Psychology, Entertainment, Work, and Technology
Clive from Borderline has Asperger’s
Clive from Borderline has Asperger’s

Clive from Borderline has Asperger’s

I just started watching ‘Borderline’, a British mockumentary comedy about people working the border guard at an airport. The show resembles The Office a lot – in a good way. It’s got me binging, curious to see what happens next – obviously Tariq and Andy are going to hook up, I mean, that’s such an obvious love story – but I digress.

Clive. Clive’s an interesting character. He’s an awkward, hard-working, and bland person. Seems to be the “butt-monkey” of the series, a lot of the jokes are played on him. However, what I really want to focus on is his evident Asperger’s syndrome (or autism according to the new manual).

Here’s a checklist for the Social Communication aspect of Autism Spectrum Disorder from DSM-5:

A.      Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive, see text):

1.       Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.

2.       Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.

3.       Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

Clive is clueless. He doesn’t know when his coworkers are pulling his leg, for example by playing hide and seek with Clive hiding while his coworkers continue as they were. He doesn’t know when he’s being insulted, being called a “stamp jockey” and taking it as a compliment. This speaks to an inability respond to social interaction appropriately.

Clive also initiates interaction strangely. He bangs a metal rod on things and makes noise in order to have people notice him and congratulate him on his birthday. He exclaims “Drugs!” to start a story about detaining someone. He says “Dasha. I didn’t get you anything. Bye!”, after giving a present to a coworker who is standing across from his love interest, Dasha.

He’s an interesting character. His ways of interacting with people are truly fascinating. I would venture to say he’s the most interesting character on the show. You’re always just kind of waiting for him to say or do something.

Let’s see how he progresses.