I’m autistic, I was diagnosed only two years ago when I was 24 (although the process started when I was 21 in 2019 but the waiting lists in the UK are awful) and when I was waiting for my appointment, I was worried about how people would view me if I was diagnosed. Then I was rewatching some of the interviews from when CoG came out, and I wanted to cry when I rewatched that interview shown at the beginning of your video and heard Eddie say that he played Newt as autistic because he’s one of my favourite actors of all time (if not THE favourite actor) and hearing him confirm that his character - who is arguably supposed to be the hero of the franchise - was autistic made me so happy. It’s one of the only portrayals of an autistic person that I’ve seen where it’s not completely stereotypical or harmful, and the fact it was in a franchise that could have been huge meant the world to me. Personally, I don’t think R*wling intended for him to be autistic, I think - based on what Eddie has said - that he saw the description of Newt and then made the decision himself to play Newt that way (especially since JKR has since written about autistic people in her Strike books and it’s…not great, to say the least, but then neither is she so 🤷🏻‍♀️) When I saw the last Beasts film at the cinema just a couple of months after my diagnosis, I noticed there was a little boy sitting in front of me who, when Newt first appeared, started flapping his hands and bouncing in his seat - and it makes me cry to think that he was seeing himself represented on screen, perhaps even for the first time, in Newt and relating to him. But yeah; I definitely think Newt is autistic, 100%. In each of the films, there’s moments where you can see him stimming slightly by putting his hand in his coat pocket and rubbing the fabric, especially when he’s feeling anxious or stressed. That’s just one example but seeing someone stim on screen, especially in a franchise that I used to be obsessed with, is HUGE to me. Side note: I’ve met Eddie a few times and he’s so lovely; I met him in 2018 briefly at the CoG premiere, then again outside the stage door when he was doing Cabaret in London, and again when I was at the Secrets of Dumbledore premiere. At the SoD premiere, I ended up saying “thank you for playing Newt as autistic because I’m autistic and it means the world to me” and he seemed really touched (I think? It’s hard to tell 😅) But yeah, Eddie is genuinely one of the nicest human beings I’ve met and always seems to be humble and grateful when he’s with fans ♥️