#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.

[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

[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.

[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

[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?

Hey!

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

[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?

[forget-meabh-not]

“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.

[garyc0re]

rigby (regular show) & borderline personality disorder

(a post by someone with a b.a. in psychology)

tw: abuse, neglect, suicide

what is borderline personality disorder?

borderline personality disorder (bpd) is a cluster b personality disorder that severely impacts a person's ability to manage their emotions & causes unstable relationships with others in the process (national institute of mental health).

while there are multiple risk factors for developing bpd, one of the most common is childhood abuse and neglect (bozzatello et al).

rigby's childhood

in multiple episodes of regular show, rigby's parents (barbera & sherm) are shown to participate in behaviors hinting at abuse or neglect. specifically, rigby's parents favor his younger brother (don) and are often seen comparing rigby to don, or ignoring rigby for don. additionally, rigby is implied to be intellectually disabled (ex: being unable to spell his own name), which neither his parents nor his teachers took seriously. on top of that, he is also bullied, a common childhood experience that has been shown to worsen borderline personality disorder (erazo et al). the episodes below focus on rigby's home life, but note that a child's school life is very important for the development of mental disorders, too.

01x10 - Don

this episode introduces viewers to rigby's resentment towards don, which we later learn in other episodes is primarily due to their parents. we're led to believe that rigby is upset about his sixth birthday party, where don unintentionally steals rigby's friends, taking the attention away from him. we're later told that, "it's everything. i'm always in your shadow. you're so much better than me. everyone likes you better, and to top it all off, everyone thinks you're my older brother. i'm the older brother! me! why do all my friends think you're so much cooler than me?" with a montage of rigby's friends consistently ditching him to hang out with don when they were children.

05x18 - Rigby in the Sky with Burrito

in a flashback, barbera says to a teenage rigby, "you're always making so much trouble for yourself. now don never gets in any trouble when he's at school."

06x27 - Lunch Break

in a flashback, pre-teen mordecai and rigby buy five boxes of cereal in order to dig for special prizes that come inside the cereal box. sherm catches them and forces them to eat all five boxes of cereal, saying, "nothing? this is nothing? you've been digging for prizes again, haven't you? you know the rules, son. don't you dare open a new box of cereal until you've finished this one. and since you're a guest in our home, mordecai, that rule applies to you, too." after eating the second box, rigby looks at sherm, and sherm says, "don't look at me, look at your cereal." this ends up with the two in the hospital, as the cereal contained trace amounts of poison that sherm hadn't checked for.

07x03 - The Lunch Club

rigby vents to benson about sherm in this one: "wow, you're pretty messed up. my dad, he was always like, "your brother don is so amazing. just go back to being a screw-up, rigby." i don't even understand half the reasons i do the things i do. i'm expected to be a clown, so i'm a clown. but clowns cry too, man. clowns cry too."

07x13 - Just Friends

in this episode, sherm comments, "now there's a son i can be proud of!" about don while rigby is in the room.

Regular Show: The Movie

when teenage rigby gets his letter from college u., his parents are shown to lack any emotion about it, not bothering to hide the fact that they expected him to get rejected even though he is excited about the letter coming in the mail. when he finds out that he didn't get in, sherm says, "look, rigby, we were kind of expecting this, so we looked up an out of state school where-" on screen, it is shown that his parents were planning to send him to mexico by himself for college, despite the fact that rigby is implied to be intellectually disabled.

07x27 - Rigby Goes to the Prom

this is the episode that most people think of when they think about rigby's parents. there are many moments in this episode that show the unstable relationship rigby has with his parents. for example, when don convinces rigby to go see their parents so that he can ask sherm to borrow his car, sherm comments, ""drop in." ha! you really think rigby would just come to dinner? i know you just need something." barbera asks don, "so, how are things at work?" to which don replies, "great! we just picked up cheezer's as a new client." sherm says, "that's our donny!" rigby awkwardly pitches in, saying, "i ate at cheezer's yesterday." there is a silence before rigby's parents blantantly choose to ignore him, saying, "that was a good update, don." rigby then lists some of his recent accomplishments, to which sherm replies, "yeah, and?" after a fight, rigby storms off to his room, which has been turned into a walk-in closet. after being given the keys to sherm's car by barbera, rigby spends his entire date with eileen nervous that he will mess up sherm's car. during the date, eileen notices that he is nervous and asks what's wrong; rigby replies, "no, my mom gave me the keys, but it's my dad, you know? he doesn't trust me with anything. i was hoping he'd finally be ready to see me as a real person. it's always don, car, everything else, me." afterwards, sherm makes a scene at prom upon finding out that rigby took his car, screaming at the students and the principal, and eventually finds out that rigby is at lookout mountain with eileen. sherm puts eileen and rigby in the car and begins to drive recklessly down the mountain, yelling at rigby the entire time, saying, "seems like every day you find some new way to mess up our lives, and now, you've found someone new to mess up their life, too!" (referring to eileen). sherm then nearly crashes the car, saying, "it's your fault we're here in the first place!" after a few scenes, the car is eventually totaled in a near fatal accident, and after crashing the car, rigby exclaims, "the car!" sherm says, "forget about the car. are you okay?" to which rigby looks surprised that his dad would care about his safety.

as shown in the above examples, rigby is implied to be (and sometimes is blantantly shown to be) abused and neglected by his parents. this would put him at risk for borderline personality disorder.

symptoms

in order to be diagnosed with bpd, a person must experience five (or more) of the following symptoms:

frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (note: do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5)

a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) (note: do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5)

recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

chronic feelings of emptiness

inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

(desk reference to the diagnostic criteria from dsm-5 by the american psychiatric association).

i'm going to go over each symptom that rigby displays that leads me to believe that he has borderline personality disorder.

CRITERION 1: frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

i want to quickly go over another terminology exclusive to people with bpd: favorite person (fp): "a favorite person is relied on for comfort, happiness, and validation. the relationship with a... favorite person may start healthy, but it can often turn into a toxic love-hate cycle known as idealization and devaluation... at first, an individual may view their favorite person as flawless. however, if the favorite person doesn’t meet expectations or isn’t available, someone with bpd might swiftly shift to intense negativity toward them. these shifts between idealization and devaluation can occur rapidly and frequently, leading to instability in the relationship." (bachert).

it is my belief that mordecai is rigby's favorite person. rigby is shown to have an intense fear of abandonment that often revolves around mordecai. while it is impossible to go over every example, i will go over a few of the ones that stood out to me while watching the show.

01x06 - Meat Your Maker (Transcript)

rigby becomes distressed when mordecai is mad at him in these scenes and is later shown talking to himself in mordecai's voice, reassuring himself that mordecai isn't mad; "yeah, rigby, you're doin' good."

01x08 - The Unicorns Have Got to Go (Transcript)

rigby is angry at mordecai for bailing on their plans to hang out. despite claiming that he's "gonna have to get some new friends," he appears distressed when mordecai finally has enough and leaves. he ends up nearly crying when trying to apologize to mordecai later, claiming "i miss you."

02x15 - Temp Check (Transcript)

doug begins to copy rigby's traits to the point where he begins to shapeshift into rigby, stealing his friends. rigby appears distressed and angry the entire episode. when mordecai chooses doug over rigby, rigby has an emotional outburst.

05x05 - Wall Buddy (Transcript)

rigby admits that he wasn't upset that he had to clean his room; he was upset because he felt like mordecai sold him out, saying "it used to be both of us against the man... now my only buddy is wall buddy."

Regular Show: The Movie (Transcript)

the most severe example of rigby's fear of abandonment is during the movie, when he forges mordecai's rejection letter to college university. he does this because he believes that mordecai will leave him behind if they go to different schools. he keeps this secret from mordecai for as long as he can in fear of losing him.

rigby's fear of abandonment extends to eileen, but his fear is not as intense as it is with mordecai.

2017 Special #4: Fancy Dinner

in this comic, rigby believes that eileen is going to leave him because he doesn't know how to cook.

CRITERION 2: a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

rigby often alternates between thinking mordecai is the best person in the world to being intensely mad at him, often because his fear of abandonment was triggered. this is referred to as "splitting," and there are several examples where rigby splits on mordecai, as shown below (salters-pedneault).

01x04 - Death Punchies (Transcript)

rigby goes from being excited to play dig champs with mordecai (idealization) to being angry with mordecai due to some teasing on mordecai's part, even going as far to say "i hate you" (devaluation) minutes after being excited to hang out with him.

01x08 - The Unicorns Have Got to Go

rigby goes from being excited to spend time with mordecai (idealization) to insulting mordecai with his new friends (devaluation) after mordecai bails on their plans together.

02x02 - It's Time (Transcript)

rigby goes from being excited to see zombie dinner pary with mordecai (idealization) to flirting with margaret the whole episode in order to purposefully hurt mordecai (devaluation) after mordecai bails on their plans together.

05x05 - Wall Buddy

rigby goes from being excited to get chimichangas with mordecai (idealization) to being extremely petty the entire episode (devaluation) because he felt abandoned.

additionally, rigby relies heavily on mordecai for emotional support. this is part of the "idealization" phase of the idealization/devaluation cycle (ertel).

02x01 - Ello Gov'nor (Transcript)

rigby relies on mordecai to walk him to the bathroom when he has nightmares.

Regular Show: The Movie

teenage rigby refuses to go to college if mordecai can't go with him.

07x16 - The Eileen Plan (Transcript)

rigby seeks reassurance from mordecai.

07x38 & 07x39 - Rigby's Graduation Day Special (Transcript)

rigby is unable to give his speech without mordecai's direct support.

CRITERION 3: identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

rigby has low self-esteem and has been shown to change aspects of his identity on a whim.

03x24 - Trash Boat

rigby changes his name to "trash boat" because he thinks it will make him look cooler, and then regrets it when he is made fun of by his friends.

03x33 - Diary (Transcript)

while confessing his secrets, rigby admits that he's a horrible person.

07x16 - The Eileen Plan

rigby impulsively goes back to high school in order to impress eileen.

CRITERION 4: impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging

rigby has shown signs of binge eating and impulsive spending.

because this post is so long, i'm no longer able to add images, so i'll copy the transcripts instead!

01x11 - Rigby's Body (Transcript)

rigby participates in binge eating with mordecai.

"(A montage begins of Mordecai and Rigby eating a variety of snacks. At the end, the Snack Bar is a mess, and Mordecai and Rigby are sick from overeating.)

Mordecai: I need to eat something healthy, like a salad or something.

Rigby: What? Are you kidding? Dude, all these snacks are free, dude. (Stops himself from vomiting) Trust me. If we keep eating, we'll feel better in no time."

01x12 - Mordecai and the Rigbys (Transcript)

rigby participates in impulsive spending with mordecai.

"Rigby: Dude! Check it out, man! They're here!

Mordecai: What's here?

Rigby: Our fake band t-Shirts that we ordered from that site last night."

05x05 - Wall Buddy

rigby participates in impulsive spending regularly.

"Mordecai: (grunts) How are we gonna fix this now? Why didn't you just clean up your mess? (Mordecai pushes Rigby) It's like every time you have to do something simple, you buy some dumb product and make it worse!

Rigby: What? When have I ever done that!? (screen shows some of Rigby's past products he brought up in the series like the Brain Max from "More Smarter" and The Russian from "One Pull Up". Rigby then slides the products away.) Anyway... (sighs) I'm upset!"

mordecai and rigby participate in life-threatening scenarios not listed as an example in criterion #4 in the dsm on a consistent basis. for example, rigby eating an omelet to obtain a hat that he wanted on impulse despite the fact that he was deathly allergic to eggs, leading to his hospitalization.

additionally, it is a staple in the show that drinking soda or eating wings is equivalent to doing drugs or drinking alcohol, which mordecai and rigby participate in in too many episodes to count.

CRITERION 5: recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

Regular Show: The Movie

rigby is the only character in regular show to have attempted suicide. after mordecai ends their friendship, he asks his ship to fly him into the sun.

"Rigby: (crying and depressed) Fly me into the sun so I won't have to be sad anymore!

Computer Voice: Fuel cells critical.

Rigby: No, No, No! Come on! STUPID SHIP! STUPID SHIP!!

Computer Voice: Auto pilot engaged to nearest refueling station.

(The Ship takes Rigby to the refueling station. Rigby gets mad and kicks the ship, hurting his leg and falls into the gas tank, knocking him out.)"

CRITERION 6: affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood

CRITERION 8: inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger

i'm putting these two together because, for rigby, his unstable moods are often paired with intense bursts of anger. there are many more examples than the ones i have listed, but these were the ones that stood out to me the most.

01x04 - Death Punchies

rigby destroying their room after mordecai makes fun of him and saying "i hate you" in the process. criterion 6 is met here as well because rigby spends the rest of the episode angry at mordecai.

"(Rigby runs to his and Mordecai's room.)

Rigby: Wahhh!!! (Jumps on Mordecai's bed.) Ugh! Ugh! Dumb Mordecai! I hate you!

Mordecai (downstairs): You better not be messing up my side of the room.

Rigby: (Yells and grabs a book) YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE!!! (throws book at the door, it bounces of and hits him in the face) Oww!!! (screeches in pain continually off-screen)"

01x10 - Don

rigby spends the entire episode angry at don, and ultimately lashes out at him, saying that he's mad at don for being born.

"Don: What's going on with us? You never give me some sugar. Did I do something?

Rigby: Yeah. You were born!

Don: (visibly hurt) Wow. That's heavy. I gotta get out of here."

Regular Show: The Movie

teenage rigby destroys his room after being rejected from college university.

"Past Rigby: If I can't go to college with Mordecai, then I don't want to go to college at all!! (He slams his door, throws things off his desk, tears down his "College U" posters and turns on his console.)

Game: Welcome to College U, the College for accepts everyone.

Past Rigby: Meh!! (He flips his T.V. to the ground and falls to his knees, resembling Future Rigby's flashback. He looks at his letter, which has "Rejected" stamped on it in red.)"

CRITERION 9: transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

rigby shows signs of stress-related paranoid ideation.

02x15 - Temp Check

before doug's scheme is obvious, rigby spends time stalking doug due to paranoia, as doug is spending extra time with mordecai and copying the things that rigby is doing.

05x28 - Expert or Liar (Transcript)

rigby spends time paranoid that everyone is out to get him after being humiliated on national television.

"(Rigby then tries to pull the man's face off, leading to a montage of several failed attempts to find Bert Coleman. He ends up attacking a mime, yelling at an ice cream man, frightening a couple making out on a bench, bothering a construction worker, looking into a horse's mouth, and even fighting with Bloodshed and Manslaughter, who fight back. Rigby is then seen walking around with a black eye and angrily eating food. He looks at a billboard that is advertising Expert or Liar, the camera zooming in to the word 'liar.')"

as shown above, rigby fits 8/9 of the needed criteria for borderline personality disorder. it is possible that criterion #7 (chronic feelings of emptiness) exists but is not expanded upon in existing regular show media due to the fact that the characters in regular show rarely express their true feelings outside of anger.

comorbidities

people with borderline personality disorder often have more than one disorder. some common comorbidities include (shen et al):

mood disorders

anxiety disorders

substance use disorders

other personality disorders

rigby canonically has an anxiety disorder (specific phobia, claustrophobia) and participates in substance use (however, it is unclear if he participates frequently enough to warrant a diagnosis of substance use disorder).

conclusion

whether or not it was unintentional, rigby is a bpd-coded character. many of the characters in regular show would benefit greatly from therapy, and rigby is one of them; though eileen helps him improve himself later on.

here is the twitter thread that inspired this post! it has resources for people with borderline personality disorder at the end, so i recommend checking it out.

[ditzydoodiary]

what really makes me mad is when people make fun of obviously disabled people who type with spelling/grammatical errors in comments or posts.

they could have an intellectual disability, a developmental disability, a physical disability, etc etc. i started using AAC to communicate just a couple of days ago, and typing on that thing can be HARD. theres often not a whole lot you can do to make fully cohesive sentences, and thats fine, just don't be mean to people about it. you just dont know their situation, so making fun of them is not only asshole-ish but borderline ableist if the person writing the comment/post has any obvious indication that they are disabled.

if someone's account is all about their disability, then that is likely the reason for their grammatical errors. especially if the person themselves says that the reason for said grammatical errors is because of their disability. that just makes you an asshole. full stop.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

my issue with right now AAC advocacy, nonspeaking (autistic) advocacy (from individual advocate, to organization like communication first and assistive ware) (mainly outside tumblr), can all be summarize by their one phrase:

“presume competence.”

“wait, what wrong with that? isn’t it good? don’t they follow that?”

half yes. idea is good, hope everyone follow it, must: all disabled people should be give tool & help to learn, all diagnoses, all amount of struggle.

yes, “even” that person diagnose with severe autism & profound ID, who never speak or look like show sign of understand any language, who scream and make noise and run away all time, who give self & other many injury and broke bone and concussion.

but. me problem not with idea. have problem with, use two big complicate word as basic key important idea for movement: a movement for those who hard speech & communication.

this group, naturally mean have many people (more than “average” amount), who hard communicate, hard communicate big words, hard remember big words, hard understand big words.

“then just change name or explain idea, why say it summarize problem with entire movement?”

on tumblr, AAC user community, semi- & nonverbal/nonspeaking community, see lot people who not just struggle with mouth say word, but also with communicate hard. although less, and most borderline or mild, but do have a few people with ID who talk about ID. people with many layer disability, more affected. in fact, in some corner, we loud & seen here in community.

but. outside tumblr—like twitter, where majority AAC & nonspeaking advocacy get most hear, often influence even new AAC apps and AAC company and non profit and (US) law and (US) government groups. but also different organizations, and real life. so basically, people with bigger real life influence. this opposite.

it many life-long nonspeaking autistics with severe motor apraxia, who brain body disconnect cause mouth not able move make noise in way brain want. often diagnose with severe ID back when not able communicate, but now able full communicate, now realize have high IQ, use long sentence, complicate grammar, big words, who can “write right.” many who not be teach communicate or read, but able learn how read write, by self.

—who not speak because motor struggle, but “mind intact” (their word not mine), no fundamental expressive receptive language understand issue (edit: outsude not mouth speak), no intellectual cognitive issue?

they nonspeaking. they AAC user, or speller. yes, they deserve be in community. must be heard. people must realize this form of nonspeaking possible and many people like this. AAC nonspeaking community without them is still leave out people.

but. right now problem is: both them and allies, treat this form nonspeaking as only way be nonspeaking. all nonspeaking people like this. and what this group want (like be call nonspeaking and nonverbal wrong), need apply to all people who not able speak, because they seen as entirety nonspeaking community.

“all nonspeaking (autistic) people like this”—many times imply by never ever mention other “not speak�� experience, but sometime even direct say (paraphrase). where my “not speak” friends who have expressive receptive language issues, who trouble communicate even with AAC, who don’t understand other and self communicate at all, who “mind not intact” (whatever that means), who ID not misdiagnose but is actual severe profound ID, who can’t learn AAC can’t ever functional communicate ever?

what about people who “not speak” not just because “motor but everything else fine,” but “motor AND expressive receptive language AND/OR intellectual”? people who don’t have all your abilities?

we not remembered. we not exist. we not talk about.

and this “ignore,” can be see in all area of their advocacy and movement.

the policing “no severe no functioning labels no levels no nonverbal ever they all bad no excuse”: all my friends who call own self by any of that been direct attack harmed many many times by people who say this, so no, there no “personal identify okay” exception. this silence us. anytime we mention how we dare call self, all what we actual say ignored, actual message ignored, and become argue over terms call us ableist, and lock us out block us crowd attack us harrass us—us with communication issues who words hard first place, and who often have big emotional regulate struggle.

harass us lock us out enough. of course we silent, of course we no longer write in community. of course “community” no have us, no one see us. no one know we exist.

the big words. complicate sentences. complicate ideas. everything confuse. overwhelm even parents without intellectual & communication struggles who want learn to help child. not to mention us, who “not speak” include receptive language issues and intellectual disability.

write enough big words. write enough complicate stuff. write enough confuse hard follow stuff. of course we who can’t understand that get frustrate. and stop read. stop be in community.

have ability write professional enough, write approximate closest to nondisabled people enough. not have ID. all advantages that make people listen you more, take you more seriously. but this advantage, or fact this even is advantage that some not have, they not recognize.

whether mean to or not. became “am nonspeaking and proud, but at least have high IQ mind intact and can write ‘normal,’ so still have worth still deserve listen to because still have those redeeming abilities.” —what about those us who don’t?

“what that do with term ‘presume competence’?”

presume competence key idea, root of movement & advocacy.

presume competence, big words, not everyone who struggle speak can say/speak/write/communicate these two words. not all can remember. not all understand. some, will never ever able communicate or understand these two exact words ever in life, even with best support most help.

key slogan of movement, inaccessible to group of people you claim advocate for. same group people you also ignore pretend not exist erase in your advocacy.

this how deep this exclusion and inaccessibility issue run in nonspeaking advocacy.

down to its roots.

[this about nonspeaking movement (especially outside tumblr) and people who do this exclusion + inaccessibility. this not say term nonspeaking bad or all individual nonspeaking person bad.]