I feel that with the current definition of the autism, contemporary audiences, especially younger generations, may fail to grasp Chris' true and honest mental state.
I see comments on YouTube videos about CWC along the lines of: "
My brother/cousin/friend/roommate has autism, and HE doesn't act like that, so Chris[tine] is just a BAD PERSON!"
What these commenters fail to understand is that Chris isn't like your accountant friend who's really good at math and maybe just a little too into trains. That's not his brand of autism.
At the time Chris was diagnosed, the term "retarded" was becoming politically incorrect, so the less offensive "autism" was used instead. And the "high functioning" modifier was added to clarify that he seemed to have his shit together just barely enough to learn to read, to hold down a menial job (
maybe), learn to drive a car (
if you can call it that), prepare his own meals (
or at least pantomime doing so), and wipe his own ass without assistance (
you know what's coming here).
I'm not saying Chris is some misunderstood angel -- just that treating him as if he's at one end of the autism spectrum when he's really at the other end misses the point.