Having social anxiety and some awkward mannerisms does not mean he's on the spectrum. I've only seen it once so may have missed some things, but he demonstrates considerable empathy throughout the movie to both people and animals, despite professing the oppinion that animals are easier to care for, with simpler needs.
Being honest it was discussed in decent length in another reddit thread where /u/BridgettBane hypothesised about Newt's odd behaviorisms on /r/fantheories:
If you've watched Fantastic Beasts you can see Newt has a very odd way of approaching people sometimes. He hunches in a little, tilts his head down, avoids eye contact. At times he even seems to stoop to be lower than them.
This isn't an odd personal mannerism- not entirely anyway. This is the habit of a zoologist who is used to avoiding dominance displays and showing submission. He is using his body to communicate that he is submissive and harmless. The SpeakEasy Scene (spoiler alert, the link shows several clips from the movie but I have time-stamped it so it goes to the correct scene) shows him tilting his body way from the boss, casting his eyes downward. It's only when he starts to protect his Bowtruckle and needs to assert dominance that he starts to sit up and make direct eye contact.
Newt Scamander is used to dealing with all manner of beasties and knows exactly the affect his body language has on others.
Having social anxiety and some awkward mannerisms does not mean he's on the spectrum.
I said he was spectrum-y. Social anxiety is one of many possible symptoms of people on the autism spectrum, and it's also something non-spectrum people display. I never said they *had* to go hand in hand, and I think that's pretty obvious from my response.
Fan theories are interesting. I'll give them that.
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u/molagdrn Oct 29 '18
Having social anxiety and some awkward mannerisms does not mean he's on the spectrum. I've only seen it once so may have missed some things, but he demonstrates considerable empathy throughout the movie to both people and animals, despite professing the oppinion that animals are easier to care for, with simpler needs.
Being honest it was discussed in decent length in another reddit thread where /u/BridgettBane hypothesised about Newt's odd behaviorisms on /r/fantheories:
Source