#perhaps I should go back and reblog all those posts about sokeefitz having an autistic kid

[bookwyrminspiration]

okay so I think you mentioned neurodivergent Fitz with sensory issues and I would absolutely love if you could talk about that more??? or just neurodivergent Fitz in general?

I did mention that! For anyone who didn't see it, here's a link to the post where it's first brought up. In that post my primary argument was that perhaps one of the reasons he has multiple pairs of the same thing is because he has sensory issues and those pajamas were a safe texture, so he bought a lot of them. However! There's a lot more we can discuss in this vein, regardless of if it's canon

I am going to propose: safe foods are why he bakes. He's picky about how things are prepared, so he starts learning how to make things that have more finicky textures (a lot of sweets) so he can make them how he likes--the bonus is that he can also now make sweets for his friends and share them to show how much he loves them!!

That's another thing: the way he expresses love. We see this most with Sophie (you know, cause she's the main character, but anyways). His gifts show that he pays attention, and that's how he tells people that. He gives Sophie a charm for her bracelet because he's trying to pay attention to what she already has and what she likes. I know that it's not strictly a nd thing, but I know that when it comes to gifts for me making sure it relates specifically to the person is very important to show that I pay attention to their interests and who they are, and that they know that.

He also has very straightforward thinking at times, just like "this is how things work." Which isn't meant to exclude others' concerns, he just...doesn't understand how they don't see it the way he does and has to try harder to see it. For example, in his short story at the end of Flashback he says something akin to "and when Sophie told him she was registering for the match--which of course she would, because nobody chooses to be a bad match." He doesn't say that to be mean to her or anyone else's situation, but it's an example of how he can get stuck in one way of thinking regardless of whether it's true, which shows rigid thinking, something autistic (and maybe others I'm forgetting rn) people can struggle with.

back to the sensory issues for a moment though! This is less canon, but maybe Fitz is more sensitive to noises than the rest of his friends. being a telepath, he's more attuned to mental noise, but it made his hearing more sensitive too. Maybe others claim it's just a telepath thing, but really it's sensory issues made worse by telepathy. He holds his hands over his ears, blasts music to focus, wears noise dulling earbuds when he goes to loud places with Atlantis.

and because he has those earbuds, it makes his struggle to control his volume even worse. Like he'd accidentally raise his voice a lot before, but now it's so much harder to gauge how loud he's being when he wears them and it's a learning curve he hasn't reached the end of. I can't decide if he could be the kind who would talk louder because he's wearing them or quieter to be safe. Either way it's....difficult to control. (yes, this is projecting. I am still trying to figure out how to talk like a normal person when I wear them)

spacial awareness? he doesn't have it. Nope. not at all. We've been fooled into thinking he's in control of his body because he can do push-ups in a handstand and goes for morning runs. But that's practiced, that's controlled. When it comes to just navigating the world? Bumps into things all the time. Door frames, corners, tables, chairs--I mean, how else do you think he got stuck in that chandelier?

one more before this gets too long: he looses things all the time. so often. Maybe the real reason he has multiple pairs of the same generic pajamas are because he's going to find a way to misplace at least one of them for several weeks and he needs to have the others as backup. It's such a good thing that he didn't manifest as a conjurer, because he'd never be able to use the ability because he'd never know where anything is. I feel like it would be the kind of annoying loosing things where he just knows that it's somewhere nearby, he just can't find it!! Like the kind of "lost" where he has to tear things apart for 15 minutes because he can't remember where he set it down. Or he put it in a pocket it wasn't supposed to be in and that could be anywhere and now he's stuck going through all of them to find where him 20 minutes ago thought would be a good place to put it.

I just think neurodivergent (this one was more focused on autism and adhd) keeper characters are precious and should be cherished. I would like to make them all nd because I love them very much. So many of the characters would fit so well being nd and would be so!! much fun!! an excellent topic!!