, often referred to as ‘inspiration porn’ by disability campaigners [2].
Another famous instance where the child is shown to have exceptional talents is ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night time’. In the book the young boy, who is accused of murdering a dog, is shown to be excellent at physics and math. Despite this criticism the book explores themes such as isolation and difficulty communicating as well as the feeling of being overwhelmed. It also nicely portrays difficulties derived from being misunderstood through the frustration of the main character and the way he is easily blamed [3].
There are many other examples of these portrayals and they can be seen in two ways. On the one hand it helps break down negative stereotypes surrounding Autistic people. On the other hand it can be harmful and misleading, often people with Autism are expected to be some kind of genius due to these portrayals. This is often not the case and puts undue pressure and expectations on people, as well as completely ignoring the low-functioning end of the spectrum who need much more support. These portrayals can also lead to a lack of support and funding for autism related issues as autistic people are viewed as getting along fine.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Man
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxrS7-I_sMQ
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-Time
Jacob's Time 
Very well written and balanced. There is indeed a perception of autistic people as being especially gifted. However, I also know from my experience (as a teacher) that they may not be. I had not linked the ‘myth’ that they all have great talents, to a possible lack of funding to enable needs to be met. Thank you.
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