edgar_sim

Law and Order-Criminal Intent had an episode last night where Mark
Lynn Baker played a man with Asperger's.

I tend to like that show anyway. Vince D'Onofrio plays the part of a
freakishly intelligent detective. He comes complete with the bobbing,
nervous head jerking jerking and rocking frequently seen in ppl so
intelligent their bodies can't keep up with their brains.

He doesn't represent an Aspie per se, but does touch on some of the
common difficulties of the ultra smart. The character's mother is
schizophrenic and he is haunted by the possibility of going schizo.

Mark Lynn Baker's character had a fixation on fives. He would set
everything up like the five spots on a die, he played the piano with a
five bar piece, five notes to each bar. He wasn't even aware he was
doing it. (It also turned out he'd gone through the school system
before Asperger's had been formally recognized, so he was never
properly diagnosed. He was stunned when he was shown the printout of
the traits for Asperger's.)

The acting was good. You really felt for the character, who did the
crime, but only in the hopes of winning back his wife...but that was
never going to happen.

His reaction to learning he had AS was moving and upsetting.