Was Urkel GOOD Austistic Representation?

I…don’t know.

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I’m half-Black and I grew up in a Black household.

Growing up, I was autistic and nerdy and withdrawn and I couldn’t quite relate to the characters I saw in Black programs.

But I could relate to Urkel.

For those who don’t know, Urkel was a Black character on the sitcom Family Matters. He was initially treated as The Load, as I think TV Tropes would call it. He was never at home, always trying to push his way into the Winslows’ lives. People at school rejected him and the Winslows rejected him.

But the audience didn’t.

Urkel kept getting more and more fame, he even ended up in crossover appearances in multiple family sitcoms happening at the time.

Is it wrong for me to think that this is an example of an autistic character that was celebrated by the public?

A character that didn’t try to hide the things that made it harder for him to relate to people, that was loved DESPITE all that?

I mean, they even created a character named Stephan, played by the same actor, who was supposed to be a more clean, handsome, acceptable version of the character…and they got rid of him.