She stretched out her fingers and set them on the black ergonomic keyboard, eager to lose herself in her work,” the opening chapter reads. But they told her more about people than people themselves ever did. “Purchases, clicks, log-in times, payment types - simple things, really. I also related to Stella’s fondness for her work, as she repeatedly expresses her devotion to analyzing consumer purchasing patterns. With each passing chapter, readers of “The Kiss Quotient” can see this for themselves, and join Stella on her emotional rollercoaster of bliss, heartbreak and everything in between. The novel avoids perpetuating harmful stereotypes, which sometimes suggest people with autism must be intellectually disabled or unfeeling. These tensions, in conjunction with Stella’s determined nature, motivate her to hire a male escort to teach her how to be good at sex. The novel’s central conflict is not Asperger’s syndrome, but rather Stella’s insecurities over a lack of sexual experience amid parental pressures for her to lock down a boyfriend.
Stella’s Asperger’s syndrome takes neither the front seat nor the backseat throughout the novel, instead remaining a critical element of Stella’s narration. However, the story stands out because of Stella’s rich perspective as a multidimensional person with Asperger’s syndrome. “The Kiss Quotient” skillfully navigates the familiar triumphs and torments of romance novels, complete with enticing narration from econometrician extraordinaire Stella Lane, and her charismatic biracial male escort, Michael Phan.
However, consuming such media has deeply enriched my own understanding of neurodiverse individuals, and shifted my perception away from their one-dimensional representations that have been long been presented by the entertainment industry. Now, with “The Kiss Quotient,” author Helen Hoang has successfully translated those experiences into the world of an otherwise disappointingly homogenous genre - romantic fiction.Īs a neurotypical - someone not on the autism spectrum - I am unable to judge the accuracy of media works and their value to the autism community. TV shows like “ Atypical” and “ Love on the Spectrum” attempt to serve a twofold purpose: to provide an accurate portrayal of a community long misrepresented by the media, and to communicate the often unfamiliar experiences of autistic people to neurotypicals in a humanizing, realistic manner. Over the past few years, the entertainment industry has slowly but surely incorporated the perspectives of autistic individuals into mainstream media.
0 kommentar(er)
