#like for example to me dean has adhd and cas has autism

[ileftherbackhome]

people getting mad headcanons to me is like getting mad at someone for playing pretend incorrectly like what do you mean i'm pretending this character is autistic incorrectly?

[butchboromir]

dean winchester is autistic. here’s why:

- social shit: dean does better in either “scripted” (fed shit, etc) or familiar (ie. sam, who he has lived with almost his entire life, or other people in his immediate circle who he knows very well) social settings. his speech is also always informal to the point where it’s noticeable enough to tip people off (in 8.04; ”...those guys aren't FBI, all right? I'm pretty sure that FBI agents don't say "awesome" that much.”).

- scripts: similar to social shit. when dean gets caught off guard by someone he’s not familiar with, he stumbles and gets worse irt social skills (because his “script” and pattern are broken). an example of that is aaron bass flirting with him in 8.13. dean’s fine with flirting with girls, he’s got a script for that (ex. in 12.18, the “this coffee is hot... kinda like you.” schtick. before he does it, sam says “oh, don't do the hot coffee thing.”, which implies that dean’s done it enough for it to be a pattern noticeable to sam). but dudes flirting with him isn’t something dean’s got a script for, hence the panic. (i’m not addressing any Dean Winchester Sexuality Crisis™ stuff in here cuz thats a topic for another post). 

- patterns: dean is comfortable in patterns he knows, like hunting. find hunt -> drive down -> fed (or whatever variation is called for) impersonation and talking to witnesses -> deal with whatever’s causing the issue -> move on. 

- stimming: the way he bangs on the steering wheel (1.17) or roof (14.07) of the impala when music is playing? or the way he gestures to songs (like in 11.04)? totally a stim.

- resistant to change: a good example of this is baby. he doesn’t change anything about her, rebuilds her exactly the same whenever she’s beat up. when sam puts an ipod jack in her, he rips it out. despite having the opportunity to change to a different medium or even just update his cassette tapes, he keeps them the exact same. also, when he gets a plan into his head, he Does Not want to change it (take the ma’lak box as an example)

- special interests: dean has AT LEAST two interests intense enough to be noted as a weird amount of knowledge relating to them (cowboys/westerns, and doctor sexy). music is another special interest (in 4.14 when he’s talking with the siren, dean’s knowledge of classic rock borders on encyclopedic). i’d also argue pro wrestling is a dormant special interest considering how dean acts in 11.15.

- comfort objects: dean’s leather jacket and the samulet are totally comfort objects for him. the jacket is practically a piece of armor for him, and when cas takes the samulet to look for god in 5.02, dean says “great. now i feel naked.” when he takes it. also, baby, for obvious reasons. again, not something autism exclusive, but something pretty common. 

- feels emotions very strongly: dean represses a shit ton, but he also FEELS a shit ton. in 15.13, cas tells jack “you know, dean, he -- he feels things more acutely than any human I've ever known”. not autism exclusive, but something common in a lot of autistic people. 

- dean wears practical and comfortable clothes literally all the time, unless a situation he’s in calls for him to explicitly not be able to. again, this isn’t something specific to autistic people, but me and almost all of my autistic friends do this, so i think it’s worth noting

- also i think he has adhd but that’s another post entirely