6 things that suggest that Paddington Bear may have autism

Written on 6th Apr 2015 by Sylvia Lowery

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I have been a fan of Paddington Bear since I was a small child. I remember the TV series in the 70’s, he was so adorable with his cute duffle coat and wellington boots. When I grew up I discovered the original books by Michael Bond. I would read these stories out to my children and each chapter would fill me with delight. Recently I was treated to the latest full length film about Paddington. I was struck by some of the ways in which Paddington was similar to someone with autism. Here are 6 things that suggest that the very small bear from Darkest Peru is on the autistic spectrum.

1. Restricted eating- Paddington seems to eat the same food at every meal – marmalade sandwiches. A lot of children and adults with autism struggle to eat a wide variety of food. There are still a number of foods that Alex won’t eat even now. These include, fish, cheese, any peas or beans or mashed food like mashed potato. As a child Alex was very restricted with what he would eat. This was due to sensory issues like the texture of some foods and also struggling to know how to chew his food.

2. Taking language literally – There is a delightful scene in the film. Paddington is using the escalator in the London Underground. He sees a sign that says ‘dogs must be carried’ and so borrows someone’s dog and carries it down the escalator. Individuals with autism need you to use clear language.

3. Giving hard stirs from under his hat – it appears that Paddington avoids eye contact and prefers to have his hat in the way when he looks at someone. A lot of individuals with autism find eye contact painful.

4. Always carrying a marmalade sandwich under his hat – Paddington is never without his marmalade sandwich and it is always kept under his hat. Individuals with autism like a routine and will often need to carry the same thing with them wherever they are. Alex likes to carry a Freddy which is a piece of string that he uses to stim with.

5. Paddington often doesn’t foresee consequences – this is shown in the bath scene in the film. Paddington just doesn’t realise that climbing on the toilet cistern will cause it to fall off the wall and flood the bathroom.

6. Paddington is unique – his brain works differently to all the Brown family and he is a very rare bear who can talk so I imagine his brain works  differently to bears as well. In a similar people with Autism different find they think and process things differently and are unique in their own way.

 

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