Nathan Ellis (X+Y)

Nathan Ellis is a main character in the British drama movie X+Y (also known as A Brilliant Young Mind).

Character creation
The movie is based on the 2007 documentary Beautiful Young Minds, which follows the UK team for the International Mathematics Olympiad. Specifically, the character of Nathan Ellis is based on team member Daniel Lightwing, who is autistic (as are multiple other members of the team). Lightwing was diagnosed when his mother started researching Asperger's after reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a book featuring an autistic protagonist.

Autism
Nathan is diagnosed with autism at the beginning of the movie.