The new play “Uncommon Sense” follows the lives of four young adults with various forms of autism, giving viewers an intimate experience with the realities of the autism spectrum. It is not the first play to every feature autistic characters, but much like “The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime”, is an early part of what will hopefully become a trend of autism-positive media.
Though “Uncommon Sense” has been critically accused of using too much medical jargon and thus running the risk of drowning the emotional message, it does a good job of conveying autism through a neurotypical perspective, especially with regards to things such as sensory overload—sights and sounds that bother the characters with autism are often amplified to bother neurotypical viewers to the same extent. The play aims to achieve greater understanding of and empathy towards those with autism
