#adhd percy jackson

[moonlit-typewriter]

Percy’s face when Sally mentioned Grover playing a role in getting him kicked out of school…

The way his face scrunches up really tight before relaxing? That’s anger.

But not the kind of anger we see in him in the last episode.

This is the kind of anger that makes you cry. The kind that’s underpinned by embarrassment and hurt and feeling like you’ve been treated unfairly.

Percy knows he didn’t push Nancy into the fountain and he thought that, if anyone would have his back, it was going to be Grover. And then he didn’t. And it’s unfair to Percy. It’s Wrong. Because no one believes him, apparently not even his best friend.

And the way he closes his eyes and takes a really deep breath? That’s a tactic that’s literally recommended to stop yourself from crying when you’re angry. It allows your body to “catch up” with your mind.

What do you wanna bet that Percy learned that from a school counselor?

[stealthetrees]

Okay I’ve snapped.

If you say Percy Jackson is stupid I will find you and make sure you regret it.

I have inattentive type ADHD. I was diagnosed in 4th grade and got put on medication. I did not think there was a difference but I got an award from the school for how much I improved. They didn’t know it was because of meds.

Before I was diagnosed I remember being on the verge of tears often at school because I got so frustrated that I couldn’t do work. I sat at my desk with the pencil in my hand staring at a worksheet physically unable to write the awnser I knew. I would stare at the question and like an optical illusion the rest of the page blurs together and I can’t even make out word anymore.

I thought I was dyslexic for the longest time because some fonts are so difficult for me to read. I could look at a recit, know it says lettuce, and it will not process in my brain. Unless I am a few hours away from a deadline it is nearly impossible to start assignments. Essays are hell.

You know those songs that have an American accent but are completely nonsense? That’s what it sounds like a lot when I listen to people talk. Usally I can grasp the general meaning but I can not tell you what word you just said.

Time is not real. I sit down, scroll through tumblr for maybe 15 minutes and my roommate asks why I’m sitting doing nothing for 4 hours straight. Full days disappear and I can’t remember anything that happened. I have no idea how long it takes me to do something I do almost every day.

I went two weeks at the beginning of the semester with meds that where 10 milligrams lower than my usual dosage. My grades still haven’t recovered.

THAT SAID. In cannon, Percy Jackson passed 13 years of school with high enough grades to be accepted to a university. Not medicated. Without accommodations.

So either the education system in New York is taylored specifically for people with ADHD, or Percy Jackson is a fucking geinios. I can’t spell.

So ignoring the fact that nearly every fight he won by outsmarting his opponent, let me tell you why.

In the books, he’s an introvert, sits in the back, tries to keep his head down but usually fails, gets detention often, and has been expelled multiple times. That’s not the kind of kid teachers go out of their way to help. He’s also unlikely to ask for help. So, despite his struggles in the classroom, he has never been held back or had to redo a grade as far as we know. And it’s pretty likely considering his age.

Add in the fact that he would be constantly sleep deprived from staying up very late (like from 10-3, based off my experience) and his dyslexia, Percy would need to be really good at retaining information after hearing or seeing it only once. That’s actually supported by his ability to memorize prophecies word for word after only hearing them once. We know Percy is bad at taking tests, so he would have to be really good at recalling information.

He also did it all unmedicated. I want to cry just thinking about it.

tldr, the fact that Percy’s grades where high enough to get into college means hes fucking brilliant

[minjimunji]

Obligatory battle of the labyrinth kiss scene

Bonus:

[oh-look-car-horns]

You can tell Percy Jackson was written for a kid with ADHD because every important item in the series gets teleported back to its owner when it gets lost.

[livixbobbiex]

You know what's fun?

They seem to have made Percy more on the inattentive end of ADHD than hyperactive. Aside from the capture the flag scene, we mostly just see him zoning out, 'daydreaming', the line "I don't think it's the marshmallow's fault I never pay attention".

ADHD barely gets good representation as it is, but I don't think I've ever seen the inattentive type in media like this before. This is going to be huge for a lot of people who don't fall under the hyperactive stereotype umbrella.

I'm just really excited that more people will get the chance to see themselves.

[skullsandcorals]

"I'm dyslexic. I'm not stupid."

[roselineduskbloom]

This was funnier in my head

[muppetfreak]

Mr. Riordan, it is truly a pleasure getting to experience your second draft.

[lilislegacy]

percy has been called smart by hazel, reyna, and annabeth (twice).

to say he’s actually dumb is to disagree with those three women. and if you are disagreeing with 3 of the most knowledgeable, capable, and badass characters in the series… what are you even doing?

[extraaa-30]

the adhd kids missing the deadline but saving the day anyway is so personal to me actually

[moonlit-typewriter]

Watching 8-year-old Percy think his mom was trying to get rid of him for something he couldn’t control after we’ve already seen 12-year-old Percy try so hard to tell his mom that he tried to be “good” and feel so adamantly that something was wrong with him said so much about compounded experience and neurodivergent kids

[guardianspirits13]

Annabeth is the stort of person who will solve equations that have stumped mathemeticians for years in her mind while getting ready in the morning and not realize that her shirt is on backwards and her shoes are on the wrong feet.

Percy is the sort of person who will be caught in a harrowing three-way battle where if he makes one wrong move he'll be impaled, and the only thing in his brain is nyan cat running on a loop, like a tumbleweed in the desert

...they were made for each other.

[hyperfocuscentre]

percy just gets me in a way nobody else ever will

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Annabeth: *tries to sacrifice herself for Percy*

Percy:

Percy:

Percy: *jumps off the St. Louis Arch*

[aroaceleovaldez]

i still can't believe the LA Times article/interview just. openly admits that the show intentionally, from the beginning, fully removed Gabe being abusive and overtly made him just a nosy loser. Percy's relationship with Gabe is so important to how he navigates the world and the themes of the series. Percy's first monster is in his own home. He uses wards against evil against his step-father and they work. He has overt PTSD that colors his interactions with Mr. D and is why he's so antagonistic towards him for like four books. It isn't until Percy is able to move past his trauma and how Mr. D reminds him of Gabe that he sees Mr. D for who he actually is and understand him and begin to empathize with him. Heck, even into HoO we see Percy having visceral reactions to implications of alcohol/drinking because of Gabe. Everything about Percy's home life colors him as a character. His trauma and PTSD informs his perspective and they explicitly removed his PTSD in the show.

They removed Percy's PTSD. They brush over his experiences as a neurodivergent/disabled kid after the first episode and turned Sally into an Autism Speaks mom. Why. On what planet was that a reasonable change to be made.

[that-1-url]

so something I've noticed within a lot of fandoms is that people will post their "neurodivergent" headcanons. which is fine ofc, however when they say "neurodivergent" they are typically only referring to autism or ADHD. maaaayybbee ptsd if the character(s) are "traumatized enough" (by that I mean, there's typically one who everyone uwuifies and infantilizes because their trauma is most prominently on display within the media). a common headcanon that often fails to address the trauma of other characters, or that trauma doesn't always manifest itself as PTSD/C-PTSD.

point being, while there's nothing wrong with headcanoning characters with these (autism, adhd, ptsd), maybe...do research? branch out more? imagine how nice it would be if suddenly large amounts of people were not only educated about other lesser-known forms of neurodivergence (ocd, did, npd, bpd, aspd, schizotypal disorders, etc.) but destigmatized them by giving these headcanons to well-loved, popular characters (rather than the villains or antagonists, or even just less popular or even hated characters). (and hey, if you didn't know, schizophrenia and autism can present similarly)

(that being said please do research before you head canon something stigmatizing or ableist.)

it could pave the way for real, genuine, non-stigmatizing or demonizing representation.

and this could probably be a separate post but I wanted to include it here as well:

POC CHARACTERS CAN BE NEURODIVERGENT. POC CHARACTERS ARE ALSO AUTISTIC, ALSO HAVE ADHD, OCD, AND MORE!! STOP LEAVING THEM OUT, STOP ONLY HEADCANONING THE WHITE PROTAGONISTS AS AUTISTIC.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, please feel free to add on