Oscar the Grouch is autistic

Don’t start with me about Julia. I’m not a frequent viewer of The Street anymore, so I’m not up to date with all the latest jazz. She may be a terrific kid…but she’s not very much like the kid whose ASD touches my life, from what I’ve seen.

Nope, today while I was once again scrubbing out the Corkicles (btw, do you pronounce it Cork-ick-el? I do. So should you.), I was thinking about how Oscar the Grouch is so completely misunderstood by viewers of the show. 

The other denizens of Sesame Street know what he’s like. They know how he is. They even know if they’re going to set him off. Although interactions with him can be difficult, the bottom line is, Oscar is consistent. He exists on the Grouch Continuum, you know? His reality is the Grouch Reality. If you don’t get it, that’s fine–just LEAVE HIM ALONE, you know?

I saw someone claim that Bert is on the spectrum. Maybe he is, but he’s a lighter shade than Oscar. Bert is way more socially adept. You see the softer side of Bert alllllll the time, whether it is the bedroom vignettes with Ernie, or the soft cooing to his favorite pigeon. (I swear I haven’t watched this show in years, but this is how I’m remembering it. Am I close?) Oscar, not so much. He is kind to Slimy, but his biting sense of humor and ongoing sarcastic self-defense mechanisms REALLY remind me of someone I love. 

It’s probably one of my deepest fears that this person I love will end up in society’s trash bin, rejected and regarded as an insult. “Don’t be such a Grouch!” The thing is, Grouches are okay. They really are. They are allowed to be WHO and WHAT they are, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else, right? 

And if we’re talking about feelings and societal interactions, isn’t it possible to meet a grouch half-way? Maria has been doing it for YEARS in her neighborhood. You’ll never convince me that a little of Oscar’s cantankerousness hasn’t rubbed off on her for the better. You ever met someone with a backbone as strong as a Grouch’s?

Think of what you could learn from having someone like that in your life. When I was a kid, I didn’t understand why people tolerated Oscar. Now, I get it. I so get it.