Autism

One thing I enjoyed about Man of Steel was how its portrayal of super senses resembled my experiences with sensory overload because of my autism spectrum condition.  As was said in the movie, it hurts.  Not physically but it can feel like my ears should be bleeding.  I could see an autistic woman who gained superpowers having problems with that, and possibly going through training to learn to deal with it.

A short story about how a day/week in her life is like, all the while she is trying to get a handle on her new powers/senses?

Maybe 

Personally I’ve always assumed that super senses work on at least a partly subconscious basis so unless a person is actively using their power such as listening into a conversation their senses are at about the same level as normal persons with part of their brain monitoring for threats, cries for help etc. Same thing with super speed, mostly not used unless needed. Still it could be quite interesting to have a superwoman trying to deal with sensory overload.

Also there could be a few other areas which could be interesting to explore with an autistic superwoman. Obviously there would be the problems interacting with those she is rescuing or emergency workers with her not understanding them or coming across as insensitive. Autistic people also tend to come up with different solutions to problems than ‘normal’ which could be either good or bad. Also personally I tend to struggle when something happens that I don’t understand or don’t know how to respond to. How would a superwoman deal with a problem she couldn’t punch into submission?

Finally one of the biggest problems for a lot of autistic people is the struggle to fit in and the effort required to act ‘normal’. Adding a separate identity on top of that could lead to a lot of problems, or alternatively as a superhero they might finally be able to be their real selves rather than having to try and copy those around them.

The Highlander wrote: Personally I’ve always assumed that super senses work on at least a partly subconscious basis so unless a person is actively using their power such as listening into a conversation their senses are at about the same level as normal persons with part of their brain monitoring for threats, cries for help etc. Same thing with super speed, mostly not used unless needed. Still it could be quite interesting to have a superwoman trying to deal with sensory overload.

Also there could be a few other areas which could be interesting to explore with an autistic superwoman. Obviously there would be the problems interacting with those she is rescuing or emergency workers with her not understanding them or coming across as insensitive. Autistic people also tend to come up with different solutions to problems than ‘normal’ which could be either good or bad. Also personally I tend to struggle when something happens that I don’t understand or don’t know how to respond to. How would a superwoman deal with a problem she couldn’t punch into submission?

Finally one of the biggest problems for a lot of autistic people is the struggle to fit in and the effort required to act ‘normal’. Adding a separate identity on top of that could lead to a lot of problems, or alternatively as a superhero they might finally be able to be their real selves rather than having to try and copy those around them.

I'd be cautious about using "normal" to differentiate a non-autistic from a high-functioning autistic. I'm a bit on the spectrum myself, and I worked at a senior level in the Tech industry from the end of the 70's through the early 21st, and a lot of my peers and coworkers had some of the same traits. I believe I'm just another shade of normal, as did the folks I worked with. Some thought it was an advantage. A lot of traditional socializing is just a waste of time when you could be doing truly useful things. 

If you want to explore a theme of alternate perceptions and thinking, that path has been well prepared. Bruce Banner/Hulk is an example of Bipolar Syndrome if I've ever seen one. And Multiple Personality Syndrome would be very handy when you are managing more than one identity.

In my view, Linda Danvers and Supergirl not only look different, but they truly think differently and perceive the world differently, and Linda's thinking and perceptions change when she goes from subdued and hesitant and shy and retiring to remove her mousy brown wig and dour street clothing and the skimpy red and blues come out to reveal a hyper-confident and super-capable Supergirl. Who now makes her own mistakes because of overconfidence. Does she enjoy returning to Linda, or is it sometimes hard for her? Is this a "second self" or merely an actor working a disguise and a character?  

I always saw Linda and Clark as truly different personalities from Supergirl and Superman, not by acting, but by naturally inhabiting a different aspect of themselves. The comics frequently made the point that if they were always Supergirl or Superman, they'd go crazy or start thinking and acting like gods or whatever and lose their compassionate connection to humanity. Not a good outcome.

That said, the idea of non-integrated personalities and superheroes is a fun one to play around with.

Not saying you couldn't do a sensitive and interesting story featuring autism and superpowers, but it would be difficult to do with any kind of sensitivity and authenticity unless you were there yourself. And then I might find it pretty interesting. 

Shadar




 

I could see people close to her in her secret identity figuring it out if she ended up "stimming" in costume and they connected the dots.

The 2017 Power Rangers film wasn't the greatest film ever, although I did enjoy it as it understood the heart of Power Rangers/Super Sentai stories.

Anyway - Billy in that version was autistic and I feel they treated that very well