#borderline intellectual disability

[zebulontheplanet]

A lot of people like to think that people with intellectual disabilities shouldn’t know about adult topics. Or that all of us aren’t able to consent, or that we shouldnt be allowed to be involved with adult topics, events, situations.

So here’s your reminder that yes, people with intellectual disabilities can consent. We can drink alcohol. We can talk about adult topics. We can do all these things.

I would also like to remind people that even though some of us can do these things, there are also some of us with intellectual disabilities who can’t. And that’s ok.

[sillylandmagic]

Decided to make a more thorough post of how my autism and other co-occurring conditions affect me. Took a bit so I hope you like it.

[s1yeye]

people with ID can be sexually active

people with ID can use substance

people with ID can self harm

we not all little kid innocent. can do "mature" things, can do things you don't like or find dangerous. we not child baby need be save and protect. we live real lives, we real person, we can do taboo thing even if have ID

[rythen]

You know what?

Happy disability month to everyone that hates their disability.

Everyone that wants to be cured. Everyone that's tired of being told of how their disability can be beneficial or a superpower. Everyone that feels broken because of their disability.

And especially happy disability month to people who don't feel pride because of their disability and don't feel like this month is for them because of it.

You are seen. You matter.

[mosspapi]

My mother really likes the rug I'm making for my apartment and said she's genuinely considering commissioning some from me. And like. I seriously deeply appreciate the thought and the fact that she likes it so much that she not only wants one of her own but will pay me for it too, but I don't think she realizes that actually doesn't do anything. "My" bank account is still owned by, managed, and accessed by her and my father. She can put money in or take money out whenever she wants. She sees all of the transactions that go thru it. If she pays me for it she's just moving her own money from one of her accounts to another one of her accounts but this time I know it exists. It's not MY money even if she pays "me".

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

yea yea yea of course care about those misdiagnosed with ID n so not given appropriate education not given appropriate communication support treated like “stupid” like can’t learn not presumed competence kicked out from therapy given up by educators n speech OT PT even behavioral therapists daycare classrooms schools. yes care about them don’t stop

but my dear god please also care about those with intellectual disability. care about those whose ID diagnosis real n right n true. care about nonverbal nonspeaking ppl w ID who not secret little geniuses inside

care about those with borderline intellectual functioning/borderline ID

care about those with mild ID

care about those with moderate ID

care about those with severe ID

care about those with profound ID

like. you all realize ppl misdiagnosed as ID treated like this seen like this is because ppl with correctly diagnosed ID treated like this seen like this right.

like people misdiagnosed as ID not give education or help or proper therapy get kicked out of all these things because ppl think people with ID not deserve those things so not actually have to try teach them educate them help them don’t see as educatable that their life can be better that better life for them worth fighting for. don’t bother learn how help them how actual do child/patient/client-led think all people w ID one size fit all n so kick ppl w ID out of therapy speech OT PT because not educatable because extreme behaviors then get kicked out of behavioral therapy for too extreme behaviors

because if they actually trying help people with ID if they actually trying all different ways support ppl w ID all different way try teach them life skills AND knowledge and communication skills genuinely try understand individual ppl with ID as individual. they’ll notice hey hmm. once we find right way this person suddenly learning thing faster more advanced than typical ppl w their diagnosis. hmm maybe we wrong about ID

idk shocking right things interconnected mild blown

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! I write stories in horror genre. I've been wanting to incorporate more disabled characters in these, because I feel like they're really underrepresented in the genre except for either demonizing roles of antagonists, or a random victim who dies/is exploited for cheap shock because of their disability. One of the stories I'm working on has intellectually disabled protagonist/narrator. Are there any things you'd recommend to avoid in writing a character with ID in context of horror genre specifically?

Hi!

I have a few problems with ID characters in horror media. Two of the three biggest ones you've actually already covered in your ask, so I'll just add quick explanations for people not familiar with them.

First is the "big intellectually disabled man murders everyone", not even because he's evil or is seeking revenge or whatever, but because he "doesn't understand" that murder bad. It's absurdly insulting and writers don't seem to understand that a lot of real life cases where an ID man "committed" a brutal crime are a result of police manipulation and tricking them into "confessing", but that's a very long and frustrating topic.

Second one is the victim thing. Hardly exclusive to any minority, but with ID characters it often seems like they're the first of many victims and their death is usually ignored because who cares (granted, pretty realistic) until more people start dying and all that. Dogs tend to get more sympathy (also realistic).

Third thing that I hate is the "everything is Normal... until the character is revealed to have mental [R word]!!! (scary music)". Generally in the sense that the situation seems completely fine, the protagonist has no actual traits of ID, but then at some point they find out they have ID (usually severe or profound, which is ridiculous in this context) and suddenly the actions of those around them are pretty clearly fucked up (the character is actually held hostage, kidnapped, about to be murdered, you get it). It uses intellectual disability as a shock factor and as some worst-case scenario nightmare fuel for abled people, even though the situation makes no sense (no, a profoundly ID person isn't going to be reading their medical records and find out this way) and wouldn't happen. It's insulting nonsense.

Another thing that is insensitive in my opinion is the institution/SPED setting. Definitely not because nothing evil happens in there (quite the opposite) but because the way it's usually treated is completely devoid of empathy and the actual victims are portrayed as animals almost (or not so almost). I'd just stray away from the extreme real-life abuse scenarios (abusive caregivers, borderline slavery "work"places, purposeful medical malpractice) that do actually happen if you don't have a lot of experience or aren't working with someone who does.

Last thing, kinda connected to the third, is to not make any bizarre connections between the disability and the horror. ID can make someone trust others more which could lead to a situation that's potentially Scary, but it doesn't have much to do with demons or the parents doing something fucked up before the person was born.

There are of course other things that are kinda tired, but not completely made-up. ID people are victims of crime way more often, that's a statistic that's been true since the dawn of time. But it doesn't mean that they won't fight back because they're disabled. I'd love to see a character who actually wins against the antagonist at some point (even if just for a moment, considering it's horror) - whether they're physically stronger, or know the place better so they get away, or manage to keep calm because they haven't realized they're in a dangerous situation, it would be awesome to see.

Some additional notes that might or might not apply depending on what kind of horror it is;

A lot of people with ID aren't going to be reacting to the regular horror stuff the same way as your average horror character might. They might not think much when they hear a Suspicious Sound and not go investigate it, or be too scared because it's an Unfamiliar Situation. What would be more realistic in a scenario like this is the ID character actually reaching out for help (depends on the settings what that would be); most of us get it drilled into our brain to listen to authority, so they would probably be calling the cops rather than going into the Scary Basement, even if just in the fear of not doing the thing you're supposed to.

In more of an eldritch horror setting where there is an incomprehensible Thing happening, a character with a significant intellectual disability literally has an advantage over abled people. It's just one of many incomprehensible things. Many of us are simply used to ignoring things that don't make sense since the majority of people don't have the patience to explain things in a way that's actually helpful.

It'd be also cool for the ID character to actually have a goal, objective, or whatever else to drive them forward and have some development. Whether that would be the desire to find out who murdered their ex-husband, or why the sink has blood instead of water, or just to survive the voyage, basically anything other than just standing there only experiencing things when some abled savior shows up and tells them how to feel and what to do (both bad for an ID character but also just a poorly written protagonist of any kind).

Hope this helps !

mod Sasza

[zebulontheplanet]

I’m not smart. I never have been. I’ve never been the gifted kid type of person, I’ve never been the kid who was able to keep up with their peers.

I couldn’t read chapter books until 8th grade. I still can’t do pre-algebra. I struggle with remembering dates, and important historical events. I don’t know the presidents and important figures in history.

I’m not smart. This is the reality for me as someone with an intellectual disability and multiple learning disabilities. It isn’t bad that I’m not smart.

I’m not “smart in other ways” I’m not that. I’m just not smart, and I’m ok with that. I’m ok with being not smart. Or dumb. Or stupid. Or whatever you wanna call me. I’m ok with not knowing things. I’m ok with being behind my peers. I’m ok with it.

Stop trying to lump me into this group of people who are “smart in other ways” cause thats not ok for me. Some people just aren’t smart, and that’s ok.

[sillylandmagic]

I see this so much and it makes me very frustrated.

like in what’s eating gilbert grape or Forrest Gump when people talk about how they are either good or bad representation of autism. even though the movies are about intellectual disability.

for example in a video about Arnie grape the guy said how Arnies dirty appearance makes it seem like autistic people are gross?

not only does that exclude autistic people who are considered unhygienic. it also throws the intellectual disability representation under the bus!

please save some movies for us.

there is a deeply pervasive tendency to classify movies about intellectual disability as being about autism instead to the point that even academic papers get it wrong. like at some point it has turned into flat-out erasure of intellectual disability in cinema.

[sillylandmagic]

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand those trends on tiktok that have the caption “actuallyautistic”. Like them saying things like “when you got the anime obsessed autism instead of the good at math or science autism” like, I don’t understand the trend. Or the trend of what autistic people think of a certain spoon. Is it just me? It’s most likely cause they are made by lower support needs or level 1 autistic people. And sometimes even autistic people who see their autism as ‘quirky’. I wish when I clicked the tag, that I could see people more like me. People with higher support needs, not fully verbal autistics(like semi verbal, minimally verbal, or nonverbal), autistics who use aac, intellectually disabled autistic people, physically disabled autistic people, with learning disabilities, who don’t mask or mask very little, and just people with autism who aren’t ‘palatable’ by society in general. It’s hard, it makes me feel left out. I mean, I understand that most of the time, people who are higher support needs(like me) have a hard time with social media. I just wish that lower support needs, level 1 autistics, and or high masking people of the autism community would uplift our voices. Help us be heard, talk about higher needs autistic people(especially if their account is centered around autism). I’m not invalidating these people, not at all. I just wish that I could see people like me represented on social media. And when there is, it’s usually only a few people. I appreciate all the higher needs autistics on social media who are able to show the less seen parts of autism that others may not get. I love y’all/platonic. 🤍

[s1yeye]

any other trans person with ID or brain damage or other disorder impair ability think struggle with accident misgender self after transition? kuru struggle sometimes keep call self him he his when not a him not a boy not man male. kuru it/its kuru thing only but is issue keep use him sometimes especially when symptom act up

is uncomfortablr make kuru frustrate upset sometime

[cogbreath]

i think some of you should reconsider about reclaiming the r slur. genuinely. like idk for me its the fact that theres a disconnect between the groups of ppl who would have been medically described as such when that term was in usage (referring to intellectual disability. this term was never medically used to refer to autism. or adhd. or any *developmental* disability. this is usa term usage btw. i know uk terms different. ) vs the people who are reclaiming it. maybe there is some overlap but i have yet to see much of it. i get that many disabled ppl regardless of diagnosis have been abused with this term often but...i dunno. especially because imho, i have yet to see anyone who says they reclaim this term ever use it in a way that would be something you could call "taking back" the word. or in an empowering way. really imho many cases seem like just still an insult way or negative way. even when referring to self. you know. especially considering we had a whole public campaign to discourage casual usage of that word. i guess everyone has a different opinion about who can use it but honestly i wish people were more careful and consider more about maybe why they want to reclaim it and if you do reclaim it really think about how you're using it and if its actually something you are doing for empowerment. because if you arent imho you arent doing anything new different from the negative slur context useage of it. really the opinion is that those who have the most 'right' to reclaim it is people with intellectual disability and/or borderline intellectual functioning ........ i personally agree that its for the better to probably not if you do not have that. do you understand what i mean. ..? im not trying to like attack anyone really but just saying this as food for thought , yeah?

[ghosting-plural-userboxes]

“This [Blank] has borderline ID please be understanding ” userboxes !!

these are very self indulgent ,,

ID= intellectual disability ( just in case you didn’t know )

requests are closed !!

emoji by @ghosting-emojis ,,

also added basic image ids !!

[visible-schizo-spectrum]

yk smn interesting. a popular argument of transandrophobia is that transmasculine ppl r autistic girls who don’t know better (yet in the mental illness world, transmascs r usually respected as men but seen as faking autism. interesting. will make a post ab this later)

i was dxed w autism at 3. i was dxed w autistic disorder back when aspergers still existed. I do not have a level of autism bcs when i was dxed, all autism dxes were what we would dx as level 2 or 3 now.

schizophrenia is the only thing that has stood in the way for me to get gender affirming care. i had to have my gender dysphoria confirmed multiple times just in case it was delusional somehow, but then after that i was allowed to start hormones. i will be getting surgery next year.

no one has ever argued against me that my autism means i can’t transition. even my borderline intellectual disability has only rarely came up and the solution was just that my mom (who is my caregiver) helps me understand medical things and what doctors are saying (which she has been doing my entire life).

all this to say that this is a transandrophobic talking point. it is not exclusive to transmascs like predatory accusations isn’t exclusive to transfems but it is v much applied primarily to transmascs bcs it makes them seem like mentally incapable child-like girls who can’t make medical decisions.

ppl ask for unique examples of transmasculine transphobia well there u go. if ur transfem and read this and go “but that happens to me” then think ab how many transmisogynistic things happen to transmascs.

[grecoromanyaoi]

ok decided to post this publicly. the current name is 'when in rome' but im not sure i like it. it will ideally b a sitcom/comedy but unfortunately i keep putting in terrible and horrendous things into the plot that make it kinda hard to b a strictly comedy. like theyre a rich family in 1st century bc rome (60 bc to b exact). theyre imperialists. they have slaves. im trying to b as respectful as i can + trying to b comical so more under the cut. the characters r v basic for now.

so basically its abt the avianii, a rich patrician family. the parents are lucius avianus honorinus (sr) and cantilia. they have 5 children- lucius (jr), tiberius, aviana the elder, gaius and aviana the younger.

Lucius Avianus Honorinus (jr) is one of the main characters. he is kind of a loser.  He hates doing what he’s told. He hates not fitting in, but he also hates everything fitting in requires, because it's just not him. He’s neurotic, obsessed with getting positive reassurance. He can’t find it in society or his family, so he looks for it in sexual partners. He wants to be loved, to be desired, to be appreciated in any way. He’s desperate for it. Wants to please his parents and society but knows he never truly will. He wants to be a poet. His poetry is not great. hes got a working class greek immigrant bf and theyre being weird and gay abt it. he doesnt identify as nonbinary bc that label or idea didnt rly exist yet, but if he were alive today hed probably identify as nonbinary.

Lysandros (said bf) is realistic, sometimes borderline pessimistic. Grounded in reality. He’s sarcastic (deadpan snarker). He’s hilarious. He is a stonemason? smith? goldsmith? baker? builder? He’s good at his job, whatever it is. His wife, Laodike, and mother are back in Boeotia, and he sends them money. He doesn’t particularly like his wife, and she doesn’t like him either. They have a kid, Aristokles, who Lysandros figures isn’t his.

Aviana (the elder) is also a main character. she is a bit odd. Kind of a goofball. She says whatever she thinks all the time, never once stopping to think whether it’s appropriate or what the consequences will be. An autism diagnosis will do her a great good. She’s far from stupid, but people often think she is because they don’t understand the way she thinks. Often oblivious to situations around her, but sometimes understands/figures out more than she lets on. she dreams of a great love, but gets married to a man who turns out to b rly shitty and abusive, so she cheats on him w Adiantunnos, her gaulish (gaelic? idk. from gaul) bf who actually respects her (who is the only good parisian perhaps to this day).

Tiberius Avianus Honorinus is way too into the military and makes it his entire personality bona dea Tiberius shut uppppp nobody wants to hear abt ur siege in germania for the umpteenth time. He definitely takes after his father (i need to continue this im lazy)

Gaius Avianus Honorinus doesn’t talk at all. He is a high support autistic, and very likely has some sort of an intellectual disability as well. He likes listening to music, but only to very specific music. He only likes women’s singing, not men’s singing. his siblings (aside from Tiberius) love him very much, but Diotima (enslaved character) is the only one who understands him and knows how to care for him.

Aviana (the younger) is like 9 so i havent really thought about her yet.

Cantilia is a bit of a bully. She wants all her children to present as perfect, and for them to look like the perfect family. The fact that she rarely cares about her children’s feelings, wants or needs, and even Gaius’ mere existence makes it impossible for her to present them as the perfect family. Often jealous and especially mean to young women in her husband’s vicinity, especially to Boudilatis (enslaved character), because he pays them more attention than he does her.

Lucius Avianus Honorinus (father) is high key a terrible person. He definitely has autism but he displays it in ways that pass it off as his “man traits”, for example how he talks about politics and the military almost nonstop. He doesn’t understand his wife nor his children and doesn’t care to. Can be very cruel to his wife and children, and even worse to the slaves. He wants his children to be perfect, and for his sons, when he says ‘perfect’ he means ‘just like him’. He is only proud of Tiberius because he follows in his footsteps and succeeds at a military career. He is very disappointed in Lucius, but claims that “at least he’s not Gaius”. Highly misogynistic and homophobic, and quite a womanizer.

im trying to avoid anything controversial n racist so im keeping all the enslaved characters "white" (not how they saw race but whatever), mostly greek and gaulish, which were v common. Diotima will probably b a main character. she is the oldest one, and practically raised the children. she doesnt give a fuck anymore. she literally says to lucius one time 'theres nothing ur parents can do to me that they havent already done' (after he said they would get mad at her). her father was a prominent scholar in Greece, and he named her after a character in plato's symposium. he and his family were enslaved after he tried to lead a rebellion against the romans. she is extremely intelligent and has a vast range of knowledge about philosophy, literature, history, etc. its just that nobody knows this bc they didnt care to ask.