#mild to moderate personal post

[baddybaddyadardaddy]

omg covid shot and the flu shot on the same day was a BIG MISTAKE. 🥴🥴

who has comforting Adar headcanons to share??? how would our dear baddydaddy care for a sick/injured partner?? (or a sick child??)

[helielune]

powder keg (full under the cut)

[cripplecharacters]

Writing Profoundly Intellectually Disabled Characters

[Plain Text: Writing Profoundly Intellectually Disabled Characters]

While there is a glaring lack of intellectually disabled characters - except maybe big, physically strong, white men who can’t “tell right from wrong” or have a personality - in all sorts of media, specifically profoundly intellectually disabled characters are next to non-existent, with the existing ones being used more often as plot devices rather than portrayed as human beings.

This does make a degree (and not more) of sense considering that 85% of ID people have it mild, 10% moderate, 3.5% severe and only 1.5% has profound ID, the larger group inevitably gets more representation (which doesn’t make it good, but it does exist). However, it hopefully doesn’t need explaining that minorities deserve to be represented too (...and represented well), so this is what this post will be about.

Please don’t treat this as your only source on writing a character like this (even though I’m willing to bet it’s the only one like this, at least on tumblr), do your research and always check other sources.

Also, for clarity: intellectual disability isn't an umberalla term for "mental/brain disability". It's a specific, singular diagnosis that used to be known as "mental [r slur]". It's not the same as brain damage, autism, dementia, dyslexia, and anything else that's not specifically "intellectual disability". It's something that you are either born with or acquire early in life.

How do I Include Them in the Story?

[Plain Text: How do I include them in the story?]

A profoundly ID person will spend the majority of their time either at home or in some sort of care facility since they will require 24/7 help. The easiest role to put them in is probably a family member of another character. I've mentioned on this blog before that the "ID characters always end up as the annoying younger sibling" thing is overdone, but none of these necessarily have to be true for this suggestion to work (especially not the "annoying" part).

A non-ID character could have an intellectually disabled older sibling, twin, cousin, uncle/aunt, the sibling of a grandparent, etc. Seriously - a severely disabled person can be an adult, or even an elder. Just not as a parent, since a profoundly disabled person can't consent (a lot of ID people very much can, but this is the one disability where your level of functioning is baked into the exact diagnosis - profound ID comes with the inability to consent/understand the consequences enough to consent).

"They're a family member" is basically the easiest "excuse" to include a profoundly intellectually disabled in a story (and, as a bonus, you don't have to figure out how the other character would react to meeting them for the first time, since they probably knew each other for a long time already).

If your story isn't about the profoundly disabled character and instead just features them as a character, it would be much easier to not make the other character their primary caregiver. It's simply a ton of work and the character wouldn't have time for fighting dragons and whatnot - it'd be easier to have the abled character spend time with the disabled character at home (or care facility; you can very much visit someone in one) hanging out rather than actually doing the caregiving part.

Outside of a home and a care facility, there are also day care programs that some people might attend. This is the rarest solution out of the three mainly because of financial reasons, but also these resources aren’t as common for people who can’t walk, learn self-care, etc. Going to one takes time (the profoundly disabled person isn’t gonna walk there by themselves) and probably requires a specialized van (that you can bring a wheelchair in, which is incredibly expensive). Most day care programs are focused on people who are moderately or severely ID at most. One made for profoundly ID people would require 1:1 aides, which generally means the programs are much smaller for logistical reasons, but also even more expensive. For most people, too expensive without funding. Basically, this is an option, but you have to consider your character’s financial situation and/or what kind of financial support do disabled people get where they live.

Another way is having the disabled character in some sort of high position - in real life there were quite a few cases of profoundly and severely intellectually disabled royalty. Depending on the place and time there might have been pressure to not let the public see them, but this wasn't always the case. The biggest example of the latter was probably Emperor An of Jin (the first Jin, Eastern one) who was, as his title suggests, crowned at some point. He didn’t actually rule (his uncle did) but yes, you can have a severely disabled person as the head of a monarchy, it’s not without precedent.

In fiction you can do whatever you want anyway when it comes to ableism, you can have it be there, or you can have it not be there - and if it does exist then there are still different kinds of ableism you can portray that aren't the "literally killing-the-disabled-baby/hiding-them-in-some-dungeon level of eugenics" kind. Maybe a rich family who cares about their image would actually be unable to shut up about their kid to show how "saint-like" they are for caring for the disabled - it is unfortunately realistic, and can be a potential way to have the character exist in public, not ignore ableism, and also not go the aforementioned literally-just-murder route that writers usually do to show an ableist family.

Characterization

[Plain Text: Characterization]

Warning; the bar here is somewhere in the Earth's inner core. If your character has a single characteristic beyond aggressive/loud/unmanageable*, they're automatically at the top of most complex fictional representation of severely/profoundly ID characters. Congrats.

* - Some people are those things but, unsurprisingly, they're other things too. A lot of profoundly ID people can actually be completely quiet - you notice people who are loud because they're loud.

As with literally every character, you need to figure out what they like and not like. This can be quite literally anything, but try to think of the basic stuff. Do they have something they really enjoy eating (and conversely - something they refuse to eat)? Do they have some sort of comfort toy or object they don't want anyone touching (and maybe showing them playing with it with a different character could be a way to show how much they trust them)? In more modern settings, do they have a favorite show they always bug everyone to put on? Are they really clingy or do they hate physical contact (again, maybe they only enjoy it from a specific character)?

Another characterization could be comfort objects. A lot of profoundly ID people are autistic (which I'll touch on later) and will have an object that they bring everywhere the same way that non-ID autistic people might. There's nothing really specific here, just another layer of "this character is a Person". Maybe they have a blanket they really enjoy chewing because the texture feels good or some sort of plushie they like to throw around because it makes a sound they find funny. Lots of options. Maybe they have a personal “tell” to let others know they want their comfort object brought to them.

Keep in mind, you have to show this all in non-verbal manner. A profoundly ID person is probably not using any sort of AAC device (the most robust one I remember seeing right now was a low-tech one with "yes" and "no", but there are probably ones who operate on a larger amount of singular words). This is basically another opportunity for characterization - what do they do when they're happy - laugh, flap their arms, make sounds? - and when they're upset - scream, hit themselves, make different sounds? Obviously, you'd have to take other disabilities into account (e.g. many profoundly ID people won't move much, some might not be able to make much audible sound, etc.) but almost anything helps.

This brings us to…

Communication

[Plain Text: Communication]

An important thing (concept?) I'll throw here is "total communication", which can mean different things in different contexts, but here I'll use it to mean "using everything you can to communicate with someone who cannot do so in a ‘traditional’ way".

Communication can be categorized as having two sides; expressive and receptive. For most intellectually disabled people in general, receptive skills tend to be significantly higher than expressive ones, though there are specific disorders where it’s reversed or equal. As mentioned before, most profoundly ID people won’t speak orally, won’t use sign language, and won’t use AAC (though out of all three, AAC is the most likely one). Some might say single words, but that’s about it. It’s not a “physically mute but can write perfectly grammatically correct sentences” situation, it’s more of a “[single noun]” one, if anything. Receptive skills however are pretty decent (in comparison) and they would probably understand their name, the name/title of their carer(s), names of things they see every day, events they have some frame of reference to (e.g. if they grew up Christian, they would probably know what Christmas is), etc. Your other characters could (and should) talk to them like they can understand, even if they don’t catch everything or even most of it. I say a lot of “probably” there, but the people who can’t do so usually have other comorbidities, which I’ll mention later.

To go back to expressive communication, eye pointing can be used to figure out what the character wants. A change in breathing can be used to tell that a character got stressed. Throwing an object can be used as a hint that the character wants to play. Maybe them reaching towards person A means they want to eat, but reaching towards person B means they want them to sing a song for them. Maybe them making a particular face means they just had a seizure and need to be comforted. Whatever their "tells" like this might be, other characters who know them would probably be able to tell more-or-less what's going on - you don't have to go really in-depth, especially if it's a minor character, but figuring out the ways your character communicates with others will make it feel more like a person and not a Disabled Lamp (“if you can replace a disabled character with a lamp or a sick dog, they’re not a character”).

If you read some of these and go "that's a thing that a child would do" then you're not necessarily wrong. A profoundly ID adult might enjoy activities that primarily kids partake in. This is, I can't stress this enough, not the same as "mentally being a child". Otherwise, a whole bunch of adults on this very website would be "mental middle schoolers" based on the shows that they watch - but they're obviously not. A profoundly ID adult doesn't have the "mind of a baby" if their favorite game is throwing a toy, they have the mind of a profoundly intellectually disabled adult. Sometimes people assume that since ID people aren't mentally [incorrect age], they always "act their [actual] age" and essentially end up downplaying how much some people's ID affects them, when the point is that no matter what you do, you are your age. An ID character who is 26 years, incontinent, constantly puts their hand in their mouth, can't speak, whatever, is mentally 26 years old the same way that they would be if they had a wife and a mortgage.

For the last thing from this section I'll circle back to the assumption that all severely/profoundly ID people are loud, aggressive, etc. - as I said, some of them are (just like abled people). The thing is, this is not always an unreasonable response to being unable to communicate with the people who are caring for you. If you had a pressure sore but couldn't explain it to anyone you'd be pissed off and screaming too. That's an extreme example, but still applies. If someone is severely stressed out (for an abled person, this might be inheriting a ton of debt, for a profoundly ID person it can be a change in daily routine), they can lash out. It's an unpleasant but very much human reaction to have, even if what's behind the ID person's behavior is significantly different from what an average abled person might consider "a good reason".

So I guess my advice is, try to show some empathy to the character, even if they genuinely are loud and/or aggressive. Intellectually disabled people - including the profoundly disabled ones - aren't some alien species that is just mean and hates their caregivers for no reason, some just can't process their feelings the way an abled person might because of their disability. That's not to say that caregivers aren't allowed to feel frustrated - because they are - but that very severely disabled people aren't purposefully evil. As mentioned in the earlier parts, all behavior has a cause, just like for literally everyone. So if the character is being "unmanageable": maybe they aren't some cursed burden, maybe they're just stressed out of their mind and now someone they don't know that well is trying to do *something* to them, which they can't figure out because of their disability affecting their receptive language skills.

Resources and What to Keep in Mind

[Plain Text: Resources and What to Keep in Mind]

Some resources you might read about ID can be potentially misleading. Even if you specifically look for causes of the profound severity of intellectual disability, you will get results for mild ID. That's mainly because people with mild ID make up >85% of intellectually disabled people and those with profound ID make like 1%, so they're a minority in a minority.

Basically:

Down syndrome is a very unlikely cause. It's always listed as the main genetic cause of ID, but that's only true for mild and moderate severities. If you choose any of the common causes of ID make sure it actually has the symptoms you're looking for.

Most profoundly ID people will have either severe brain damage early in life (and this can come with cerebral palsy), cephalic disorders (e.g. microcephaly), genetic conditions that you've never heard of (e.g. Pallister-Killian or Emanuel syndromes, 3p deletion), genetic conditions that you've never heard of for a very understandable reason (e.g. X-linked intellectual disability-limb spasticity-retinal dystrophy-arginine vasopressin deficiency… there are hundreds named in this way), or just have it without a known cause. The last one happens much more often than people tend to assume.

For a reason I'll probably discover at some point, most disorders and syndromes that come with ID are said to have "autistic-like features" rather than being "comorbid with autism". In practice, it's the same thing. Your character is probably autistic.

In the same way, a lot of practical resources will assume that ID = moderate ID (since most mildly affected need no or minimal support, and severely/profoundly disabled ones are a small minority) so pay attention if you're looking at the right things. If it's talking about having a job, travelling alone, etc., then you got clickbaited.

Another subsection here will be comorbidities because there are a lot of them. I’ll mention the biggest ones.

Brain damage is the most common one (except autism) and can vary a lot. There is barely anything I can say about this one, it’s an enormous spectrum that for some people causes disability and for others barely affects their symptoms. Cerebral palsy, especially quadriplegic, is seen a lot and might affect the character’s mobility a lot. Some people might be unable to breathe or swallow and need a breathing or feeding tube.

Deafness and blindness are comorbid with a surprising amount of causes of ID. The thing is, you could take advice for deaf/blind characters as-in for a character that has both (e.g.) glaucoma and mild ID and not change much, but this doesn’t really work for a character who’s profoundly disabled like this. The situation that can happen here is that it’s not actually known if the person is or isn’t deaf or blind because they can’t tell you. As mentioned earlier, some people will have absent receptive communication skills. How do you verify if they’re deaf or just not reactive to language? Some people won’t react to even extremely loud sounds, even if they can hear them perfectly well (besides, a lot of deaf people can still hear some). Same for verifying if they are blind - obviously, sometimes there’s something visual going on, but often there isn’t. Especially since the main causes of both blindness and deafness will be brain-based, not ear- or eye-based. Another character not being sure if the disabled character is blind or just very uninterested in visual stimuli is a possibility, especially with less advanced medicine.  This is also why you might see those weird statistics of "between 5-90% of people with [condition] are deaf" kind.

Mobility is almost always severely affected. Some are fully mobile, but that’s simply not common. The average person will be unable to walk independently. It’s not always a muscle or nerve problem (though it absolutely can be), it’s mostly an issue of coordination. Because of this (and understanding physical space), operating a wheelchair (...successfully) might be impossible. This doesn’t mean you should just drop your character in a hospital wheelchair for them to get wheeled around because they will probably need a wheelchair that will actually support them - a headrest, ability to tilt, a harness, all that. This could be done with a powerchair (they can have controls on the back for a second person to operate), a manual wheelchair, or an adaptive stroller.

Now for resources;

One good resource I can recommend is SBSK (which I shared before), to my knowledge this is the only place that interviews severely and profoundly ID people (+their families) and the interviewer is great at actually interacting with many of them. 

Most resources on the practical things only ever talk about caregivers (who are very important) but completely ignore the actual person being cared for which IMO kinda defeats the point.

Good luck writing!

mod Sasza

[dissociacrip]

i saw that one disability-related post a while ago about dental care but i can't find it again so i'm gonna mention a few things as a (mild to moderately) mentally & physically disabled person, whose teeth hurt when i eat sweet stuff now + i've had a root canal due to a fall + i'm learning to take care of myself, that may or may not help other folks with their dental routine

note: i am not a dentist & this info is mostly what i've gleaned secondhand from dentists, so yeah, i am not an expert in any capacity

water flossers aren't as effective as regular flossing (doing both is actually what's most effective) but they're better than nothing & helpful in cases where coordination problems or other issues might prevent regular flossing technique (i imagine this also depends on the quality of the water flosser)

if you use one of the plastic pre-made floss picks things, rinse the string off in-between each time you use it to floss one side of a tooth, it's tedious but it mimics moving to a new (clean) part of the thread like you do with regular floss

if you get an automatic toothbrush, get one that does circular rotation rather than just vibrating or whatever, as this mimics the tools they use in a dentist's office + imitates the circular motion you're expected to make with a standard toothbrush (which is also hard with coordination issues), i got one that does this pretty cheap from walmart (it's an oral-b but i forgot the specific type) + it automatically times it for you

if you have white spots on your teeth that are uneven with the shade of the rest of the tooth those are potentially white spot lesions due to demineralization; whitening products can make this worse rather than help it, but some products can help with remineralization such as mi paste topical tooth creme, which contains calcium and phosphate (i have yet to try this myself but it seems to get suggested by a lot of dentists, orthodontists, etc. for white spots on teeth & it's also supposed to help with sensitivity and tooth health in general because the white spots are lesions so it's not purely cosmetic!)

it's advised to not rinse your mouth immediately after brushing as this potentially dilutes & reduces the effects of the flouride (if you use fluoride toothpaste), stuff says to wait at least 15 minutes or so

just giving your teeth a quick scrub (even if it's without toothpaste and just water) is better than not brushing your teeth at all

if you have trouble seeing a dentist for financial reasons, try to see if there are income-based or charity dental services in your area, sometimes dental schools also provide low-cost/free dental care

that's all i can think of for now, i wish i had more advice for people who struggle to be able to brush their teeth at all in general but this is all i got unfortunately :(

additionally - you're not bad, useless, gross, or a failure if you struggle to (or can't) maintain oral hygiene; this stuff is much easier for some people than it is to others & those who take it for granted like to forget that, no one deserves to be mocked or looked down on for being disabled & struggling to/not being able to do """basic""" stuff like this!

[mockerycrow]

hello

I saw ur prompts post and wanted u to write the second one with 141 +konig while they're on a mission or accidentally hurting the reader during training (not any super serious injuries tho) would appreciate it 💖💖.

400 Follower Celebration

—“C’mere, let me see.”— With 141 + König

Summary: These are different situations where you get mildly to moderately injured and 141 + want to see.

[WARNINGS: descriptions of killing, mild gore, mild/moderate physical injury, fluff.]

-> John Price

“You need to work on your technique.” He huffs out, standing victorious on the training map. Price’s hands remain on his hips as you’re still crouched over on the mat, one hand holding you up while the other is covering your mouth and noise.

You don’t respond to him, instead you peel your hand from your face, glancing at it and then you cover whatever you’re covering right back up. You moved so fast Price didn’t catch onto what was in your hand, so his eyebrows furrow. His hands drop from his hips, approaching you. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” You say with a strained voice, muffled by your hand cupping your face. Price raises an eyebrow, not believing you. He crouches down, using one knee to balance himself. Price puts a hand on your back and the other grabs your wrist gently. “C’mere, let me see.”

You allow him to pull your hand away from your face and Price sputters when he sees the amount of blood in your hand. “Jesus bloody Christ!” He curses, letting go of your hand and grabbing your jaw, forcing you to look at him. Your eyes are watering from the pain and there’s blood dripping from your nose, smeared across your lips. John then stands up, murmuring, “Let me get you a towel and then get you to medical, yeah?”

-> Kyle Garrick

“Fuck!” You shout, your voice cracking. You grimace as pain blooms across your right arm, but you ignore and opt to shove the blade of your knife into this man’s throat. He begins to choke, wide eyed, his hands grabbing at yours. You yank the blade out of his neck and blood splatters over your face and clothing, and the man drops to the ground whilst holding his throat, red hot blood pouring through his fingers.

You pant and stare down at the man, adrenaline rushing through your veins. You barely acknowledge the deep gash in your arm besides a heartbeat residing in it’s place. Heavy footsteps come down the hall and into the corridor, Kyle shouting your name. “Hey, hey! Are you alright?” His voice is dripping worry, glancing at the man and then at you, his eyes widening when he sees all of the blood.

“Yeah, it’s.. it’s not mine.” You breathe out, ripping your eyes off of the bloody corpse in front of you. Your left hand skims over your right arm and—yep, there it is; you hiss in pain and cover the wound with your fingers. Your hand is trembling from the adrenaline, which combined with the noise, catches his attention.

“Are you hurt?” Kyle asks, his voice firm as he grabs your arm, his other hand grabbing your wrist. “C’mere, let me see.” Kyle moves your hand and grimaces for you, a small hiss coming from him. “Yep, definitely injured.” His thumb gently swipes at some of the blood coating your skin. “Let’s get you somewhere safe and get you some stitches.”

-> John MacTavish

You grunt as Soap’s arms are wrapped around your head with his legs locked around your waist and own legs, his forearm pressing against the front part of your throat. Your heart is pounding in your ears and you vaguely hear Soap teasingly shout, “Do you need to tap out?” You don’t respond as you struggle, trying your best to rip the man’s arms off of your head and throat. Your fingers grab at his flexing forearm, using all of your upper strength in an attempt to pry him off of yourself. “No shame in tappin’ out, bonnie..” His voice is low and cocky, tightening his hold around your help.

Being the stubborn person you are, you refuse. You attempt to gasp and you can feel your lungs heaving for air, your chest spasming. You close your eyes harshly as you don’t want to stare at the black dots swimming in your vision. In a last attempt to get him off, you buck your head forward—but your plan fails and you end up busting your lip open.

“Steamin’ Jesus-“ Soap’s tone is shocked as he immediately loosens his grip, giving you a second to gasp for air. You take this opportunity and use all of your weight, pushing Soap off of yourself. You ignore your bleeding lip and grab his arms, twisting them behind his back and you sit right on his legs, earning a grunt from him. “Hey- fuck, are ya bleedin’??” Soap grunts out, twisting his head to look at your face. His own lip curls up in concern, his eyes narrowing at you. You release your grip on him and crawl off of him, your fingers brushing against your lip. You wince, muttering, “Yeah.”

“C’mere, let me see.” Soap sits up and crawls over to you, cupping your cheek in one hand, the other balancing himself. “Ah, just busted it a bit. Guess that’s a lesson ta’not do that then, hm?”

-> Ghost

You’re cooking some breakfast for Ghost while he’s on vactional-leave, humming in the kitchen. One hand is grabbing the handle of the pan, the other holding tongs over the pan, flipping the crackling bacon. You get so caught up in your time playing softly from your phone a few feet away that you forget to be careful and the bacon pops at you, hot grade covering a small patch of your arm. You can’t help the loud yell that leaves your mouth followed by a loud “Fuck!”

You hear his heavy footsteps coming down the hallway in a quick fashion, grumbling out loudly, “What happened?” Despite his grumbles, you know he’s concerned, especially when you’re holding your arm, you blink and he’s across the room—you blink again and he’s next to you. “Bacon got me,” You whimper out quietly, the humming of the pain and heat radiating through your skin.

“C’mere, let me see.” Ghost’s voice is low and rumbles through the air, crackling like fire with how rough it is. His large gloved hand takes your arm into it and allows you to uncover the grease burn yourself. Ghost gently pulls towards himself, grabbing under your arms and lifting you onto the counter. He reaches over and turns the stove top off, moving the pan to a cool burner. “Hey- what about the food?” You say softly, watching as he goes through a small drawer and grabs a small hand towel. “That can wait. We have to treat this before it gets worse.”

-> König

You’re running an endurance and strength training course when you get hurt. You do fine on the pull ups, the rope swing, but when you reach the tire hops? Your ankle ends up catching on the edge of the tire, a yelp leaving you as your ankle twists in an awkward way, sending waves of pain radiating up your leg. Your arms end up catching your body before you fully face plant and you pause for a moment, your whole body tensing up as swift swears leave your lips.

You hear your name being called and heavy footsteps against gravel before a pair of large hands gently grab you. “I-I saw you fall, are you alright?” His voice is light with worry, and he moves downwards to softly dislocate your foot from the tire. You groan as soon as he touches your leg and you shake your head. “Fuck, that hurts—it’s my, my ankle..”

“C’mere, let me see.” He’s gentle when he gets your leg out of the fire and he quickly unties your boot. König helps you flip over to lay on your back with your leg in his lap. He slips off the boot with a hiss coming from you, making him quietly apologize as he removes your sock. Your ankle is swollen, but definitely not broken, nor dislocated. “It is a good idea to see the medics. I’ll carry you.”

[autismaccount]

I've reached 35 responses! They're very interesting, but the sample size is still small, and I don't think it's at all representative of the Tumblr autism community. If I can't reach at least 100 responses, I don't think I'll be able to analyze Tumblr community views on support needs in depth. I'll still post descriptive statistics for the overall sample, but I won't have the statistical power to do anything else.

I'd really appreciate if everyone could help by taking the survey and reblogging this post to their followers!

As a reminder, the survey is meant to understand how people use support needs labels. For example, what makes someone low support needs and not moderate support needs? The survey also helps show what the community is like in general in terms of demographics and experiences!

A summary of the current survey results are under the Read More. Again, especially if a community that you're in is under-represented, please help by spreading the survey link! I'd especially love to hear from more people AMAB, racial/ethnic minorities, people who are not yet diagnosed or were diagnosed as adults, and higher support needs individuals!

Age: Most participants are young; 60% are under age 25%, and 20% are under 18.

Gender: Over half of the sample is AFAB nonbinary, almost 1/3 is trans men, and almost all of the remainder (14%) is cis women. Only 2 people who are AMAB have taken the survey.

Race/Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic White people are very over-represented, making up 82% of the sample.

Diagnosis: 57% are professionally diagnosed, 20% are informally or soft-diagnosed, and 14% are seeking a diagnosis. Only 9% are neither diagnosed nor seeking a diagnosis.

The most common diagnoses are ASD with no level (33%), level 1 ASD (25%), and "mild autism" (13%).

16% were diagnosed before age 8, 24% between ages 9 and 15, 32% between ages 16 and 18, 12% between ages 19 and 25, and 16% over age 25.

Autism Support Needs: The most common self-identified support needs label is "low-moderate" (43%), followed by low (23%) and moderate (14%). Most would benefit from but do not need weekly support (31%), only need accommodations and mental health support (17%), or rarely need any support (6%).

Autism Symptoms: On a severity scale of 0 (not applicable) to 3 (severe), the average is 1.7 overall, 1.8 socially, and 1.7 for restricted-repetitive behaviors. The most severe symptom is sensory issues (2.1), and the least severe are nonverbal communication and stimming (both 1.5).

83% are fully verbal, and 97% have no intellectual disability.

38% can mask well enough to seem "off" but not necessarily autistic. 21% can't mask well or for long.

Most experience shutdowns (94%), difficulties with interoception (80%), meltdowns (71%), alexithymia (71%), echolalia (69%), and autistic mutism (66%). Very few experience psychosis (14%) or catatonia (11%).

Self-Diagnosis: 20% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism, 29% think it's almost always fine, 31% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 71% think it needs to be done carefully, and 11% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

15% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism DSM-5 levels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 15% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 21% think it's almost always fine, 18% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 36% think it needs to be done carefully, and 36% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

26% think it's always fine to self-diagnose autism support needs labels (including if the person has been told they don't have autism), 29% think it's fine as long as autism hasn't been ruled out, 37% think it's almost always fine, 29% think it's only okay if an assessment is inaccessible, 43% think it needs to be done carefully, and 6% think it's okay to suspect but not self-diagnose.

Disability: 71% feel disabled by autism, 17% feel disabled by another condition but not autism, and 11% are unsure.

Comorbidities: The most common mental health comorbidities are anxiety (68%), ADHD (62%), and depression (56%).

The least common mental health disorders are schizophrenia spectrum disorders (0%), bipolar disorders (3%), tic disorders (6%), substance use disorders (6%), personality disorder (9%), and OCD (9%).

The most common physical health comorbidities are gastrointestinal issues (29%), connective tissue disorders (29%), autoimmune disorders (24%), neurological disorders or injuries (24%), and hearing/vision loss (24%). All others are below 20%.

Overall Support Needs: When considering comorbidities, the most common self-identified support needs label is moderate (37%), followed by low-moderate (31%) and low (17%).

[peachsukii]

₊✩‧₊ ⇢ gamer boyfriend!kirishima

『 ♡ 』 kirishima & mild KiriBaku x fem!reader (18+ under the cut!) -`✧ eijiro kirishima masterlist

✩ kirishima loves gaming with his buddies every friday night to blow off steam and hang out with his bro squad. they start bullshitting the idea of starting a streaming group and decide to give it a shot.

✩ the bits and pieces for streaming come in the mail - boxes at a time. while he’s at work one day, you spend the entire afternoon building his desk, moving his PC and setting up all the streaming equipment in the office.

✩ bakugo, kaminari, sero and kirishima decide to call themselves “the riot squad.”

✩ you’re the group’s first viewer on their debut stream. kirishima excitedly interacts with you through the chat as he games for hours, the others interchangeably commenting on your messages playfully.

✩ one viral gaming clip later, the boys have gained over 5,000 followers in a month’s time. you’ve helped kirishima build an entire discord server for the community they’ve built and moderate their streams alongside a few other friends.

✩ plenty of fans clamor over bakugo with his naturally flawless features and brash personality, but you love watching kirishima get flustered over his own fan girls. it’s one of your favorite things to tease him about.

✩ you may or may not secretly let seductive messages slide through his discord DMs from horny fangirls. seeing his face redden when you dare him to respond, or that they have excellent taste being thirsty for him.

✩ sometimes when kirishima gets frustrated over losing matches, you crawl under his desk quietly while he’s distracted. it’s almost comical how his legs instinctually part when you run your fingers up his thighs before palming his already half-hard cock through his shorts.

✩ he lets you shift his clothes around to wrap your soft fingers around his shaft, trying to mask what’s going on behind the scenes as he continues playing.

✩ when you start stroking him lazily, he surprisingly plays better! you can hear the boys cheering him on through his headset as his legs quiver at your touch.

✩ by the time your mouth engulfs his cock, he’s sweating while keeping his best poker face on for the stream. you can hear him panting silently between matches. he mutes his mic to let out a moan or a whine every now and again.

✩ before he cums, he announces to the boys that it’s time to wrap up the stream, saying their goodbyes and switching off the stream. he practically throws his headset off his head and scoops you off the floor and into his lap. he never lets himself finish before you do.

✩ what he doesn’t expect is that you’d been playing with yourself and have soaked through your panties, begging him to fuck you. and he obliges every time - in the gaming chair, sprinting to his bedroom, or up against the wall of the office.

✩ he once forgot to turn off his webcam with the boys as you crawled into his lap, misclicking on the screen and leaving it on. the only person on the call was bakugo, who tried to motion for him to turn it off, but ended up becoming enamored in his best friend fucking his girlfriend. kirishima would shoot a confident grin over your shoulder and into the camera at bakugo as he watched the two of you.

✩ kirishima never expected to establish the tradition of fucking you post-stream and letting bakugo watch you two every once in awhile. he loved showing off how sexy your body was and how pretty your moans sounded, especially to his best friend. it was their best kept secret.

✩ reading bakugo’s filthy messages to your joint discord chat with kirishima is one of the best things to come out of this streaming idea. “how’d you bag a girl with such a perfect ass?” “the way her cunt sucks up your thick cock is fuckin’ hot, ei” “who knew you could fuck like that?” “can’t believe she likes showing off for you like a good little slut” “fuck, you two are better than any nasty ass porn”

✩ both kirishima and bakugo played exponentially better any night you three had a private stream - you became their lucky charm as their internet infamy climbed higher and higher.

⋆ ˚ʚɞ — kirishima showing you off to his friends? hot as fuck. 🥵✨ gamer kiri lives in my head rent free. he’s so goddamn cute and i’d love to spoil him while he plays in any way he’d let me. shoutout to @pastelbakugou for fueling my kiri thirst! 🤭

[literaryvein-reblogs]

do u perhaps have any advice/notes on how to write a Deaf character, especially on how to write them signing?

Writing Notes: Deaf Characters

Deaf

The word “deaf” describes a person with profound or complete hearing loss. It is important to understand that many people do not consider being deaf or having hearing loss as a disability. Instead, deafness is often considered a culture.

“Deaf” and “hard of hearing” are the terms recommended by the World Federation of the Deaf and The National Association of the Deaf. Many people in the Deaf community prefer the use of a lowercase “d” to refer to audiological status and the use of a capital “D” when referring to the culture and community of Deaf people. Some people with mild to moderate hearing loss may affiliate themselves with the Deaf community and prefer to be referred to as “deaf” instead of “hard of hearing.” Alternatively, some who are profoundly deaf may prefer the term “hard of hearing.”

NCDJ Recommendation: “Deaf” or “hard of hearing” are the preferred terms. Uppercase when referring to the “Deaf” community and lowercase when referring to the condition. Avoid using “hearing impaired” or “partial” or “partially” in reference to deafness or hearing loss unless people use those terms for themselves.

When possible, ask if a person or group uses identity-first language (deaf students) or person-first language (students who are deaf). However, The National Association of the Deaf supports the identity-first approach.

When quoting or paraphrasing a person who has signed their responses, it’s appropriate on first reference to indicate that the responses were signed. It’s acceptable to use the word “said” in subsequent references.

AP style: The stylebook uses “deaf” to describe a person with total hearing loss and “partially deaf” or “partial hearing loss” for others. It calls for use of a lower case “d” in all usages.

The Portrayal of Deafness in Media

Some examples you can use, and do further research on, as a guide (also to learn from and avoid what are considered problematic representations in media):

A Quiet Place and sequels: Post-apocalyptic thrillers in which monsters with highly-advanced hearing invade America. The main characters are a family who all know American Sign Language, owing to their deaf eldest daughter (played by deaf actress Millicent Simmonds), allowing them to communicate without drawing the monsters' attention, and most of the dialogue (especially in the first film) is in ASL. Static from her hearing aid also proves to be a powerful weapon against the monsters.

Baby Driver: Features a hearing protagonist with tinnitus (Ansel Elgort) who is a getaway driver for a gang and has a deaf foster father (CJ Jones).

Godzilla vs. Kong: One of the main human characters is a deaf girl named Jia, played by deaf actress Kaylee Hottle. She is said to be the last of the Iwi people, the natives of Skull Island, and she has a strong emotional bond with Kong, as both of them are the last of their kind. Past incarnations of Kong typically formed strong emotional connections - sometimes ambiguously sexual ones - with white American women, so this is also the first time the most important human to Kong has been a native of his own island. She also teaches Kong sign language.

Hawkeye: As in the comics, Clint suffers from hearing loss due to his superhero endeavors taking a toll on him. The series also features a prominent supporting character who is deaf (Echo), played by deaf actress Alaqua Cox.

Sound of Metal: An American drama starring hearing actor Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer losing his hearing and working at a school for the deaf.

Switched at Birth (2011) features several deaf characters who are able to sign fluently. The show portrays how they adjust to life and their everyday experiences with being deaf and how hearing people react to them.

There Will Be Blood: H.W. is left deaf after a blast at the oil field.

The entry below focuses on films made by American and foreign filmmakers who have little or no special interest in or knowledge about deaf people or Deaf communities. Casting hearing actors to portray deaf characters is unfortunately common. Because neither the filmmakers, the expected audiences, nor the actors know anything about d/Deaf people, inauthenticities are widespread. These problems are only slightly improved by casting a Deaf actor: Deaf actors can portray authentic use of a sign language but are often limited by the script, the director, and the editing process. Therefore, while the signing community commends the casting of Deaf actors, the discussion here focuses on the deaf characters themselves and reasons for their inclusion in the story. In the following, the actors are labeled either “D” for Deaf or “h” for hearing. If there is no label, the actor’s status is unknown.

Deaf Characters and Sign Language for Intrigue. Thrillers with deaf characters typically put a deaf woman in peril. In Hear No Evil (1993), Jillian (Marlee Matlin d) has been learning from her hearing boyfriend which mechanical devices cause ear-splitting noises. When she is pursued by a would-be murderer, she takes advantage of a fire alarm, a sprinkler system, and a stereo turned full blast to mask the sounds of her movements as she attempts to hide. In Orphan (2009) a family with two children, one of them deaf (Aryana Engineer h), adopts an orphan who turns out to be a murderous psychopath. When this “orphan” cleverly steals the deaf girl’s hearing aid before launching the climactic killing spree, we gasp in horror as the deaf girl negotiates the house unable to hear just where her mother or the murderer are. Suspect (1987) has a major deaf character, a mentally ill transient (Liam Neeson h) who has lost his hearing during the Viet Nam war and is accused of murder, but the film focuses on the efforts of his court-appointed attorney, who first must realize that he is deaf, then piece the case together with minimal help from him. (His treatment by the police will be regarded as unsettling and quite authentic by many deaf viewers.) In a departure from the usual use of the deaf character in thrillers, The River Wild (1996) has hearing characters communicating surreptitiously in ASL after they are taken hostage. A brief glimpse of a Deaf father (Victor H. Galloway d) at the beginning of the movie shows where they learned to sign.

Heightened Sensory Powers. The myth that deaf (and blind) people have heightened sensory perception sometimes prompts writers and filmmakers to provide their deaf characters with supernatural powers. After Image (2001) presents Laura (Terrylene d), a young deaf woman whose visions and strange dreams enable her to discern clues to crimes. What the Bleep Do We Know? (2004) is a hybrid of narrative and documentary filmmaking, with Amanda (Marlee Matlin d) simultaneously experiencing different planes of existence as she struggles with the existential angst of her life.

Writing Notes: Sign(ed) Languages

Sign(ed) Languages are languages which primarily function non-verbally through visual signals, generally invented for the use of the deaf to communicate. As the name indicates, the primary means of communication is generally signs made with the hands in front of the body. However, most sign languages include facial expressions and some, such as Japanese Sign Language, include mouthing as part of their mechanics. It is important to recognize that while almost every community with a spoken language also has a signed language, the signed language used is related more to the geographical region than to the spoken language. For example, English is the primary language of the United States, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand, but the US and (Anglophone) Canada use ASL note , the UK uses BSL, and Australia and New Zealand use Auslan and NZSL respectively - all different languages with distinct signs and grammar.

One important aspect of Signed Languages is that they are, as a rule, fully-formed languages with their own grammar and words. They are not pantomime nor do they necessarily follow the grammar of the spoken/verbal language of the region. Some signs are iconic, or resemble what they speak of, much like how some spoken words are onomatopoeic, but most signs are abstractions of iconic signs or completely original. The grammar itself frequently differs greatly in part due to the spatial aspects of signs and the ability to convey information non-sequentially. For example, within ASL, it is common to establish specific people in a conversation at spatial locations and later use signs moving from location to the other rather than having to reestablish identities or use pronouns. Similarly, since both hands and the face can be used, multiple pieces of information can be encoded into a single sign. For example, a sentence like "I drove from Jane to John and I enjoyed it" can be conveyed in a single sign if Jane and John have already been previously established in the conversation. And, before you ask, most signs convey individual words. There is finger-spelling (you're familiar with that from The Miracle Worker, it's what Annie shows Helen to communicate), but it's inefficient (especially with big words like "inefficient"), and not all signers are necessarily fluent in it because it requires them to depict, letter by letter, words that are not from their native language — specifically, words from the spoken/verbal language of the region.

It is worth noting that Signed Language, while non-verbal, is not necessarily quiet. Even deaf users typically make sounds while signing and it is not infrequent for a very low-pitched grunt to be used to catch someone's attention via the vibrations.

As an anthropological note, it is worth considering that many communities and cultures define themselves by their language, and the deaf are no exception. The word "Deaf" is often capitalized when indicating the non-hearing culture, or membership of same. Though there are always exceptions, most Deaf individuals do not consider their lack of hearing to be a drawback and are proud of the community their condition allows them access to.

For a number of reasons, including religious, eugenics and association with Native Americans (e.g. Plains Indian Sign Language) and other "savages", the oralist movement sought to eliminate Sign in an attempt at normalization and mainstreaming. There were actually laws against using Sign in school classrooms until 2008. Educators such as Thomas Gallaudet recognized being Deaf as a cultural identity and warned that eliminating Sign and insisting on oral speech would put Deaf children at a lifelong disadvantage. Today, Sign is recognized as a legitimate form of communication and oral-only education has been discredited.

Signed Language has nothing to do with the trope of Talking with Signs which involves characters communicating via written signs. It is related to Hand Signals, which range from pantomime to a reduced vocabulary, sometimes with a sparse grammar. Especially within fantasy works, it is not uncommon to have races or nations where Hand Signals have evolved into a Signed Language, typically to provide a method to communicate in secrecy.

In real life, some professional fields rely somewhat heavily on signed language even if nobody in a particular project is deaf. One such field that relies on Hand Signals and signed languages in varying combinations, is professional diving, since one can't exactly speak out loud when wearing SCUBA gear.

Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Choose which of these notes and references are most appropriate for your writing. But communicating with someone (or people) in the community would provide you with even more valuable information.

[regulusrules]

Guide for: What Tags to Add to Your Fic

Do you guys have the same problem of how when you're about to post a fic and reach to the tags section you're like .. what r werds 🫠

It's also why some works don't get any visibility even though we're blessed by god almighty for no algorithm in ao3

And I kid you not, I found some of the best goddamn fics out there by sheer coincidence because they weren't tagged right and they remain overlooked because of this fact

So here's a small classified guide for you!

This post is solely based on observation, the ao3 tag search, and my own personal system for tagging! I am not, by any means or sorts, an ao3 fandom moderator, but someone who's read nearly 30 thousand of the fics out there and struggles to read the rest

General tags for any fic

For fic forms: Art - Fanart - Digital Art - Drabble - Short - Complete - One shot - 5+1 Things - Poetry - Podfic - Songfic - Text Fic - Prompt Fic - Case Fic - Ficlet - RPF

For plot: Fix-it - Pre-Canon - Canon Era - Post-Canon - Canon Compliant - Not Canon Compliant - Everybody Lives/Nobody dies - Everybody dies/Nobody lives - Alternate Universe: Modern / Canon Divergence / Historical / College / Fantasy / Soulmates / Royalty / Powers / No Powers / Roommates - Kid Fic - Sickfic - Future Fic - Reincarnation - Time Travel - Plot What Plot (PWP) - Epilogue What Epilogue (EWE) - Slow Build - Missing Scene - Flashbacks - Crossover - ANY triggering topic you are writing about (eg: death, rape, violence, suicide, etc)

For vibes: Hurt/Comfort - Comfort - Hurt No Comfort - Humour - Fluff - Domestic Fluff - Fluff and Angst - Angst - Light Angst - Heavy Angst - Angst with a Happy Ending - No Happy Ending - Happy Ending - Whump - Crack - Cute - Humour - Dark - Sweet

For relationships: Slow burn - Romance - First Kiss - No/Mild/Explicit Sexual Content - Specific kinks (eg: Praise Kink) - Smut - No Smut - Feels - Getting Together - First Time - Pre-Relationship - Developing Relationship - Established Relationship - Mutual Pining - Pining - Friends to Lovers - Enemies to Lovers - Friends With Benefits - Love Confessions - Unrequited Love - True Love - Forbidden Love - Falling in Love

For characters: POV (insert character name) - Pining (character) - Hurt (character) - Jealous (character) - Worried (character) - Protective (character) - Dark (character) - BAMF (character) - Possessive (character) - Caring (character) - Top/Bottom (character) - Good/Evil (character) - Oblivious (character) - Manipulative (character) - Soft (character) - (character) lives - (character) dies

For tropes: Christmas - Sharing a bed - Weddings - Jealousy - Misunderstandings - Secret Relationship - First Meetings - Scars - Aftercare - Arranged Marriage - Kidnapping - Blood - Blood and Injury - Injury - Magic - Panic Attacks - Amnesia - Bathing/Washing - Soul-Identifying Marks - Touch-Starved

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

Time for another dive into the code! This time we're doing Warm, Moderate, and Cold Cove again, but for the transition between Step 2 to 3 instead of 1 to 2.

As a refresher to those who might not remember the original post talking about how it works from Step 1 to 2:

When making certain decisions in how you interact with Cove, the game will give you either warm points or cold points. These points are calculated at the end of the step to determine whether your Cove in the following Step will be warm, moderate, or cold. If you have more cold than warm points, the game will only use the cold ones, and same for having more warm than cold points. The points not used are essentially "thrown away."

A "warm" Cove is friendlier to others and cracks more jokes, a "moderate" Cove is closest to his Step 1 self, and a "cold" Cove is quieter and more blunt. They all interact with the MC similarly, except a warm Cove is more likely to tease the MC and not be as dependent while a cold Cove is more likely to side with/cling to them. His relationships with others will still be similar regardless of whether he's "warm," "moderate," or "cold," but how he expresses himself in those relationships may be different.

The warm-to-cold variation is a spectrum that goes from Warm, Warm-Moderate, Moderate, Cold-Moderate, and Cold. There is no Warm Cove who will do Cold Cove things and vice versa. With Warm-Moderate and Cold-Moderate, the idea is that you have a mostly Warm/Cold Cove respectively but with some mild variation.

There is a variable for "moderate" points in the game's code, but it goes unused in the game itself, meaning that a moderate Cove is more of a "default." If you were to go from the start of Step 1 and immediately to the end without doing any moments, that would be the best way of getting a "moderate" Cove. Engaging in moments is more likely to make your Cove warm/cold, so if you've played the game a lot and always go through a lot of moments without using the Cove Creator to change his personality, you could get a Moderate Cove for a potentially different experience.

In terms of the rules on how to get a warm/cold Cove, it varies. If the MC calls Cove out, teases him, includes/talks about other people, and encourages Cove to be more outgoing or do new things, he's more likely to be warm. Taking Cove's side, being protective of him, speaking up for him rather than letting him do it himself, and keeping things between him and the MC is more likely to make him cold. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation though, as a shy MC could make Cove warm because he's being encouraged to defend you whereas leaving Cove all by himself could make him cold.

Regardless of whether he's Warm, Moderate, or Cold, Cove will remain a sentimental introvert who gets flustered over romance.

Cove's appearance has nothing to do with whether he's warm/moderate/cold barring the rare cases where a choice might happen to overlap with it.

In terms of new information from Step 2 to 3 specifically, I'll say right away that whether your Step 2 Cove is already warm, moderate, or cold doesn't matter nor factor into how your Step 3 Cove turns out. All that matters is how you treat him in Step 2.

In addition, the point calculation works differently. In Step 1, having no more than 11 points in either Cold or Warm will give a Moderate Cove, having 12-19 points in either Cold or Warm will give a Cold-Moderate/Warm-Moderate Cove (depending on which you have more points in), and having 20 or more points will give a fully Cold/Warm Cove.

Also, if your points are tied, the game would "flip a coin" to decide whether it will opt for the cold or warm points.

However, Step 3 has more variation (well, not technically, but we'll talk about that later), first by making it even harder to get a Moderate Cove.

You only need 5 or more points in either warm/cold points to be locked out of a fully Moderate Cove (as a fully Moderate Cove would be 0-4 points). 5-9 will get you a slightly warm/cold Cove (we'll call this Moderate-Warm and Moderate-Cold for convenience), 10-14 or 15-19 (the game does two checks for this for some reason) will get you a Warm-Moderate or Cold-Moderate Cove, and having 20 or more will get you a fully Warm/Cold Cove as before.

In the case of a tie in points, the game will not do a "coin flip" anymore and will instead default to cold points.

One odd thing I will note (this wasn't relevant in the original post where I talked about Step 1->2) is that the Cove Creator actually sets some default cold/warm points as you pick the various buttons for Cove's personality.

The button on Warm gives 20 warm points and 10 cold points (again, these cold points are "thrown away" because the game only cares about what you have more of), the button between Warm and Moderate gives 12 warm points and 6 cold points, the button on Moderate gives 6 warm points and 6 cold points, the button between Moderate and Cold gives 6 warm points and 12 cold points, and the button on Cold gives 10 warm points and 20 cold points. These are the same points applied in any step where you can use the Cove Creator to change Cove's personality.

Now, did you catch something there?

Due to how Step 3 changed how few points are needed to lock you out of Moderate Cove (only 5 or more), it's actually impossible to get a fully Moderate Cove using the Cove Creator to change his personality. It will give you 6 warm points and 6 cold points, which will default to the 6 cold points due to the "coin flip" removal, thus giving you a Moderate-Cold Cove.

You can actually test this yourself if you have a save at the Step 3 Cove Creator. Set Cove's personality to "Moderate" and skim through the intro narration until it starts talking about Cove's family, right here:

Cove's relationships with his family improved over the years. Kyra visited several times after that summer, and things became easier between the two.

He was also closer with his dad than ever before. You knew they talked more, and that helped prevent a lot of friction before it could start.

If you had a fully Moderate Cove, you would get one of two follow-up narrations depending on if your Step 2 Cove was warm/warm-moderate/cold-moderate/cold or fully moderate.

if Warm/Warm-Moderate/Cold-Moderate/Cold in Step 2:

Cove's personality, however, drifted back to how it was in the past. He was pretty blunt and not overly social, but he had plenty to say when he felt like it.

if Moderate in Step 2:

Cove's personality, however, was recognizable from the past. He was pretty blunt and not overly social, but he had plenty to say when he felt like it.

You won't get this narration if you chose Moderate from the Cove Creator. Instead, you would get one of these:

if Warm/Warm-Moderate/Moderate in Step 2:

However, Cove grew into someone no one would call 'social'. He kept to himself, usually. He cared for the few connections he did have, but didn't reach outside them.

if Cold-Moderate/Cold in Step 2:

However, Cove still wasn't what anyone could call 'social'. He kept to himself, usually. He cared for the few connections he did have, but didn't reach outside them.

I actually checked just to make absolutely certain that I was on the latest version of Our Life (1.7.1) and I am. It seems that in the process of trying to give more variation to Cove's personality (or just making Moderate more unlikely), the Cove Creator was left out of the equation. I'd be curious to know if this happens on older versions.

Further puzzling is that I was going to list multiple examples to show the difference between Warm/Warm-Moderate/Moderate-Warm and Moderate-Cold/Cold-Moderate/Cold (similar to what I did in the last post for Step 2 Cove), but the thing is that I could not find any.

I searched and scanned through the code in an attempt to call upon any instance where it would check for a Warm-Moderate/Moderate-Warm or Moderate-Cold/Cold-Moderate Cove specifically, and in every case the game considered them to be fully Warm and fully Cold respectively.

In other words, whereas in Step 2 you had Warm, Warm-Moderate, Moderate, Cold-Moderate, and Cold Cove, Step 3 seems to stick to a strict Warm/Moderate/Cold Cove with no in-betweens. If anyone has any evidence to the contrary then by all means, message/toss me an ask, but I couldn't find anything to suggest otherwise.

This also makes Moderate Cove the hardest to get since you would need to actually achieve it in-game by avoiding warm/cold points as much as possible. Even just going through the Step 2 intro and ending only, I don't even think you could avoid being locked out of Moderate Cove if you're playing on Fond/Crush.

Getting back to the topic of choices though, here are the options themselves that'll give you warm/cold points throughout Step 2:

Step 2 Intro

After Cove comes by to deliver the fruit bouquet (Fond/Crush only):

"Thank you!" [warm +1]

"Thanks." [warm +1]

"You are too cute sometimes." [cold +1]

When Jeremy is complaining about his parents:

You kept quiet. [cold +1]

"You shouldn't talk about your parents like that." [warm +1]

"Sorry. It must suck being forced to do something you don't want." [warm +1]

"We just said hello. You don't have to keep complaining at us." [cold +1]

"Calm down. You don't have to yell so much." [cold +1]

"Who peed in your cereal this morning?" [warm +1]

When Jeremy mocks Cove's eyebrows:

"What?" [no change]

"No! Cove's wavy eyebrows are so cool!" [warm +1]

"How can you say that when you've got a bowl cut?" [warm +1]

"Don't listen to him. They're really unique and special." [cold +1]

"Well, they are kind of silly." [warm +1]

"Apologize to Cove right now. You can't treat people like that." [cold +1]

(immediately following above choice):

You just rolled your eyes. [warm +1]

You crossed your arms over your chest. [cold +1]

You shook your head. [warm +1]

You patted Cove on the shoulder. [cold +1]

You lunged towards Jeremy! [no change]

You grinned at all of this. [warm +1]

When Derek points out the fruit bouquet once Jeremy is gone:

"I need to save it." [cold +1]

"Why not? Let's eat." [warm +1] {note that the skewers will change Step 3 Cove's left wristwear: pineapple or strawberry will take it off, grape will give him the black wristband, and melon will give him the chain bracelet and beaded wrap bracelet with the jewel}

When Elizabeth shows up to confront the MC over the fruit bouquet (if the MC chose to eat it with Derek and Cove):

"Sorry, Elizabeth..." [warm +1]

"Get over it." [warm +1]

"Well, the morning's been kind of a disaster!" [cold +1]

"We were hungry?" [cold +1]

"It wasn't us. A seagull came down and ate it all while we weren't looking!" [warm +1]

When Derek and Cove try to make an escape from Elizabeth:

You ran! [cold +1]

You stayed. [warm +1]

After Cove sneaks into the MC's room (Fond/Crush only):

"What are you doing?" [warm +1]

"What's up, Romeo?" [warm +1]

"This sure is a surprise, but you're always welcome here." [cold +1]

"Is everything okay? What happened?" [cold +1]

"You're lucky I didn't start screaming." [cold +1]

"Amazing. My dreams have come true." [warm +1]

(following above scene) When Cove vents about being upset over his situation with his parents:

"There's nothing wrong with feeling bad. That is hard to deal with." [cold +1]

"We can deal with this." [warm +1]

"I'm sorry, Cove. You know I'm here for you." [warm +1]

"Yeah, that's... a lot." [cold +1]

You didn't know what to say. [warm +1]

(following above scene) After Cove asks if he can stay longer in MC's room:

"You can stay tonight, but we shouldn't make a habit of this." [warm +1]

"I've got a flashlight and some cards. Are you in?" [warm +1]

"Of course. You can always stay here, Cove." [cold +1]

(following above scene) When the MC realizes that Cove has stayed the night in their room:

"Cove!" [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

○ You laughed quietly. [warm +1]

○ You laughed loudly. [cold +1]

○ "Are you okay?" [warm +1]

○ You helped him up. [cold +1]

○ "Shhh! My moms are gonna hear us." [warm +1]

You laughed out loud. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

○ You laughed even more. [cold +1]

○ "Are you okay?" [warm +1]

○ You helped him up. [cold +1]

○ "Shhh! My moms are gonna hear us." [warm +1]

You jumped out of bed. {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

○ You whispered in his ear. [cold +1]

○ You shook his shoulder. [warm +1]

○ You poked him in the face.

○ You tugged at his hair.

○ You threw a pillow at him.

You froze. {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

○ You whispered in his ear. [cold +1]

○ You shook his shoulder. [warm +1]

○ You poked him in the face. [no change]

○ You tugged at his hair. [no change]

○ You threw a pillow at him. [no change]

(following above scene) After Cove realizes that he'd fallen asleep and tries (fails) to calm down:

"It's going to be alright." [warm +1]

"We're going to be in so much trouble!" [cold +1]

"Just calm down." [warm +1]

"Settle down, before moms hear you." [cold +1]

You didn't say anything. [warm +1]

(following above scene) As Cove is trying to sneak out back to his house:

You wished him luck. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You rallied him to keep going. [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You suggested he sneak out the door instead. {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You urged him to hurry up. {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

When Kyra asks the MC if they have any restaurant recommendations:

You shrugged. [cold +1] {note that this will give Step 3 Cove the spiky hair}

"Not really." [warm +1] {note that this will give Step 3 Cove the middle-parted hair}

"Sure, I have a couple of favorites." [no change]

You nodded. [no change]

When Cove is sulking near the end of the outing with Kyra:

You made a silly face at him. [warm +1]

You smiled at him. [cold +1]

You gave him a sympathetic look. [cold +1]

You flicked his straw wrapper at him. [warm +1]

You left him alone. [cold +1]

Wave

Fond/Crush routes only

When Cove asks the MC if they want to come down to the beach:

"Sure! I'll meet you there when we're done." [cold +1]

"Oh- yeah, I could do that..." [cold +1]

"Alright." [warm +1]

"I can't this time." [warm +1]

After MC meets with Cove on the beach:

"I wouldn't have missed it." [cold +1]

"Sorry you had to wait." [warm +1]

"And stay inside all day? I don't think so." [warm +1]

If the MC brought a board with them to the beach:

"Cove, I'm not that good at surfing." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"I borrowed this board, but I don't know how to surf..." (if the MC is inexperienced at surfing) [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

"I'm ready to get in there." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"Wanna have a competition?" (if the MC is experienced at surfing) [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"Will you give me some tips?" [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

If the MC didn't bring a board with them to the beach:

{note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"What am I supposed to do while you surf?" [cold +1]

"I'll stay here and watch you surf." [warm +1]

"I'm going to find something to do while you surf." [cold +1]

After Cove jokes about clothespins if the MC went surfing with him (not for competition) and got into a splash fight with him:

"That was terrible on any scale." [warm +1]

"Please don't." [warm +1]

"You're adorable." [cold +1]

"I'm not sure that even counts as a pun." [cold +1]

"I love it." [warm +1]

If the MC chose to stay on shore and watch Cove surf:

You continued to watch quietly. [warm +1]

You started cheering him on after a really cool wave. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You shouted at him to remember to pace himself. [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You did an impression of a sports announcer. {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You made a silly face when he looked back at you. [cold +1]

(following above choice) After Cove checks on the MC:

"I've found ways to entertain myself." [cold +1]

"It's been fun." [warm +1]

"Eh, I'm just a little bored." [cold +1]

"This was totally radical, dude." [warm +1]

"I couldn't take my eyes off of you." (if Crush) [cold +1]

(following above choice) When Cove tells the MC that he likes them being there:

You teased him. [warm +1]

You smiled. [cold +1]

You looked away. [cold +1]

When Cove imitates Jeremy (if the MC chose to go with him to the park):

"Ha ha." [warm +1]

"Don't scare me like that! One Jeremy is enough." [cold +1]

"That's not really nice. Funny, but not nice." [warm +1]

"You don't have to tease him." [warm +1]

"Ugh, parents don't know anything." [cold +1]

(following above) After the conversation with Cove starts winding down:

"We better get home." [warm +1]

"I wish days were longer." [cold +1]

You chose not to say anything. [warm +1]

Growing

When the MC greets Cove when he arrives at their house (Fond/Crush only):

With a wave. [cold +1]

With a low five. [warm +1]

With a nudge to the shoulder. [cold +1]

With a noogie. [warm +1]

With a hug. [cold +1]

After Cove explains why he's come over (Fond/Crush only):

You thought that was really sweet. [warm +1]

"How'd you know I was doing nothing? Maybe I had plans." [warm +1]

You nodded. That made sense to you. [cold +1]

"I was thinking the exact same thing." [warm +1]

When Cove admits that he hasn't eaten: (Fond/Crush only):

"Yeah, I get like that sometimes too." [no change]

"You should really eat properly." [no change]

"You didn't eat at all? Then you gotta have something now!" [cold +1]

"Great! We can eat lunch together." [warm +1]

During the second pause of tic-tac-toe or hangman when Cove complains about feeling stuck to the floor:

"I'll have to charge you rent then." [warm +1]

"You can be my new roomie if you want." [cold +1]

"Looks like we'll both be stuck here forever then. I'm sticky too." [warm +1]

"No way. I'll peel you off if I have to." [cold +1]

You just smiled at his whining. [cold +1]

During the third pause of tic-tac-toe or hangman when Cove wonders where the game's name came from:

"Maybe they named it that because people played it with tics and tacks."/'"Maybe it's what they had instead of real court trials back then." [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"I've always wondered about that..." [warm +1]

"I'll have to look it up later." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

"It's a really old game. No one's sure where the name came from." [cold +1]

After the MC played tic-tac-toe with Cove (Indifferent/Fond):

You laughed along with Cove. [warm +1]

"Well, you should've taken the challenge more seriously." [warm +1]

"You're the one who wanted to play in the first place." [cold +1]

"I'm still the winner and you're the loser!" (if the MC won) [warm +1]

"I let you win, actually." (if Cove won) [cold +1]

You shook your head at him. [cold +1]

After the MC's initial reaction to Cove's hangman phrase (Crush only):

You didn't say anything. [cold +1]

"No, you're cute!" [cold +1]

"...Thank you." [cold +1]

"I can't believe you!" [warm +1]

"Damn, Cove." [warm +1]

You just let out a small squeak. [warm +1]

(following above choice):

"I really think you're cute. Seriously." [warm +1]

"Did you mean it? Do you really think I'm cute?" [cold +1]

You didn't say anything. [warm +1]

After Cove talks about how he thinks their talk about romance has been good (Fond/Crush only):

"I think so too." [cold +1]

You shrugged. [cold +1]

"It was awkward." [cold +1]

"The conversation had a mind of its own." [warm +1]

You just nodded quietly. [warm +1]

After Cove comments that he loves it out on the poppy hill (Fond/Crush only):

"I do too." [no change]

"You do? That's surprising," you said jokingly. [warm +1]

"Your opinion sure has changed since you were first on this hill." [warm +1]

You quietly enjoyed the moment. [cold +1]

After Cove says that he's glad to have met the MC (Fond/Crush only):

You blushed at the statement. [warm +1]

"I feel the same." [warm +1]

"That's so nice of you to say." [warm +1]

You smiled silently. [cold +1]

"You're being too sweet!" [cold +1]

"You're special to me, Cove." [cold +1]

Family

After Cove comes into the home and notes the awkwardness (if the MC stayed with their moms):

You laughed. [warm +1]

You wiped your eyes. [warm +1]

You smiled at him. [cold +1]

You shook your head in answer. [cold +1]

When the MC can talk to Cove about what happened, if the MC stayed with their moms (Fond/Crush only):

"There's a lot going on right now." [warm +1]

"It's nothing..." [cold +1]

You didn't speak to him. [cold +1]

"I needed to talk to you." (if the MC visited Cove) [warm +1]

"Thank you for coming... I'm glad you're here." (if the MC went to their room or outside) [cold +1]

"My parents are dead!" (if the MC asked about their adoption story) [warm +1]

(following after above choice)

"You don't have to do this." [cold +1]

"I'm okay..." [warm +1]

You closed the distance and hugged him." (only if Cove did not hug the MC; this happens if the MC doesn't have enough "touch points") [no change]

You started to cry. [warm +1]

You took a step back from him. [cold +1]

If the MC is participating in Lee's idea and Cove comments on it (Fond/Crush only):

"Thanks." [warm +1]

"I was pretty good, huh?" [warm +1]

You blushed and said nothing. [cold +1]

"Luckily we had a crowd who's easily impressed." [cold +1]

Dinner

When Cove asks the MC the first time if they want to come over for dinner:

"Yeah, I'll go." [cold +1]

"I can't." [no change]

You kept listening. [warm +1]

When Cove asks the MC the second time if they want to come over for dinner:

"Yeah, I can come." [warm +1]

"I'll have to ask my moms and get back to you." [cold +1]

"No, I can't make it."

○ "Sorry." [no change]

○ "Alright, I'll go." [cold +1]

"Why am I the only one invited? Or did you mean the whole family?"

○ "I can't. Sorry." [warm +1]

○ "Alright, I'll go." [warm +1]

After the MC looks around Cove's room (only if they haven't been in Cove's room before):

"Are you trying to make your own beach with all this sand?" [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"It's nice." [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

"Thanks for letting me come over." [warm +1]

You weren't sure what to do. [cold +1]

When the MC chooses where to sit/not to sit and Cove raises his eyebrows at them (Crush only):

You were nervous about that. [warm +1]

You smiled comfortingly at him. [cold +1]

You chuckled over it. [warm +1]

You felt very charmed by his reaction. [cold +1]

(following immediately after above choice):

You only shrugged back. [warm +1]

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." [cold +1]

"You're like an open book, you know that?" [cold +1]

"You're such a sweet guy, Cove." [warm +1]

"You're adorable!" [cold +1]

When Cove asks if the MC wants to name a fish (Fond/Crush only):

"Yeah, I do!" [warm +1]

"Can I?" [cold +1]

"No thanks." {note that this will give Cove the thin rectangular blue glasses}

When the MC has the opportunity to ask if they can name a fish (Indifferent only):

"Can I name a fish?" [warm +1]

You kept quiet. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove the thin rectangular blue glasses}

When Cove comments on how it seems unfair that the MC can't have pets at their house:

"Right? My moms can be strict over the weirdest things sometimes!" [warm +1]

"I don't mind it too much." [no change]

"I get it." [cold +1]

After Cove talks about how humiliating the deal was for him (if MC told Cove about the deal in Step 1):

"I'm really sorry about what happened, Cove." [cold +1]

"Then I'm sorry, since I'm gonna bring it up forever." [cold +1]

"Yeah, I get why that'd be embarrassing." [warm +1]

You laughed. [warm +1]

You stayed quiet. [no change]

if the MC has either told Cove about the deal in Sandcastle or did not bring up the deal now in Dinner

When the MC is given the opportunity to question Cove on why they're there:

"Is there a reason they wanted me to come over tonight?" [warm +1]

You kept quiet. [no change]

After Mr. Holden thanks the MC for coming:

You thanked Cove's parents back for inviting you. [no change]

You didn't say anything to that. [no change]

You just felt awkward about the situation. [cold +1]

When there's a lull in conversation during dinner:

You brought up your own topic of conversation. [cold +1]

You left coming up with a conversation topic to them. [warm +1]

After Cove is denied having an immediate sleepover with the MC (Fond/Crush only):

You gave him some words of encouragement. [cold +1]

You patted him on the back. [cold +1]

"Pst, I'll sneak the phone into my room tonight." [warm +1]

"Hey, you could always sneak into my room again." [warm +1]

You pouted about it too. [cold +1]

if the MC chose to tell Cove about the deal here in Dinner instead of anything else

After Cove storms out of the room:

You immediately followed after Cove. [cold +1]

You just stood there. [warm +1]

After Cove and the MC head to the MC's living room:

"Are you okay?" [warm +1]

"What do you want to do now?" [warm +1]

"I'm really sorry Cove." [cold +1]

"You did the right thing by leaving." [cold +1]

"Do you want to be doing this?" [cold +1]

You said nothing. [warm +1]

After the MC listens to Cove vent about his dad's behavior:

You continued to listen quietly. [warm +1]

"I'm sorry you have to deal with all that." [warm +1]

"You're right, that's terrible." [cold +1]

"It could be worse." [cold +1]

"Even if it didn't go well, your dad's only trying to make you happy." [cold +1]

When Cove laments the idea that he might not've been friends with the MC due to his dad (Fond/Crush only):

You stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. [cold +1]

You hugged him. [warm +1]

You smiled reassuringly. [warm +1]

You wiped his tears. [cold +1]

(following immediately after above choice):

"I'm really glad we got to be friends." [warm +1]

"Please don't cry." [warm +1]

"Hey, don't worry about it. Alright?" [warm +1]

You didn't need to say anything. [cold +1]

"I wouldn't have let anything your dad -or anyone else- did mess things up." [cold +1]

After Cove insults his dad's inability to make people happy:

"I'm really sorry." [cold +1]

"You don't actually mean what you're saying." [cold +1]

"Do you hate your dad?" [warm +1]

"I'm here for you." (Fond/Crush only) [cold +1]

You felt bad that things were so hard for Cove and his dad. [warm +1]

You didn't say anything. [cold +1]

(following after above choice):

"What about your fish?" [cold +1]

"I remember that day, when it happened." [warm +1]

(following after above choice):

"Your dad still needs to stop being so forceful, though." [cold +1]

"You might feel better than you do if you tried to make up with your dad." [warm +1]

"You guys really need to learn how to communicate." [warm +1]

"I'll be on your side no matter what you do about your dad." (Fond/Crush only) [cold +1]

You stayed quiet. [no change]

When the MC is deciding what they can do for Cove to help him:

"Do you want me to turn the TV on?" [cold +1]

"Do you want something to eat? Or drink?" [cold +1]

You listened to whatever he wanted to say. [warm +1]

You stayed with him silently. [warm +1]

Road Trip

After Elizabeth teases Cove and the MC about getting married:

You told her to cut it out already. [cold +1]

"Cove has a point. It wasn't a great comment." [warm +1]

"I'll marry you, Cove." [warm +1]

You ignored Elizabeth. [cold +1]

You were embarrassed. [warm +1]

"I'll marry Cove on the same day Shiloh's mom marries Cove's dad." (if the MC joked about Cove's dad marrying Shiloh's mom in Long Day) [cold +1]

When the MC takes a good look at Cove wearing a jacket (Crush only):

You averted your gaze from him entirely. [warm +1]

"Yeah, don't worry about it." [no change]

"You look good - in the jacket. That's all..." (if Nervous) [cold +1]

"That looks nice on you." (if Relaxed) [warm +1]

"You just look so good right now." (if Direct) [warm +1]

"Yeah. Everything is really good." [no change]

You nodded while saying nothing. [no change]

After Cove panics and says "Nothing!" if the MC asks what he likes seeing others wear (Fond/Crush only):

That was funny. [warm +1]

You paid it no mind. [no change]

(following above choice):

It was a topic that made him uncomfortable, so you let it go. [cold +1]

You had a little fun and that was enough. You changed the subject. [no change]

"You're not very good at these conversations, are you?" [no change]

"I swear I won't make fun of you." [warm +1]

"I just thought it would be fun to talk about..." [cold +1]

(following above choice) After Cove admits he likes seeing people wear ankle bracelets:

"Thanks for answering." [warm +1]

"I like them too." [no change]

"Huh, out of everything in the world, you picked that." [no change]

"So you think they're sexy?" [cold +1]

When the MC is in the loft and sees that Cove is still awake (Fond/Crush only):

You grinned back at him. [cold +1]

You made a silly face. [no change]

You waved at him. [warm +1]

When Cove laments his actions sleeping over if Sleepover happened and if the MC invited him up to the loft (Fond/Crush only):

You encouraged him. [warm +1]

You comforted him. [cold +1]

You teased him. [no change]

When Cove starts getting nervous after the MC has invited him up to the loft (Crush only):

You were feeling the nervousness too. [warm +1]

You felt comfortable being so close to him. [no change]

His reaction made you happy. [cold +1]

(following above choice):

You laid there silently. [no change]

You tried to ease things with conversation. [no change]

You nudged closer to him. [warm +1]

You touched his free arm lightly. [cold +1]

(following above choice, only if the MC chose to try and kiss Cove):

You laughed. [warm +1]

You just tried to check on him. [cold +1]

Mall

When the MC notices Cove and Derek in conversation:

You decided to keep listening. [no change]

You decided to join in with the conversation. [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You couldn't resist teasing the boys." (if Relaxed/Direct) [cold +1]

When Kyra gives Cove the passenger seat:

You decided to stick up for Cove. [cold +1]

You decided to jokingly complain at the special treatment. [warm +1]

You were fine with that. [warm +1]

You kept quiet. [cold +1]

After Kyra leaves, leaving the MC and their group alone:

You were happy about it. Talk about an amazing opportunity! [warm +1]

You felt unsure about the situation. Was this really ok? [warm +1]

You felt okay about the situation. [cold +1]

You were unhappy about it. This was not what you'd had in mind. [cold +1]

If the MC hasn't brought money to the mall (meaning the others will offer to pay):

You accepted their offers readily. [cold +1]

You'd let them know if you really needed it. [warm +1]

You rejected the offer right up front. [warm +1]

If the MC asks Cove for a sip of his smoothie (Fond only):

You pushed a little more. [no change]

You jokingly begged him. [cold +1]

You waited for him to decide on his own. [warm +1]

If the MC asks Cove for a sip of his smoothie (Crush only):

You decided to let it go. [cold +1]

You teased him. [warm +1]

You reassured him. [no change]

After Derek races off to check out the ride-on machines:

You thought his idea was childish. [cold +1]

You wanted to ride too. [no change]

You didn't care one way or another. [no change]

You stayed quiet about it. [warm +1]

Once the MC gives Cove the windchime (if they chose to get one for him):

You talked about how he seemed to want it. [warm +1]

You suggested that the chime simply made you think of him. [cold +1]

You explained that since his family did kind things for yours, you wanted to return the favor. / You explained that Cove had given you gifts and you wanted to get him something in return. [cold +1]

You didn't know what to say. / You didn't know what to say now. [warm +1]

Birthday

While the MC waits for activities to start:

You tried to chat with the people around. [warm +1]

You just talked with Cove. [cold +1]

You found a quiet spot to sit. [warm +1]

You just stood around where you were. [cold +1]

When the activities begin and Cove wonders what's going to happen:

You shrugged. [cold +1]

You scanned the area to make a guess. [cold +1]

You made a joke about something that wasn't going to happen. [warm +1]

If the MC wins pin the tail on the donkey:

You were humble about it. [cold +1]

You felt bashful over winning. [warm +1]

You reveled in the win. [warm +1]

(following above choice):

You offered to share the candy with Cove. [cold +1]

You kept the prize for yourself. [warm +1]

If Cove wins pin the tail on the donkey:

{note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You congratulated Cove. [cold +1]

You were disappointed you didn't win. [warm +1]

You were really impressed with his win. [warm +1]

You shrugged the game off. [cold +1]

You teased Cove. [warm +1]

"You looked cute." [warm +1]

(following after above choice):

You asked if he'd be willing to share the prize. [warm +1]

You didn't ask. [cold +1]

If neither the MC nor Cove won pin the tail on the donkey:

You were also disappointed. [cold +1]

"It was a good game." [warm +1]

You shrugged it off. [cold +1]

You teased him. [warm +1]

If the MC chooses to wear a crown/headband:

"I'm a party animal now." [warm +1]

"It does look very good on me, thanks." [no change]

"I don't know why I'm doing this." [cold +1]

When Cove asks the MC if he looks weird wearing the party hat (if the MC encouraged Cove to wear one):

"You look great, Cove." [warm +1]

"It's completely perfect." [cold +1]

"It looks silly." [warm +1]

You just giggled. [cold +1]

You shrugged. [cold +1]

You shook your head no. [warm +1]

After Cove does a taste test of one of the gummy bears (if the MC agreed to partner up with him):

"You should've waited." [warm +1]

You tried one for yourself. [cold +1]

"What did it taste like?" [no change]

(following above scene) If the MC failed to catch the gummy bear due to casually trying to catch it while also not having any athletic points:

You felt bummed at losing. [warm +1]

You jokingly blamed Cove for blowing it. [warm +1]

You just laughed. [cold +1]

You shrugged it off. [no change]

You bent down to eat the candy anyways. [cold +1]

If the MC makes it to the final round of the gummy bear toss, noticing Cove's determination:

You were charmed by his attitude. [warm +1]

You equally wanted to win. [no change]

You didn't want to let him down. [cold +1]

You thought this was kinda funny. [cold +1]

You felt nervous under the pressure. [warm +1]

If the MC wins the gummy bear toss with Cove (by either Cove being any level of sporty - points accumulated during Step 2 itself don't count - or the MC having accrued enough athletic points during Step 2):

You high-fived Cove. [warm +1]

You put an arm around Cove. [cold +1]

You jumped into a hug. [warm +1]

You ruffled Cove's hair. [cold +1]

You nudged him in a friendly way. [cold +1]

You smiled at him. [warm +1]

(following above choice):

"Nice catch!" [cold +1]

"Woo!" [warm +1]

"We demolished the competition." [no change]

When Miranda offers to launch someone in the bounce house (Cove will ask to be launched if the MC turns her down):

"Ok, launch me." [cold +1]

"Not me!" [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"I'd rather just watch." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You remained silent. [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

After Cove starts making sounds with the noise maker:

You asked Cove to stop. [warm +1]

You started blowing on your own noise maker. [cold +1]

You blew your noise maker back at Cove. [cold +1]

You were amused by Cove's antics.

○ You blew your noise maker back at Cove. [cold +1]

○ You told him to cut it out. [warm +1]

○ You jokingly tried to get away. [warm +1]

After Jeremy bullies either Cove, the MC, or both of them:

You poured your drink on Jeremy. [cold +1]

You pushed Jeremy. [cold +1]

You punched Jeremy in the face. [cold +1]

You drowned out his words with your noise maker. [warm +1]

You stood still, shocked. [warm +1]

You teared up. [warm +1]

(immediately following above choice):

"You're a dick!" [warm +1]

"You're ruining someone's birthday." [warm +1]

"I'm gonna find your parents and tell them what's going on." [warm +1]

"Don't say anything like that ever again!" [cold +1]

You laughed at his reaction. [cold +1]

You said nothing. [cold +1]

If the MC chose to retaliate (pour their drink on, push, punch, or swear) at Jeremy:

You shrugged. [no change]

"He deserved it." [cold +1]

You felt a little bad about it... [warm +1]

You were still mad at what happened. [warm +1]

"Do you think it was too much?" [cold +1]

If the MC did anything else in response to Jeremy:

You agreed Jeremy is totally nuts. [cold +1]

You wished that you had done something more. [warm +1]

You hoped that you would never see him again. [cold +1]

You weren't sure how to feel. [no change]

You were just happy Jeremy was gone. [cold +1]

You felt sad that he was so mean. [warm +1]

If the MC did not eat both the ice cream and cake, leading to Cove offering to take whatever's left (Fond/Crush only):

You slid your plate over. [cold +1]

You shook your head and kept your plate. [no change]

When Cove starts mashing his cake into his ice cream:

You raised your eyebrow. [cold +1]

You told him you do the same thing. [cold +1]

You thought it looked gross. [cold +1]

"I've never done that, but I want to now." [warm +1]

You didn't react. [warm +1]

After Cove and the MC reminisce on the ice cream cups (if Barbecue happened; Fond/Crush only):

You offered him a bite of your dessert." (if the MC is having dessert at all and did not slide their plate to Cove if they were only having one of the desserts) [warm +1]

You held up your fork and offered a bite of your dessert to him." (if the MC is having dessert at all and did slide their plate to Cove) [cold +1]

You asked him if you could have a bite of his dessert. [warm +1]

You smiled about the memory to yourself. [no change]

(following above choice) If MC asked/offered dessert and told Cove they were serious about it (Crush only):

"It's fine, Cove. I get it." [warm +1]

"Don't want to get my cooties, huh?" [warm +1]

"Different how? In what way?" (if the MC shared their ice cream with Cove in Barbecue) [cold +1]

You were a little down at his refusal. [cold +1]

After Cove confirms with Miranda that she didn't know what happened with Jeremy:

You got up and started bouncing again. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You laid back and closed your eyes to rest. [warm +1]

You changed the subject. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You told her about the ordeal. [warm +1]

Summerwork

After Cove thanks the MC for listening to him:

"Anytime." [cold +1]

"It's cool." [warm +1]

"You are welcome." [no change]

"Don't make a habit of it." [no change]

When Cove offers to check his own bag for the MC's homework (Fond/Crush only):

"Good idea." [cold +1]

"I don't want to." [warm +1]

"Alright..." [warm +1]

"It's not gonna be there." [cold +1]

Escapade

As the MC sees Cove spit out a watermelon seed into a bush (Fond/Crush only):

You shook your head in disapproval. [warm +1]

"Ew!" [cold +1]

You did the same and spat a seed into the bushes. [cold +1]

"I bet I can spit a seed farther than you." [warm +1]

(following above choice) When Cove asks if it's bad to have another slice):

You bumped him with your shoulder. [warm +1]

Unable to resist, you knocked the mostly finished slice out of his hand. [cold +1]

You smiled at him. [warm +1]

"No, it's alright." [cold +1]

"It's definitely bad." [warm +1]

You sighed affectionately. [cold +1]

After Cove leaves to go inside after the sunshower (Indifferent only):

You stayed outside to dry off. [warm +1]

You went inside. [cold +1]

When Cove offers to let the MC come inside his house to dry off (Fond/Crush only):

"Thanks, let's do that." [cold +1]

"You're the sweetest guy I know." [warm +1]

"I don't wanna cause trouble." [warm +1]

"I'm fine." [cold +1]

After Kyra opens the windows and turns up the radio:

You laughed and enjoyed the event. [warm +1]

You jokingly complained about the situation. [cold +1]

You were not a fan of this stunt. [cold +1]

You danced in your seat to the music. [warm +1]

As Cove panics over the papers flying out the window:

Amused, you helped. [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You helped frantically. [cold +1]

You watched him struggle, entertained. [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

When Cove complains about feeling tricked by Kyra:

You sided with Cove. [cold +1]

You sided with Kyra. [warm +1]

You stayed quiet. [warm +1]

After Kyra talks about catching a movie and Cove points out that he doesn't have any shoes:

"You should always bring shoes when you're going out." [cold +1] {note that this will give Step 3 Cove the blue swimming trunks}

"I'm not wearing any either." [warm +1] {note that this will give Step 3 Cove the blue swimming trunks if you follow up with "I don't know" or the pink swimming trunks with "We can't"/"It doesn't matter"}

"It doesn't matter." [warm +1] {note that this will give Step 3 Cove the pink swimming trunks}

As Cove shifts awkwardly while waiting for Kyra to buy tickets:

You offered him your shoes." (if the MC is wearing shoes) [warm +1]

Still, you consoled him. [cold +1]

You teased him over it. [warm +1]

You complained with him. [cold +1]

You kept quiet. [no change]

If the MC chose to leave the theater early with Cove:

"Thanks for leaving, Cove." [warm +1]

"I'm sorry we had to go." [warm +1]

"You're a really good friend." (if Fond/Crush) [cold +1]

"You're a good guy." (if Indifferent) [cold +1]

You hugged him." (if Fond/Crush) [cold +1]

You just wanted to stay quiet. [warm +1]

After Cove explains to the MC why he thinks Kyra took he and the MC out for their escapade:

"Are you having a good time with your mom around?" [warm +1]

"Okay. I get it." [cold +1]

"She shouldn't have made me be a part of it." [warm +1]

You nodded in understanding. [warm +1]

"She's giving you a taste of your own medicine." [cold +1]

You said nothing. [no change]

When the MC recalls how Cove ran away when they were kids (if Runaway happened):

You kept that thought to yourself. [no change]

You whispered about it to Cove. [warm +1]

○ You decided to inform Kyra. [cold +1]

○ You nodded and kept the secret. [no change]

You said it out loud. [cold +1]

(following above choice if the MC told Kyra about Cove running away):

You laughed. [cold +1]

You felt extremely embarrassed." (if "You said it out loud" was chosen from above) [warm +1]

You apologized to Cove. [warm +1]

You didn't feel like this was a big deal. [cold +1]

When Cove offers to talk to the MC's moms over Kyra keeping MC later than expected (Fond/Crush only):

"Thank you." [cold +1]

"Thanks, I might need it." [warm +1]

"I'm just glad we're heading back now." [warm +1]

"This was worth it even if they get mad." [cold +1]

You nodded. [warm +1]

(following above scene if the MC borrowed Cove's shirt) After Cove tells the MC to keep his shirt:

"Thanks." [warm +1]

"You're the best." [cold +1]

Secretly, you had hoped to not have to give it back. [warm +1]

"Good. You weren't gonna get it back no matter what." [cold +1]

You were at a loss over this. [warm +1]

Soiree

(obviously, all Soiree points require that the MC ask Cove to the soiree)

After Cove nods in response to the MC asking him out on a real date (Crush only):

"Yay!" [warm +1]

"Really?" [cold +1]

You exhaled deeply. [warm +1]

"Thank you!" [cold +1]

"You're welcome." [no change]

(following above choice) after Pamela teases Cove about treating the MC well:

"You're making him uncomfortable!" [cold +1]

"Stop embarrassing me." [warm +1]

"You don't have to worry." [warm +1]

"You don't have to worry. Cove's definitely going to be good to me." [cold +1]

"Come on Cove, what kind of answer was that?" [warm +1]

When the moms ask the MC when Cove is going to arrive:

"He's getting here at seven." [warm +1]

"Soon. Probably." [warm +1]

"I'm not sure." [warm +1]

"I'm picking him up from his place." [cold +1]

"I'll go get him!" [cold +1]

When Kyra asks the MC if they want her to call Cove for them (if the MC went to pick up Cove for the soiree):

"That would be great, thanks." [warm +1]

"It's alright. I can wait." [cold +1]

"Can I go check?" [no change]

You went over to Cove's room to check yourself. (Fond/Crush only) [no change]

After Cove compliments the MC's look:

"You're looking good, too." [warm +1]

"I wish I could say the same to you." [warm +1]

"What is that you're wearing?" [cold +1]

"You look wonderful." [cold +1]

After the MC's initial response to Cove giving them a flower (Fond/Crush only):

"You didn't need to do this, Cove." [warm +1]

"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything." [cold +1]

"Thank you, Cove." [no change]

"I still like this one 'cause it's from you." (if the MC told Cove that they didn't like the flower) [warm +1]

You left the conversation there. [no change]

"You're so wonderful." [cold +1]

After Cove asks if it's fine to eat if the MC chose to go have food with him:

"Yeah. I only like these parties because of the free food." [warm +1]

"I knew you'd come just for the free food." [cold +1]

"Yep. I wonder what they'll have this time?" [no change]

"No one will mind. Really." [cold +1]

You simply nodded. [warm +1]

When the MC chooses to ask Cove for a dance:

{note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"So... would you like to dance, maybe?" [warm +1]

"Hey, Cove. Let's dance." [cold +1]

"Cove, can I have the pleasure of your company on the dance floor?" [warm +1]

"C'mon, it's time to dance." [no change]

"I'd like to dance. With you. If that's okay?" [cold +1]

When Cove comments on his obligation to dance if the MC asks him to dance and asked him earlier to be their practice date (Fond only):

"That's right." [warm +1]

"You don't have to." [cold +1]

"I guess?" [cold +1]

"Only if you want to." [warm +1]

"Thanks." [no change]

After Cove steps out of sync with the music if the MC asked him to dance (Fond/Crush only):

"We should have stuck to the Hokey Pokey." [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

"It's okay." [cold +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

"Dancing is harder than I thought." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

"I'm signing you up for dancing lessons." [warm +1] {note that this will give Cove sporty +1}

You quietly took a break. [warm +1]

Once Cove walks off to sit at a table (Indifferent only):

"Uh, Cove? Are you alright?" [cold +1]

"What's wrong?" [warm +1]

"Are you gonna get up soon?" [no change]

You didn't say anything. [no change]

(following above scene if MC chose to stay with Cove):

"What's wrong?" [warm +1]

"Feeling tired?" [cold +1]

"Are you sick?" [cold +1]

"What's up?" [no change]

"For what?" [warm +1]

After Cove walks away from the soiree (Fond/Crush only):

"Are you alright? And why are we here?" [cold +1]

"What's wrong?" [warm +1]

"Why'd you drag us out here?" [no change]

"Look at us, breaking the rules." [no change]

You didn't say anything. [no change]

(following above choice after the MC stays with Cove and he explains that he feels ready to go home):

"To your home planet?" [warm +1]

"Don't try running that far." [cold +1]

You kept quiet. [no change]

"I'm sorry you're not having fun anymore." [warm +1]

"Should I get my moms?" [cold +1]

Step 2 - Ending

If the MC wants to wear anklets for Cove (Fond/Crush only):

You put one ankle bracelet on. [cold +1]

You decided to wear several anklets." (if the MC owns multiple anklets) [warm +1]

You didn't wear one. [no change]

While the MC is waiting for Cove to arrive (Fond/Crush only):

It would only be polite to get the door for Cove. You went downstairs to wait. [cold +1]

You couldn't wait to see Cove, so you went downstairs to meet him when he arrived. [cold +1]

Cove knew your house well enough. You could lounge in your room to wait for him. [warm +1]

As Cove is talking about how he can't believe his mother is already leaving (Fond/Crush only):

"Yeah." [no change]

You nodded. [no change]

"She'll be back." [warm +1]

"Time's going by so fast." [cold +1]

After Cove notices the MC if they chose to wear an anklet/multiple anklets (Fond only):

"What do you mean?" [cold +1]

"Sorry." [cold +1]

"It's not about you." [warm +1]

You kept your mouth shut. [warm +1]

After Cove notices the MC if they chose to wear an anklet/multiple anklets (Crush only):

"Does it look good?" [warm +1]

You stayed quiet yourself. [warm +1]

"Sorry..." [cold +1]

"What's the problem, Cove?" [cold +1]

(following above choice):

"Yes." [cold +1]

"No." [warm +1]

"Maybe." [warm +1]

"I don't know what you're talking about?" [cold +1]

You shrugged. [no change]

If the MC chooses to confess to Cove with words (Crush only):

"I know you're crushing on me and I feel the same about you." [warm +1]

"I like you Cove. I really, really like you!" [cold +1]

"I... I have a crush on you." [warm +1]

"You're pretty and wonderful and the best person I know! I like you so much." [cold +1]

It was just too difficult to get the words out, no matter how much you wanted to. [no change]

(following above choice if MC didn't back out of confessing):

"I don't know, either." [warm +1]

"You don't have to do anything." [cold +1]

"You could tell me how you feel." [cold +1]

"Calm down." [warm +1]

You laughed. [no change]

You shrugged. [no change]

If the MC confesses to Cove by kissing without caution (Crush only):

"Was that alright?" [warm +1]

"Um, are you okay?" [cold +1]

"Surprise!" [warm +1]

"I really like you Cove." [cold +1]

"I'm sorry." [cold +1]

You couldn't say anything. [warm +1]

If the MC confesses to Cove by kissing cautiously and Cove apologizes (Crush only):

"It's okay." [cold +1]

You laughed. [warm +1]

You began to cry. [warm +1]

You were annoyed. [cold +1]

"I'll survive. Probably." [warm +1]

If the MC confesses to Cove by asking for a kiss (Crush only):

"Because I want to right now." [warm +1]

"I don't know." [warm +1]

"I don't wanna wait any longer." [cold +1]

"Why not?" [cold +1]

You couldn't answer. [cold +1]

If the MC tried to kiss Cove in Road Trip, leading to Cove bringing it up himself in their room (Crush only):

"How about a do-over?" [cold +1]

"Do you want to try again?" [warm +1]

You silently returned his gaze. [cold +1]

You smiled reassuringly. [warm +1]

When Cove points out how them getting into a relationship would make things different (Crush only):

"Things don't have to be different." [cold +1]

"I pretty much imagined you'd react like this." (if the MC didn't try to kiss Cove in Road Trip) [warm +1]

"This is hard for me." [warm +1]

"Should we find a crystal ball for answers?" [cold +1]

After Cove starts freaking out after sharing a kiss with the MC (Crush only):

You were full of nerves. [warm +1]

His reaction was really cute. [warm +1]

You thought his fluster was funny. [cold +1]

It worried you that he was so frantic. [cold +1]

(following above choice) After Cove calms down (provided the MC didn't verbally confess):

You smiled at him. [cold +1]

You hugged him. [warm +1]

"I like you, too." [cold +1]

You breathed a sigh of relief. [warm +1]

"I like you even more!" [cold +1]

After Cove points out that he and the MC's parents will probably take issue with their romantic relationship (Crush only):

"It's not fair." [warm +1]

"I wish we were older." [cold +1]

"It's okay." [cold +1]

"It doesn't matter, though. We like each other and that's what's important." [warm +1]

You didn't know what to say. [cold +1]

After Cove hesitates before crossing the street, anxious about his mom leaving (Fond/Crush only):

You smiled at him reassuringly. [cold +1]

You gave his back a pat. [cold +1]

You rested your hand on his arm. [warm +1]

"This isn't the last time you'll ever see her." [warm +1]

When Derek starts fantasizing about doing a show on the shopping street:

You thought it was a great idea and wanted to be a part of it. [warm +1]

You felt he could try this idea on his own. [cold +1]

You thought Derek needed to abandon that bad idea, stat. [warm +1]

You gave a look to the other two. [cold +1]

After Cove, Derek, and Elizabeth start speculating about the misprinted globe:

You wanted to side with Cove. {note that this will give Cove studious +1}

You backed up Derek. [no change]

You agreed with your sister. [no change]

"No, it's Australia." [warm +1]

You stayed out of it. [cold +1]

When the MC, Derek, and Cove spot Jeremy:

You stood there, shocked. [warm +1]

You glared at Jeremy. [cold +1]

You waved at Jeremy. [cold +1]

You decided to smile at Jeremy. [warm +1]

You looked away. [warm +1]

If the MC mentioned the realization that they probably won't see Jeremy again once summer ends:

"Good riddance." [cold +1]

"I think I might wanna see him again, sometime." [cold +1]

"Maybe he'll become nicer in the future." [warm +1]

"I'm happy it's over." [warm +1]

You stayed quiet. [warm +1]

If the MC chose to chase after Jeremy (if Birthday happened):

"Good riddance." [cold +1]

You tried to apologize for how you acted last time." (if the MC retaliated against Jeremy in Birthday) [warm +1]

"I just thought it'd be nice to say bye." [warm +1]

"Don't come back." [warm +1]

"I wish we could've really gotten to know each other." [cold +1]

You didn't say anything. [cold +1]

If the MC admitted to the families that they confessed to/kissed Cove (Crush only):

You were also feeling extremely, extremely embarrassed. [warm +1]

You felt bad for putting him in this situation. [cold +1]

You felt good for telling your friends and family something so important. [warm +1]

You didn't know how to feel anymore. [warm +1]

You were annoyed at the others for making Cove more nervous. [cold +1]

After the families tease Cove for not having manners like Derek:

"Manners-smanners." [cold +1]

"Who cares? I don't think it's that big of a deal." [warm +1]

You teased Cove for his bad habit. [warm +1]

You complimented Derek on his politeness. [cold +1]

You joked that Derek was basically an adult. [warm +1]

You kept quiet and took a bite of food. [warm +1]

If the MC chose to go outside after Cove to the poppy hill:

"You really should go to sleep." [warm +1]

"I know how you feel." [cold +1]

"I feel good." [warm +1]

"I hope you feel better." [cold +1]

You shrugged back. [warm +1]

You nodded. [cold +1]

(following above if Cove does an action that he claims is doing what the MC does):

"You do that all the time too." [warm +1]

"So do you, Cove!" [cold +1]

You were stunned he noticed enough to take note of it. [cold +1]

"I don't do it that much." [warm +1]

Not being able to argue with his assessment, you accepted it. [warm +1]

You felt bashful about his joke. [cold +1]

After Cove climbs up to the MC's window in his wetsuit to ask if they want to go to the beach with him (Fond/Crush only):

"Always." [cold +1]

"Here we go again..." [warm +1]

"It's way too early, Cove." [warm +1]

"You're crazy." [cold +1]

"Cove. You're so cute." [warm +1]

You gave a decisive nod. [cold +1]

Hope that helps, or at least is interesting in some form~

This one was a real doozy, not just because of having more chances than in Step 1 to give Cove warm/cold points but I really thought I was going crazy with the whole Moderate situation.

[selfhelpforstudents]

Identify your personal learning style, peak productivity hours, and preferred study environments.

Girls in Finance server/project // Selfhelpforstudents server

Step 1: Learning Style Assessment

1.1 Research Learning Styles:

Explore different learning styles, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or read/write. Familiarize yourself with the characteristics of each. (find my post here)

1.2 Reflect on Past Experiences:

Recall situations where you felt most engaged and learned effectively. Note the activities and methods that worked best for you.

1.3 Take Learning Style Assessments:

Utilize online learning style assessments to gain insights into your preferred learning style. Examples include VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic) or Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles Questionnaire.

Step 2: Peak Productivity Hours Identification

2.1 Self-Reflection:

Reflect on your daily energy levels and focus. Identify times when you feel most alert, focused, and energetic.

2.2 Experiment with Different Times:

Schedule study or work sessions during various times of the day. Observe your productivity levels during these sessions.

2.3 Track Productivity Patterns:

Maintain a journal to log your productivity levels throughout the day. Look for patterns or consistent periods of heightened focus.

Step 3: Preferred Study Environments

3.1 Experiment with Settings:

Study in different environments, such as libraries, cafes, quiet rooms, or outdoor spaces. Note how each setting affects your concentration and comfort.

3.2 Consider Noise Levels:

Assess your tolerance for noise. Determine if you work better in complete silence, with background music, or in moderately noisy environments.

3.3 Evaluate Lighting:

Pay attention to the impact of lighting on your focus. Experiment with natural light, artificial light, and different color temperatures.

3.4 Note Distractions:

Identify potential distractions in each environment. Consider whether you thrive in a completely distraction-free zone or if a mild level of distraction enhances your productivity.

Thanks for reading! Hope it helps! x

Join our Girls in Finance project if you want to learn more about studying finance and the financial world <3

[cripplecharacters]

Writing Intellectually Disabled Characters

[large text: Writing Intellectually Disabled Characters]

Something that very rarely comes up in disability media representation are intellectually disabled characters. There is very little positive representation in media in general (and basically none in media meant specifically for adults or in YA). I hope this post can maybe help someone interested in writing disabled characters understand the topic better and create something nice. This is just a collection of thoughts of only one person with mild ID (me) and I don't claim to speak for the whole community as its just my view. This post is meant to explain how some parts of ID work and make people aware of what ID is.

This post is absolutely not meant for self diagnosis (I promise you would realize before seeing a Tumblr post about it. it's a major disorder that gets most people thrown into special education).

Before: What is (and isn't) intellectual disability?

ID is a single, lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that affects IQ and causes problems with reasoning, problem‑solving, remembering and planning things, abstract thinking and learning. There is often delay or absence of development milestones like walking (and other kinds of movement), language and self care skills (eating, going to the bathroom, washing, getting dressed etc). Different people will struggle with different things to different degrees. I am, for example, still fully unable to do certain movements and had a lot of delay in self-care, but I had significantly less language-related delay than most of people with ID I know. Usually the more severe a person's ID is the more delay they will have.

Intellectual disability is one single condition and it doesn't make sense to call it "intellectual disabilities" (plural) or "an intellectual disability". It would be like saying "they have a Down Syndrome" or "he has autisms". The correct way would be "she has intellectual disability" or "ze is intellectually disabled".

Around 1-3% of people in the world have intellectual disability and most have mild ID (as opposed to moderate, severe, or profound). It can exist on its own without any identifiable condition or it can be a part of syndrome. There is over a thousand (ranging from very common to extremely rare) conditions that can cause ID but some of the most common are;

Down Syndrome,

Fragile X Syndrome,

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,

autism,

Edwards Syndrome,

DiGeorge Syndrome,

microcephaly.

Not every condition always causes ID and you can have one of the above conditions without having ID as long as it's not necessary diagnostic criteria to be met. For example, around 30% of autistic people have ID, meaning that the remaining 70% doesn't. It just means that it's comorbid often enough to be counted as a major cause but still, autistic ≠ intellectually disabled most of the time.

A lot of things that cause intellectual disability also come with facial differences, epilepsy, mobility-related disabilities, sensory disabilities, and limb differences. A lot of, but not all, intellectually disabled people go to special education schools.

Intellectual disability isn't the same as brain damage. Brain damage can occur at any point of a person's life while ID always starts in or before childhood.

"Can My Character Be [Blank]?"

[large text: "Can my character be [blank]?"]

The difficulty with writing characters with intellectual disability is that unlike some other things you can give your character, ID will very directly impacts how your character thinks and behaves - you can't make the whole character and then just slap the ID label on them.

Intellectually disabled people are extremely diverse in terms of personality, ability, verbality, mobility... And you need to consider those things early because deciding that your character is nonverbal and unable to use AAC might be an issue if you're already in the middle of writing a dialogue scene.

For broader context, a person with ID might be fully verbal - though they could still struggle with grammar, what some words mean, or with general understanding of spoken/written language to some degree. Or they could also be non-verbal. While some non-verbal ID people use AAC, it's not something that works for everyone and some people rely on completely language-less communication only. There is also the middle ground of people who are able to speak, but only in short sentences, or in a way that's not fully understandable to people who don't know them. Some might speak in second or third person.

Depending on the severity of your character's disability they will need help with different tasks. For example, I'm mildly affected and only need help with "complex" tasks like shopping or taxes or appointments, but someone who is profoundly affected will probably need 24/7 care.

It's not infantilization to have your character receive the help that they need. Disabled people who get help with bathing or eating aren't "being treated like children", they just have higher support needs than me or you. In the same vein, your character isn't "mentally two years old" or "essentially a toddler", they are a twenty-, or sixteen-, or fourty five-year old who has intellectual disability. Mental age isn't real. Intellectually disabled people can drink, have sex, smoke, swear, and a bunch of other things. A thirty year old person is an adult, regardless of disability.

An important thing is that a person with ID has generally bad understanding of cause-and-effect and might not make connections between things that people without ID just instinctively understand. For example, someone could see that their coat is in a different place than they left it, but wouldn't be able to deduce that then it means that someone else moved it or it wouldn’t even occur to them as a thing that was caused by something. I think every (or at least most) ID person struggles with this to some extent. The more severe someone's disability is the less they will be able to connect usually (for example someone with profound ID might not be able to understand the connection between the light switch and the light turning off and on).

People with mild intellectual disability have the least severe problems in functioning and a lot are able to live independently, have a job, have kids, stuff like that.

What Tropes Should You Avoid?

[large text: What Tropes Should You Avoid?]

The comic relief/punching bag;

The predator/stalker;

The "you could change this character into a sick dog and there wouldn't be much difference";

...and a lot more, but these are the most prevalent in my experience.

Most ID characters are either grossly villainized (more often if they have also physical disabilities or facial differences) or extremely dehumanized or ridiculed, or all of the above. It's rarely actually mentioned for a character to be intellectually disabled, but negative "representation" usually is very clear that this who they're attempting to portray. The portrayal of a whole group of people as primarily either violent predators, pitiful tragedies, or nothing more than a joke is damaging and you probably shouldn't do that. It's been done before and it hasn't been good once.

When those tropes aren't used the ID character is still usually at the very most a side character to the main (usually abled) character. They don't have hobbies, favorite foods, movies or music they like, love interests, friends or pets of their own, and are very lucky if the author bothered to give them a last name. Of course it's not a requirement to have all of these but when there is no characterization in majority of disabled characters, it shows. They also usually die in some tragic way, often sacrificing themselves for the main character or just disappear in some off-the-screen circumstances. Either way, they aren't really characters, they're more like cardboard cutouts of what a character should be - the audience has no way to care for them because the author has put no care into making the character interesting or likable at all. Usually their whole and only personality and character trait is that they have intellectual disability and it's often based on what the author thinks ID is without actually doing any research.

What Terms to Use and Not Use

[large text: What Terms to Use and Not Use]

Words like: "intellectually disabled" or "with/have intellectual disability" are terms used by people with ID and are generally OK to use. I believe more people use the latter (person first language) for themselves, but i know people who use both. I use the first more often but I don't mind the second. Some people have strong preference with one over the other and that needs to be respected.

Terms like:

"cursed with intellectual disability"

"mentally [R-slur]"

"moron"

"idiot"

"feeble-minded"

"imbecile"

"cretin"

are considered at least derogatory by most people and I don't recommend using it in your writing. The last 6 terms directly come from outdated medical terminology specifically regarding ID and aren't just "rude", they're ableist and historically connected to eugenics in the most direct way they could be. To me personally they're highly offensive and I wouldn't want to read something that referred to its character with ID with those terms, period-accurate historical fiction aside.

(Note: there are, in real life, people with ID that refer to themselves with the above... but this is still just a writing guide. Unless you belong to the group i just mentioned I would advise against writing that, especially if this post is your entire research so far.)

Things I Want to See More of in Characters with Intellectual Disability

[large text: Things I Want to See More of in Characters with Intellectual Disability]

[format borrowed from WWC]

I want to see more characters with intellectual disability that...

aren't white.

aren't men.

are adults (and not just 18-25 either, middle-aged people and seniors with ID exist).

get to have a different role in the story than just "annoying little brother".

are allowed to be angry without being demonized, and sad without being infantilized.

are not described as "mentally X years old".

are respected by others.

aren't "secretly smart" or “emotionally smart”.

are able to live independently with some help.

aren't able to live independently at all, and aren't mocked for that.

are in romantic relationships, have crushes, or are someone else's crush (interabled... or not).

are non-verbal or semi-verbal.

use mobility aids and/or AAC.

have hobbies they enjoy.

have friends and family who actually like and support them.

go on cool adventures.

are in different genres: fantasy, romComs, action, slice of life... all of them.

have their own storylines.

aren't treated as disposable.

aren't there just to be a mascot/motivation for an able-bodied character.

don't die or disappear at the first possible opportunity.

...and I want to see stories that have multiple intellectually disabled characters.

I hope that this list will give someone inspiration to go and make their first OC with intellectual disability. This is just a basic overview to motivate writers to do their own research rather than an “all-knowing post explaining everything regarding ID”. I definitely don't know everything especially about the parts of ID that I just don't experience (or not as much as others). This is only meant to be an introduction for people who don't really know what ID is or where to even start.

Talk to people with intellectual disability (you can send ask here but there are also a lot of other people on Tumblr who have ID and I know at least some have previously answered asks as well if you want someone else's opinion), watch/read interviews with people who have ID (to start - link1, link2, both have captions) and try to rethink what you think about intellectual disability. Because it's really not that rare like a lot of people seem to think. Please listen to us when we speak.

Good luck writing and thank you for reading,

mod Sasza

[spiribia]

every official discord server around a not super mainstream thing has those moderators that form a clique with each other and with a handful of people that regularly post all the time so when you send a message they either very explicitly ignore you while gushing over each others' posts or act almost like you've intruded on their conversation, the mods are exceedingly quick to counter even the most mild impersonal differences in opinion against the regulars that are like 'i personally would prefer if a $30 dlc had story content instead of just being purely cosmetic', while the regulars are often flat out rude to newcomers who enter the gameplay chat with questions that all the regulars already know the answers to, in this official discord server for a game. also the moderators are always deleting peoples' posts for being offtopic but will happily get into a like 10 minute long stream of offtopic chat with their favorites

[birdofmay]

Talking about a discourse that doesn't even exist on Tumblr

On Tumblr, us higher support needs nonverbal/nonspeaking people often had 2 possible scenarios to deal with:

1. People ignore us and our opinion because our writing isn't "proper" English, and they make fun of us or comment on our writing style.

2. People think we're faking because our writing is good.

I couldn't care less about scenario number 2. And luckily I'm not affected by scenario number 1.

But what happens now is that somebody tries to discuss a Twitter discourse that simply doesn't exist here on Tumblr: Nonverbal/nonspeaking people with severe or profound autism and/or severe or profound intellectual disability who use FC to run their blogs.

This isn't happening.

Nobody on here (except maybe 1 person, but even there I'm not sure) has profound autism. Severe yes, there are some. But we don't use FC to run our blogs. Nobody on here (except maybe 1 person) has a profound ID. Severe yeah, maybe. But most people with ID are mild or moderate. And none of them use FC to run their blog.

So what happens now is scenario number 3:

3. People (or rather 1 online troll) think that what we write is facilitated and not our own words.

Especially those of us who have severe autism and/or ID. This is worse than scenario number 1 or 2. Especially because there's no way to disprove it. The better our grammar, the higher the probability that somebody else wrote our posts; at least to this online troll.

So whenever you encounter someone who says that what we write is facilitated and/or written by someone else: Don't believe them. Yes, sometimes people write something for us, but we can always check if we agree with what's been written.

I've heard of the FC problem where caregivers wrote something for the nonverbal/nonspeaking person, and it always was about how great FC was, etc. I think this was on Twitter and on individual blogs somewhere on the internet. But this isn't happening on Tumblr. Nobody with severe autism and/or severe or profound ID uses FC to run their blog on Tumblr.

It's basically "Yelling into the void".

Edit:

Since this post reached people who aren't aware of what was going on lately:

FC is short for Facilitated Communication. It's a method for people who can't speak and struggle greatly with other communication methods, such as writing, signing, or using an AAC device.

There's nothing wrong with people helping someone to run their blog; I, too, sometimes need help to run my blog. There's also nothing wrong with people writing posts or messages for someone. This post was only to inform others that nobody on Tumblr uses FC full time to run their blog. Because this is what this troll believes. She basically complains about something that's not the case.

[ask-the-mental-critters]

PolarDay: HI THERE!!

MewMoon: Uh..PolarDay..who is this?

PolarDay: SHUT UP, MOONY!! JUST BE POLITE!!

MewMoon: I don't--

ChickVain: Ugh, BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!! Don't you have anything better to do with your life?

Nervosa Boara: N-Now, now--

PolarDay: CHICKVAIN, THAT IS NO WAY TO TALK TO PEOPLE!! ESPECIALLY TO THE LEADER!!

ChickVain: UGH, I SWEAR TO-- YOU NEVER GET ON TO ANXI!? *points to Anxi AnxiePhant*

PolarDay: WELL THAT'S BECAUSE--

*Insert ChickVain and PolarDay arguing*

EroBear ClingBug: Uhm..CynesCorn?

CynesCorn: Y-Yeah..?

EroBear ClingBug: I think Anxi is having an anxiety attack again...poor guy..

CynesCorn: Well..I guess that's normal nowadays..

Anxi AnxiePhant: ...

Hyper Hare: Why are 'Vain and Polar arguing again-?

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙲𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝙰𝚜𝚔 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚐!

Basically the Smiling Critters, but with muted color pallettes and mental illnesses/disorders! I changed their names, too, along with their pendants!

The is the official blog for a random Smiling Critters AU I thought of! What's their backstory? Why do they have these mental challenges? That's for you to find out!

Rules:

Please don't sexualize them or smth like that, yk what I mean

I do allow suggestive jokes or smth like that

No racists, homophobics, haters, etc

Ship art is allowed! (In fact I'm a multishipper, you might find me making ship art of them

Magic anons are also allowed, please just don't overdo it

You can harm them, just not severely (exp: you can't kill them, rip their arm off, stab their chest, etc)! I'd like it if it was just a silly slap or smth (for just silly content)

If you'd like to make an OC in my AU, tag me in it!! I wanna see!! :D

If you have anymore questions, ask!!

Warnings! This blog could contain:

Blood/gore (idk how to draw gore do most likely not gore 😔)

Angst/lore

Suggestive jokes and stuff

Swearing

Maybe stuff related to fear?

I am originally an sfw tickle blog, though I don't rly post sfw tickle stuff often

My OG blog:

PolarDay

Behold, the leader of this mentally unstable friendgroup! PolarDay is always there to help his friends in tough situations. In fact, he never takes a break in being the leader! He claims he has never cracked under the pressure.

Mental illness/disorder(s): bipolar, smiling depression (moderate)

Pronouns: he/they

Pendant: cloudy sun

Scent: fruity sherbert

MewMoon

MewMoon is your grumpy, sleepy kitty. Though he is normally calm and friendly, due to not getting enough sleep, he's especially grumpy.

Mental illness/disorder(s): every sleeping thing you can think of. (Exp: insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep paralysis, ETC)

Pronouns: he/him

Pendant: new moon

Scent: grape

ChickVain

The narcissist of the friend group. While always being cocky and overly confident, ChickVain does have a soft spot, yet he doesn't have it for anyone. It'd have to be a really special person for him to show his soft side.

Mental illness/disorder(s): narcissistic personality disorder, depression (mild), trust issues (not rly a mental illness/disorder but eh)

Pronouns: he/him

Pendant: shooting star

Scent: lemon

Anxi AnxiePhant

Always overthinking and overreacting, Anxi AnxiePhant is a troubled encounter. That's not his fault, though! He's just constantly in panic. In fact, his pupils are just scribbles from his constant distress. It'd be pretty rare to see him speak to anyone at all, so don't expect to hear anything from him. For some reason, he has thought his friends were replaced with imposters a few times before.

Mental illness/disorder(s): anxiety (severe), PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), depression (severe), derealization/depersonalization

Pronouns: he/him

Pendant: candle (it's lit if his anxiety is spiked. The bigger the flame, the higher the anxiety levels)

Scent: blackberry

EroBear ClingBug

This bear may be sweet and cuddly, but she's very...clingy. Don't expect her to leave the others alone. She's the kind to make any excuse for hanging out. Her love language is physical affection, so watch out! Her hugs are tight!!

Mental illness/disorder(s): erotomania (thinking someone of a higher social class is in love w/ you), BPD (borderline personality disorder), obsessive love disorder

Pronouns: she/her

Pendant: cracked heart

Scent: cherry

Nervosa Boara

She has a habit of eating questionable things, especially when stressed. However, she's started to make these questionable things the only stuff she eats. Nervosa Boara, while caring and willing to be there for her friends, is a little distant, and tries hard to tolerate jerks.

Mental illness/disorder(s): pica, anorexia, bad self-esteem, depression (moderate)

Pronouns: she/they

Pendant: corn starch

Scent: dragon fruit

CynesCorn

CynesCorn, while being very quiet, isn't as quiet as Bubba. Though, she is shy and nervous, always making excuses to not visit social and huge events. She's always willing to draw something for her friends, though it's sometimes difficult for her.

Mental illness/disorder(s): social anxiety moderate), synesthesia (not a mental thingymabob but 🤷‍), depression (mild), PTSD (moderate), Walking Corpse Syndrome

Pronouns: she/he/they

Pendant: wilted flower

Scent: blueberry

Hyper Hare

While being an energetic rabbit, Hyper Hare may be a little too energetic. She doesn't really have any self control, talks and runs a lot, and never really pays attention. She also doesn't seem to get how some things she says are kinda rude. Exp: "Ugh! You are so boring! Can't you be a little more useful?"

Mental illness/disorder(s): high-functioning autism (not necessarily a disorder/illness), ADHD, depression (mild)

Pronouns: she/her

Pendant: thundercloud

Scent: lime

Have fun interacting with them!

(Ignore all the tags, this is how I manage to get noticed 😞)

[royal-wren]

Leto Epithets

One of the many mother goddesses found in the Hellenic pantheon, she is also one of (three) goddesses directly of motherhood along with Rheia and Maia. Her origins are debated, but it is a fact that she is an established goddess as far back as the Mycenaean era (pre-Apollon btw! More than likely Leto and Artemis were regarded as mother and daughter by then) under the name ra-ti-jo / ra-to (Latios/Lato). The late myth of the birth of Artemis and Apollon where she runs from Hera might showcase a bit of history of her leaving Greece and going to Turkey (Anatolia) in the way a lot of myths do with cult history and practices expanding. I say this because the connection to Lycia as her origin as explained in the further reading section is pretty late into the timeline of her existence and her main temple there is also a late addition when she was long pre-established as a goddess in Greece before it was made. Anything else saying she derived from another goddess is purely speculation and is more than likely disproven by this point in time in the year 2024. (Please note that this doesn't mean she possibly came from somewhere else before records, just that she existed in Mycenaean Greece).

Alphabetically it's a mess, but everything that I've added to go along with aspects, domains, traits, and animals of hers have an asterisk by them, not necessarily upg but innovating what's already historically attested to her.

A remake of my ancient, years-old post. Of great kindness She who is gentle and modest Preumenḗs: soft of temper, gentle, gracious, favorable Epieikḗs: Morally reasonable, fair, kind, gentle, good Ever mild and gentle Mild from the beginning Of womanly demure *Ēpiócheir: With Soothing Hand *Phainô: Appear, Reveal, Shine Lêthô/Lanthanô/Lelathon: To escape notice, To cause to forget, Move unseen, Go unobserved *Aisthánomai: perceive, apprehend by the senses or of mental perception, perceive, understand, take notice of, to have perception of *Aísthēsis: Perception from the senses, feeling, hearing, seeing. Perception by the intellect as well as the senses. Ability to perceive: discernment. Cognition or discernment of moral discernment in ethical matters *Ablepsíā: blindness, failure to see (something), invisibility *Ágnoia: The state of not knowing or perceiving: ignorance, unawareness *Hḗsukhos: quiet, still, calm, gentle, moderate, (of persons) cautious, (of the voice) gentle *Hēsukházō: To be still or quiet, Be at rest *Hēsukhíā: (Of) Silence, Stillness, Quiet *Apokalúptō: To reveal. Leto is an ocular/prophetic goddess just like Apollon that speaks with a voice from above, working through light in effect, the implication is that she (like Apollon) has it tied to day for when they work as it's noted that Asteria and Hekate prophecy through/by/at night and from below. (Leto might double as a night-time goddess, but the connection to day is more solidified). Lykeiê: Of the wolves *Ameibousa: One that transforms, in the spirit of One who brings forth transitions Ethelímona: Willing (to answer those that pray to her) Dark-gowned (I really wish I was able to find a translation for this one) *Khrysôpis: With Golden eyes, With a golden face, Golden-faced Kyanopeplos: Dark-veiled, Cloaked Most Glorious Eukomos: Lovely-haired Kallisphyros: Beautiful/Trim/Neat-ankled Aidoios/Semnê Thea: August Goddess Khrysêlakatos: Of the Gold Spindle (Distaff) *Hêmerasia: She who soothes *Meilikhios: Gentle, Soothing *Phaesphoros: Light-bringer *Hilaeira: Softly-shining *Alektor: Rooster Polykleitos: Far-famed Xanthê: Blonde/Golden-Haired, Gold-tressed Phytie/Phystiê: Grafter Koiantis/Koiêis: daughter of Koios Koiogeneia/Koiogenês: born of Koios Lykios: patron goddess of Lykia Euteknos: Of Fair Children Gentlest in all Olympos *Pheraia: Of the Beasts *Agroterê: Of the Hunt, Huntress

*Most of these are ones I had to comb through literature to find, a couple of UPG names and ones I’ve found or created (as a reference) through other research

Further reading:

Some Cults of Greek Goddesses and Female Daemons of Oriental Origin by Butzon & Bercker

Theoi.com's Koios page for the information at the end

Mothers of the Sun - Myth and Legacy of the Minoan "Solar Mother" in Classical Greek Mythology

The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, being an Essay of The Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest