Dr. Dixon (Grey's Anatomy)

Diagnosis: Asperger's Syndrome
Portrayed by Mary McDonnell

Season 5 ("These Ties That Bind", "All by Myself", "Beat Your Heart Out")

(McDonnell discusses playing a character with Asperger's)

Throughout her three-episode story arch, Dr. Dixon, a cardiac surgeon new to Seattle Grace Hospital, displays a obvious aversion to physical contact, strict adherence to rules and has panic attacks when situations lie outside of her control or deviate from a plan. Her coworkers describe this behavior as "a little off".

After having a horrible first day at the new hospital,  Dixon confronts Dr. Bailey, a fellow surgeon, saying, “I only have one real area of interest: the human heart and I love it. I like its regularity. I know everything there is to know about it. I like its predictability. It has rules. Every chamber has a function. Every function has a movement. I like the color, it’s comforting”. She reveals her diagnosis, which Bailey describes as “significant impairment during social situations”.  Dixon continues, “I’m not good as cues like sarcasm or condescension, but I do know when I’m being manipulated and I know when being made fun of. I don’t think I like this hospital very much. I don’t think I like this hospital at all."

 I think her portrayal reinforces many of the common stereotypes that I would like to see diffused. If you were looking for a cliché representation of Asperger's, then McDonnell does a fantastic job and the authors wrote a great script. [Remember, these are my personal feelings.] Autism and Asperger's are not black and white, and all individuals with the diagnosis have a different experience and varying symptoms. It's a spectrum disorder, after all. Why do we need to change these conventional ideas? The depictions should attempt to show a wider range of ability and impairments. Dixon's character encompasses the majority of the diagnostic criteria to the extremes, when a true diagnosis is often more subtle. Just think about how this could affect a parent who's child is newly diagnosed. I see parents who are scared and in denial because their child's symptoms are not as "severe". 

See for yourself! Someone has so graciously sliced together the Dr. Dixon scenes from all three episodes: 

 

So, what do you think? Is showing this stereotyped behavior better?