Marginalized =/= Magic

I grumbled about children in fiction (particularly in, but not limited to, media fiction: TV, movies, etc.) some months ago. When I re-read the post I metaphorically smacked myself on the forehead, remembering that what initially got me thinking about all this was a TV show in which an autistic kid (and his family) were menaced by a serial killer. In this show, the boy exercised agency and saved the day. Exercising agency=good, certainly. But I wondered why, given the shape of the plot, the w...