#she’s just autistic and struggles with facial expression

[saytrrose]

I ship Roseanne with myself

She’s emotionally unavailable chat 💔

[acertainmoshke]

I am officially a published author!

7 Days for Fae is a low-stakes middle grade book following 10-year-old Fae as she makes a new friend, learns to accommodate her own needs, and helps her family get along. Featuring an autistic protagonist with supportive parents, a big imagination, and a b-plot about showing her aunt that there’s nothing wrong with one of her parents being trans. It also contains 4 lovely illustrations by Marta Maszkiewicz like this one:

Find it as a paperback on Amazon or Lulu, or as an ebook on Lulu!

Full blurb under the cut:

Fae struggles to do a lot of things that are easy for other kids. She has a hard time talking, running, and reading facial expressions. She finds other things easy: reading, making up stories about fairies, flapping her hands to tell the world she’s happy. But in 5th grade it’s not good to be different, no matter how much she can’t help being disabled.

Now Fae’s aunt is moving in with her family and suddenly nothing feels right—all of the adults are quietly upset for reasons Fae doesn’t understand. Aunt Lana gets mad at her for things she can’t help and makes her feel like a baby. She just wants things to go back to the way they were.

Meanwhile at school, the new kid doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that Fae is supposed to be invisible. He sits right down next to her and starts talking about spaceships. She isn’t sure what to do with this loud boy, but when he still wants to be her friend after a meltdown gets her suspended, it seems worth giving him a shot.

And now, as her life is falling apart, it looks like it might be up to Fae to discover if people really can change, and if change can sometimes make everyone’s life better.

[emotional-piece-of-meat]

Since all batfam members struggle with the chronic “face with subtitles” case, I wanna rank them, depending on how frequently and demonstratively they use it.

10. Alfred: a raised eyebrow for all occasions conveys the whole range of emotions. Nobody knows whether a blank expression is a consequence of his personality or professional deformation, and they all are too scared to ask.

9. Bruce: this autistic blob cannot express his emotions through his face for his dear life. He surely overplays as Brucie, don't get me wrong he is good at masking, but naturally he is not really expressive.

8. Cass: uses her body language to communicate, so she can express emotions though her face pretty well. However, she is really out of touch with her feelings so most of the time she feels “nothing”, so she just copies whatever her siblings do.

7. Tim: has a pretty narrow range of emotions he shows, usually annoyance and disappointment. Specifically makes himself extremely hard to read due to upbringing and circumstances, even though he can be a diva or at least play one.

6. Barbara: has a professional side eye, but mostly keeps her emotions to herself. She differs from the rest of batfam in the superpower to convey her feelings with words through her mouth, so she does not use her face much for communication.

5. Jason: was more expressive as a child, now hides most of his positive emotions. However, he is very demonstrative with the negative: he thinks you are shit and he is not ashamed to show you that, furthermore he will make sure you know that.

4. Dick: the boy was taken out of the circus, but the circus could not be taken out of the boy, and now it is everyone else's problem. He is fully able to control his facial expressions, but it is so much funnier when he doesn't, so he chooses to be happy.

3. Damian: thinks he is extremely good at hiding his true feelings, maybe even as good as his father or grandfather, but actually he is not. He is a child after all, and children tends to be easy to read, but he keeps to stubbornly deny his involvement with children and people with emotions.

2. Steph: she does it on purpose purely for shits and giggles, because being annoying is a defence mechanism at this point. Naturally, her face is expressive but not that expressive, she often exaggerates it just to mess with people.

1. Duke: these are not subtitles, this is a one-man show, and you'd better watch carefully. He puts his whole soul into this performance, the range of emotions he demonstrates through his face is so wide, it's not a simple comment, it's a whole ass essay.

[cripplecharacters]

im thinking about making a character who is born autistic and Deaf, would she struggle with learning ASL/[sign language proxy in story universe] because of how important expressions/facial grammar is in ASL? im autistic and hearing but im learning asl in school and it's been very difficult for me to both maintain eye contact and also know when to do the right expressions, would that be something she'd be able to learn easier from birth? thank you!

Hi!

This really depends on the person and their specific autism traits and communication difficulties.

I am autistic and I don't have a lot of trouble following facial grammar in ASL, although I do often struggle with recognizing and interpreting emotion and expression generally, as well as making my own expressions.

ASL grammar has rules of what to do when. Eyebrow movements, pufffing out cheeks, and leaning/angling shoulders are all parts of certain signs and concepts. These rules are something I personally was able to pick up on.

I do sometimes forget, or do the wrong motion! I also rock back and forth a lot, and stim with my hands while I'm signing, which may get in the way of other people understanding. I haven't had too much of a problem though--people generally have understood that it's not part of my signing, just a part of me :) [smile face]

I haven't talked with many autistic people who learned ASL as a first language. However, language delays and difficulty learning language are common among autistic people, so I think it's likely that there are autistic Deaf people who struggle with ASL grammar because they struggle with language or with facial expressions, or who have motor control difficulties that make parts of signing and/or facial grammar physically hard.

Eye contact is important in Deaf culture to show listening, but there are other ways to do that too. There are lots of signs and gestures that are genetic reactions, like how someone might say "mhm" to show they are still paying attention.

Eye contact isn't necessary 100% of the time either! Face and body are important to ASL grammar, so you definitely need to pay attention to a signer's face and body as well as their hands, but this doesn't require making eye contact. Facing the person, along with reaction signs, is usually enough.

I will add--facial grammar greatly enhances understanding, but signs alone still have meaning. A change in the "size" of expression can change the meaning of a sign by changing its intensity, or specific mouth shapes can indicate the use of a synonym, as examples. ASL is still understandable without perfect facial grammar. It may look choppy at first to native signers, but people who spend a lot of time with your character will get to understand their signing specifically.

Some other sign languages that are not ASL rely less on facial grammar. They may rely on size of the sign itself or other cues. An autistic character may still struggle with these, and have trouble replicating them.

This is really all to say: it depends greatly on the person. I don't think an autistic Deaf character's signing, if they signed with less facial expression or variation in signing size, would be significantly different to the "flat" or "unusual" affect that people often refer to autistic people's speaking voices with. However, an autistic person may still struggle with learning and conceptualizing sign language, or have physical difficulty reproducing signs.

Autism encompasses a huge spectrum of communication abilities, so you will need to decide what specifically your character struggles with before you can determine how they will sign.

Please feel free to ask more questions for specifics once you've decided more about your character!

Mod Rock

[heidi891]

I believe Snape is autistic

(FYI: I’m autistic myself and I have autistic children.)

He’s lonely. He doesn’t really have friends. We know of Lily, we also hear about Lucius Malfoy, but we don’t really see their friendship which in my opinion is much less close than fans believe. As a student he’s so alone that no one but Lily tries to stop the bullying.

He doesn’t participate in any social meetings. He’s quite miserable during the Christmas in Harry’s third year. He patrols the corridors and the grounds instead of attending the Yule Ball. He doesn’t stay for dinner after the Order meetings. He only attends the DE meetings because he has to.

His peers at school think he’s weird. Lily’s friends from Gryffindor don’t understand why she’s friends with him. When Harry asks why the Marauders bullied him, Sirius says he was different, weird, he was an "oddball". Autistic children and teenagers are often bullied because they are perceived as not normal, awkward, weird.

He doesn’t make a normal eye contact, he stares a bit too much. It can be partly explained by Legillimency, but he stared too much even as a teenager.

There’s a difference between how he speaks as a teenager and as an adult. It doesn’t sound entirely natural, he definitely had to put effort into that. It’s partly because he doesn’t want to sound like a poor man with a northern (?) accent, but autistic struggle with fluent communication may also be a reason.

He insists on precise definitions: Legilimency is not mind-reading, ghosts are not transparent but they are imprints of departed souls. He’s irritated that Harry has "no subtlety" and he doesn’t "understand fine distinctions".

He’s quite rude. He might be just *evil*, but he may just not fully understand how cruel he actually sounds. From his point of view he’s just honest and doesn’t beat around the bush. OK, maybe he’s a little mean, but not cruel… right?

He uses sarcasm (a lot of autistics actually do), but he doesn’t really appreciate Harry’s and other people’s sass, he treats their words too seriously.

He usually speaks coldly / calmly / without much emotion.

He’s usually dispassionate, he has limited facial expressions. Many autistic people also have a "resting b!tch face" unless they try to look more "normal". Perhaps he isn’t always as hateful as Harry thinks, perhaps it’s just his face.

He seems a little oblivious to other people’s emotional state and seems to analyse their behavior more intellectually.

He has special interests: Dark Arts / DADA and Potions.

He has his own collection of Potions ingredients, including rare ones, collection of weird jars (I guess they may contain some Potions ingredients, but also he may like them because of visual stimming aspect) and vast collection of books at home.

His Potions ingredients must be very orderly, he knows immediately that something is missing and what it is.

He "loves" rules. Students are breaking the rules? He takes points or gives detention. The Marauders are bullying him? He wants them expelled. (While Harry deals with the bullies on his own.) He’s caught Sirius whom he believes to be responsible for Lily’s death? He’s going to hand him over to the Ministry and the Dementors. (While Sirius and Remus want to murder Peter themselves.)

Since Snape likes rules and order, Harry who is a bit wild and unpredictable annoys him.

He doesn’t wash his hair as often as he should. It could be partly because of his poor background (he was neglected, he wasn’t taught to take a proper care of his hair, he didn’t even have a real bathroom as a child), partly because he has no one to look nice for, partly because of the Potions fumes. Autism might make him care less about his appearance. (He does care about hygiene though. Apparently he shaves regularly and Harry would certainly notice if Snape was dirty or smelly. His sallow skin and teeth have nothing to do with hygiene, it’s a result of his poverty and malnutrition.)

He stimms: He’s shredding leaves as a child. He’s flexing his fingers after the Shrieking Shack incident. During the Occlumency lessons he’s touching his lips with his finger while he’s thinking.

He has some sensory issues. He wears the same, a little baggy robes (they flutter as he walks). He’s sensitive to light: his Potions classroom is dim (it’s in the dungeons, but he could brighten it up with magic); he makes his DADA classroom dim, even though it’s no longer in the dungeons; when Harry comes to his first Occlumency lesson, Snape waits for him in a dark room. (You know, people don’t do things like that because they’re evil, it doesn’t make sense).

As a teenager he walks "like a spider" and generally he isn’t good at sports (we see him on a broom three times: in a memory of his unsuccessful flying lesson at school, being very pale and probably frightened after refereeing the Quidditch match in PS and trying to curse a DE and missing during the Battle of Seven Harrys).

John Nettleship whom Snape was partly based on was probably autistic.

[shelaghdette]

headcanon with evidence: shelagh turner is autistic/neurodivergent!

intense interests: shelagh's special interest is obviously the science of midwifery. she's only 30 years old at the beginning of the series, but already her expertise is virtually on par with the older nuns. her deep knowledge is very well respected by her patients and colleagues. she also LOVES to talk about it, you can see her face light up every time she has a chance.

hyperfocus: when shelagh is completely absorbed in a task, she struggles to notice anything else around her. for example, in the very first episode, she doesn't even notice jenny is in the room when she comes to inform sister julienne about her latest delivery. when sister julienne introduces her to jenny, she only very briefly acknowledges her, and then goes back to talking about work, which ties into -

struggling with social cues: in scenes with lots of shelagh dialogue, notice how she struggles to make prolonged eye contact. a notable exception is sister julienne and, later, patrick, but this makes sense. a lot of autistic people struggle to make eye contact generally, but have a few "safe people" with whom it's a lot easier. shelagh also struggles with boundaries, indicated by her lack of ability to ask for help when she needs it or say no when she's asked to do something. she can also be very blunt and forthright about her opinions, such as when she tells jenny to "please stop wittering on about vegetables, i could not care less." she wasn't trying to be rude, she was just indicating her disinterest in the subject in a very to-the-point way. also, when she was infodumping about the bri-nylon nightie, and CLEARLY misunderstanding cues that patrick thought she was extremely sexy in that little get-up 😳😏

stimming: shelagh is CONSTANTLY stimming. most notable are her hand movements, she fidgets with her hands a lot, and when she sits at a table, she often keeps her hands below the surface. i believe this is so she can subtly stim without attracting attention. oh, and you know the autistic stereotype of velociraptor arms? well, i give you...

masking: she's a social chameleon. her speech mannerisms were much more formal and clipped while she was still in the religious life, because she was holding herself to a certain standard, even though it's not necessarily required (look at sister evangelina). i think she was trying to model her behaviour and mannerisms on sister julienne, which is SO COMMON for autistic women to copy the behaviour of someone they admire in order to blend. she also "mirrors" body language, seen here. (both have their hands in their pockets, their legs are the same width apart. also peep my babygirl not making eye contact AGAIN while he's directly looking at her face!)

exaggerated facial expressions and emotive tone of voice: it's a common misconception that autistic people always have monotonous voices and flat facial affect. some do, but just as many are the complete opposite and actually have really varied expressions and tones. ctm fans who don't like shelagh tend to point this fact out about her, but to me it just makes her relatable, because i'm a really emotive autistic person too!

also, this is just anecdotal, but all of my autistic friends who watch ctm agree with me that shelagh is most likely autistic. and we're really good at identifying autistic traits in others.

these are just my observations from watching the show, as an autistic person. if you don't share these views, that's fine! but please be mindful of what you say if you aren't neurodivergent ♡

[kafus]

SO... do you headcannon anyone in horizons as autistic?

OH BOY DO I

so dot is the most obvious choice. there is no universe in which she is not autistic to me. this is one of my strongest dot headcanons actually and one of the main reasons i enjoy her as a character. there are so many reasons for this i could go on endlessly but i'll just list a few big ones here

her extreme passion for her interests at a disregard for almost everything else & her ability to self teach those topics (not to mention her interests have to do with computing)

her difficulties with food overlap a lot with food sensitivities autistic people often have, also her latching onto donuts as a sort of samefood after finally trying them once

the tendency to wear loose, comfortable clothes and more recently she has complained while wearing tighter clothes (the orange academy school uniform) so it's not just that she prefers loose fabric, she also is put off by the alternative. girl your sensory problems

irritable outbursts when struggling to articulate herself/make herself understood

her connection with kanuchan (tinkatink) felt really neurodivergent to me. she wasn't offput by her behavior, even after stealing her prop mic, and was immediately able to understand her when no one else could or was willing to. not sure how to articulate this one right now but i hope you see what i mean

her tendency to sit cross legged and lean over herself reminds me a lot of my personal autistic tendency to need a pressure/weighted feeling while i sit or have body parts touching

social exhaustion, the need to be alone sometimes even when she cares

the list genuinely goes on i have to stop myself LOL

as for other characters,

so for liko i'm more loose about the headcanon, it's definitely more of me projecting than her being overtly autistic in canon but i still think it lines up if u wanna view her that way. i'm autistic and i personally relate to liko a lot becauseee

she is giving hyperempathy autism to me. the way she is overly empathetic and compassionate to her own detriment and yet still has to have her hand held through articulating & dealing with that or putting the logical parts of empathy together

the way she absolutely fucking Explodes with excitement sometimes

the way in which she relates to cats, and her whole thing about having a hard time getting other people to understand her. these two things go hand in hand

there's something neurodivergent about her trying to connect with sprigatito by studying her and writing notes about her behavior lol

while this is kind of just on the account of her being an anime character and a protagonist at that, liko's facial expressions and body language can be pretty exaggerated sometimes which reminds me of my own body language, i'm cartoonishly animated in real life often LOL

so like basically dot is so obviously autistic to me it's like breathing but for liko it's kind of a hc i apply to her for projection purposes & fun but i think it's reasonable

and lastly so i'm not just talking about solely liko and dot for the millionth time,

ORIO!! honestly we don't even know that much about orio but the one episode where she was helping pokeball lady i forget the name of fix her machine. the really narrow attention to detail/seeing the smaller parts instead of the bigger picture. also her expertise in engineering contrasted with her struggling with tasks outside of that (like when she was trying to sew holes in the brave asagi and for the life of her could not do it so she called murdock for help lol)

and actually one more - while i don't necessarily headcanon amethio as autistic, i think it's a fun headcanon/au idea to not only give him a redemption arc but an autism unmasking arc at the same time. representation for all my repressed autistics out there. in my mind

thanks for asking i'm so autistic about horizons so of course i headcanon them with autism too JOISJOIFD

[number1blueoakfan]

red from pokemon is autistic

this isnt a new thing i js like psychoanalyzing him ok.

Red, in both the games and manga, show traits of ASD, or Autism spectrum disorder, or just Autism. In the games, it is much easier to spot, however.

1; Speech

In the games, he is completely nonverbal, with the exception of a few times where Red is shown to speak. (Copycat, Masters EX, etc) Masters EX timeline is… Confusing, though in the games, he only speaks once. (Copycat) In the manga, he is shown to speak a lot, though it is harder to see it as autism, it is a spectrum disorder, and one side of the spectrum is never being quiet/having trouble being quiet.

2; Special interests

In the games AND manga, Red very obviously has a special interest in pokemon, given he has caught every type in Kanto and completed the pokedex, he is very intent and interested in pokemon battles, and overall, that's just his major special interest.

3; Sensory issues

Though we don't see much explicit proof of this, I believe that Red has fabric related sensory issues. The reason being, he doesn't change his clothing at all until Masters EX and generation 7, excluding the original red and blue games. In fire red/leaf green, he is 11, in gold/silver/crystal, he is 14. In the pokemon world tournament, he is 19. Why do I mention this? Well, that's because Red wears the exact same outfit for 8 whole years, as opposed to Blue, who changes his outfit throughout the series. A lot, if not all autistic people struggle with fabric related sensory issues, and struggle to find clothing they like the texture of, which causes them to wear the same clothes over and over again.

4; repetition/patterns

Pokemon battles, in my opinion, especially pokemon type advantages and disadvantages, deal with pattern recognition. This is a trait of autism, which leads me to believe, with Red's special interest in pokemon and battling, he has some form of pattern recognition when it comes to typing of pokemon.

In the manga, he is also shown to repeat movements, pick up on phrases a few times, etc, which can count for repetition. The phrases can also count for echolalia in a sense, a common thing with autism. This can also apply to the copycat thing.

5; Stimming/Stimulation

For Red, this is a difficult thing to see. Since in most of his appearances, the sprites don't move, or do not move much, it's hard to decide if he is shown to stim. It's also hard, given he cannot vocal stim, since he is non-verbal. (Games) This is where the manga comes into play, since the manga is more expressive, since that is the point of the manga. To show scenes in more detail. In the manga, he is shown to flail his arms when he's frustrated, (entering saffron city, etc) repeat phrases, which ties into echolalia, etc. Also, in the games, he is shown to have little/no facial expressions.

I feel like him disappearing on Mt. Silver was because he was so overwhelmed and overstimulated all the time with being champion- And thus, ran away with little/no explanation.

6; Over or under empathetic?

Red is shown to be very empathetic towards pokemon, a few people, and that's it. In the manga, however, he is shown to be both overly empathetic and under-empathetic. While he is not super emotional, he still is a bit emotional in the manga. Tying into this, autistic people have a very strong sense of justice. This is shown in both the games and the manga, given team rocket.

7; high or low functioning?

Red is obviously a very high functioning character. He is intelligent, and strategic, given he enjoys pokemon battles.

8; Social

I feel like he was isolated for displaying autistic traits as a kid, hence why Blue(m) was (presumably) his only friend. Also, the scene in the manga where he calls Misty an idiot and gets confused on why she's upset- Peak bluntness, chat. (A trait of autism) He's very blunt and straightforward throughout the manga, as well.

9; overall overview– Is this character autistic?

Very obviously, yes! Red is autistic. He checks out a lot of the boxes, and definitely shows signs of ASD, the most prominent ones being him being non-verbal, his pokemon special interest, and the whole sensory issue thing.

EDIT: also the fact satoshi (THE CREATOR OF POKEMON) is autistic and i believe has stated that red and i believe ash were based off him. quirks brow

[liam-an-siorc]

My essay on my Fanny button might be autistic

Note: I have been thinking about this so much and now want to share it because I 1) seen others say the same thing 2) seen that the bbc ghosts fans won’t get mad over headcanons about autism and have a lot of them so that’s cool I will say now

Why Fanny button might be autistic 

In this essay I will tell you why I think Fanny button from ghosts is autistic and I think she’s a high masking autistic. It won't be a great essay but hopefully will get my point across. I researched high masking in women for this because that’s a specific thing and I really think it’s her I think it really explains a lot of her because Fanny can sometimes be misunderstood by other characters In the show and people who watch the show and there is a reason for this, fanny puts up such a character sort of like she acts so intense all the time and then it’s hard for people to really see past this but what I think happened to make her like this was that when she married George she started masking a lot more because we see in the Christmas special “he came” she was very different before she is very talented at math autistic people can be very talented in something and love it a lot a special interest perhaps* but she was told she can’t do this it’s for men now when I’m thinking about this I’m thinking a lot of this was impacted by the time she was in and being a woman in this time which is why I researched autism in women specifically masking is alot more common in AFAB people because of society alot so it can still apply here it’s just worth noteing the context and differences in society speaking of the time she was in an how society was then okay a common thing alot of autistic people say or feel is “its like everyone was given a book on how to be human at birth and mine was lost” that didn't attuly happen but that's just what if feels like and this is mainly referring to socialy but fanny did attuly get this book there where rules told to everyone then about how to act how to communicate and act around people how your ment to seem etc so when she married George and he did not love her she thought “I need to follow there rules better if I follow them completely he will love me” and she did she learnt these rules and followed them masking. What makes alot of people who may think Fanny is autistic think this is how hard she finds it to accept change now I have looked at the criteria for getting an autism diagnosis and she dose fit it the only thing is that traits had to have been there since you where a child and we can't know that because we never see her as a child for the sake of this we will assume she did so this here is the first part which is social.

A. Need to have persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions

Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.

Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

So to fit the first part of the autism criteria you need to have or have had persistent struggles I'm each of those areas as it says above so I will go through them now 

On this one I want to go back to thing thing about “it feels like everyone was giving a book at birth on how to be human and mine got lost” referring to social interactions but Fanny did literally have this book there where rules for social interactions and if you followed them then your doing good which is why I think she used these rules to mask but even if someone who is autistic is following all these rules sometimes and I dont actually know how i just heard that people who aren't autistic can still just tell that there is something different there is no way we can see this unfortunately because we only have bits of her life but we know she did have friends who she would mainly talk gossip with but moving on to her death which we have of course much more to go off she dose say very out of pocket things one example which I think alot of people think she was purposely trying to insult Alison but I think she was not really trying to do that she was saying amd making a point of how Alison seemed and that she was not lady like and following the rules whatever but i don't think Fanny saw an attualy problem with what she was saying and this is the “when you first arrived here I though you where a prostitute” she doesn’t really see how this could upset or offende someone she just speaking her mind with no filter she dose not have a filter even when following the rules she was given she still says things which she didn't realise she could not or would not be appropriate so I still think yes to this she dose communication in a strange way with the other characters she can be quite blunt and rude not knowing she is being because it fits within her rules that she knows. Another thing worth noting here is that fanny is closest with the captain who is also quite obviously autistic I think*2 and neurodivergent*3 people tend to become friends with eachother like that.

The main thing I can think of for this is In fanny's body language she always has the same pose same face on she dose notice others body language because she does give out to Alison from doing things not like a lady but again that is most likely learnt she learnt this is how a lady is meant to have her body language and she learnt exactly what to do and look out for when they did the panto for Alison she could not do a different character for fairy God mother and evil step mother the tone the body language was exactly the same despite them being obviously very different characters.

Fanny shows little interest in forming friendships with her fellow ghost, Martha Howe Douglas even says on the podcast that she doesn't like any of them I don't think this Is fully true but it is worth noting also note that many things said on that podcast where also not fully correct I think so it is to be taken with a grain of salt, Fanny definition of friends is “peers and intellectual equals” but a better definition is “a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection” so she dose not understand friendships fully, I also think she tends to misinterpret others relationships for example when you read the book you can see how obvious George's affair with the butler and gardner was she also panicked a lot when she was briefly attracted to Mike she made it alot more dramatic than it really was it took her a while to catch on to the fact that she was being just as bad as Betty in the final and she did not notice the captain being gay either most of the ghosts noticed this. She again dose not fully know when she's being rude I don't think she doesn’t know what is and isn't appropriate to say to Alison and the other ghosts, she also viewed Alison as her own daughter which I did notice that but some people did not it was not the most clear on account of how rude she was to Alison so alot of people did not notice she dose not know why this matters and maybe thinks she's being A lot more obvious as a mother then she really is. Said before but diffrent context when they where doing the panto she could not do a difference between he fairy God mother and evil step mother very different character.

As well as that you also need to have three of the four traits I will put next 

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history 

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypes, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).

Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day).

Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g. apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

I will now go through if and when I think she shows these behaviors

So a lot of the ghosts do things like this more obvious ones would be the Captain, Mary and Robin I am being honest I don't notice these as much in Fanny but let's go through it, one of the main things people notice is in the captain and all the noises he makes mary pat and fanny do this also (+Robin echolalia) Mary more than Pat but Fanny does this also!! Listen to her there's a video somewhere on YouTube titled the sound of fanny or something she does the same sort of stimming noises that they do another thing this is a bit of overthinking perhaps but the way fanny stand her posture the way she holds herself if you look at it she does almost the same one all the time and it's like she holds her own hands and has then on front of her and she sort of moves around the hands now if you copy this posture and you hold your hands tight and you sort of move around the hands it's like hers so I think she's holding her hands tight she's trying to keep still but still moving around that suppressing stims??? Maybe I think so she also if you look close at her hands her thumb moves every so often and sort of very small strokes her hands this could be the stim that got out of her trying to suppress it if you look at her and if you look at the captain in that scene where havers gives him the letter about France surrendering and he runs to the window he is quite obviously If you watch it then you watch him as a ghost, suppressing stims the feel of that scene is very similar to the feel of fanny's scenes. Also when she was combing robins hair could also be a stim thing feeling textures can be a stim.

 This is why people usually if they do think Fanny is autistic think it, she can not handle change like at all it can not affect her ons bit and she can't deal with it she get really stressed and really annoyed about it she can not handle it, she does come around to change eventually for example the land being sold she gets very upset about it then she goes off she calms down she talks about it to Thomas and then she is okay she has a big reaction is very upset by it and then she regulates and eventually accepts it. I also think her insisting Alison follows all her rules to be a lady could be part of this. It is common in autism to care a lot about rules and get stressed if they are not followed but not everyone is like this. I definitely think that's part of this as well as other things. When mary got sucked off she panicked alot she first did not process it which delayed processing can also be a thing with autism I do think she shows this sometimes for example when Alison got pushed it took her a bit and then she got mad but that was also her thinking alot and being lost in thought, she doesn't really process it until Mary's moving on starts bringing up change in her life and now she realize something is missing this is going to be different and her friend is gone she has no idea what to do with herself after realizing this she just panics.

Fanny most definitely has fixations I think one of them was murder she wrote which she was very fixated on for a while so much that she brang it into her own life (death) if it weren't for that they would not have known about Lucy I do this also I try bring whatever I'm currently fixated on into every aspect of my life every project I do I learn new things because of it it really makes its way into your life, I also with Dante Dante the stuffed dog I'm not sure is that an object because it was a dog but now is it still a dog or an object dog or and object/dog? But yes, saying you love a stuffed dog more than anything In the world I think is an unusually strong attachment to a thing. Another note is that she is very good with animals. She had a lot and I think I heard that that is common with autistic people but I'm not sure.

Now this one is a bit harder because she is dead but I said before but combing robins hair sensory seeking feeling textures she very much did not like it when she had to go I'm the basement because she did not like the plague ghosts or the environment for sensory reasons could be both this one is more hard because they don't feel everything In death so I do not know.

So Fanny Button dose fit the autism criteria the best I can try prove that I am not a doctor I just really love ghosts and i think this explains a lot about her character 

In conclusion I believe fanny button is autistic I believe she fits the criteria for autism and I think she is specifically a high masking autistic I think without that detail it doesn't make sense but I love this theory because it makes her make sense and it helps you to think about her character better.

Goodbye 

Notes 2

*the maths thing was never mentioned after that though but you can have multiple special interests so I could be that and something else like maybe all her ladylike rules or her pets gossip don't know

*2 I also think mary is autistic specifically they all have traits lots of them and I'd say I could do this for most of them but it is worth noting, noting that's all we can completely ignore it after this but in TV shows the characters they are people but they are different then people so it's much easier to see autistic traits and traits of anything like for example personality disorders that maybe if they were a real person it would not be the same but that's it I love all the theory's regarding this and they all fit and make sense 

*3 yeah they are all neurodivergent probably also I think Fanny and the captain are very similar and show a lot of there autistic traits in the same way or similar 

hopefully all this information is correct thank you for reading if you have anything to add I would love to hear it

[dandymaximilian]

I know the idea of Winnie the Pooh characters representing mental illness is overdone to death, but I can't help but be intrigued by it. What if the reason everyone display these symptoms is because they were specifically created to hold onto them?

What if Christopher Robin has Dissociative Identity Disorder or Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder?

What if, to cope with severe parental neglect, his brain created a world of people who would love him unconditionally?

Disclaimer: This is for a fictional interpretation of Christopher Robin, not the real person. This is based on the Disney version of the stories. Also, this idea is for entertainment purposes only, so artistic liberties are made.

--

We start with Roo and Kanga, who are the classic mother and son archetype.

Roo represents the person Christopher wants to be in real life. He wants to be curious, bold, and michevious, but he also wants to be nurtured.

Essentially, Roo's a child alter meant to hold onto Christopher's innocence. Kanga exists to be Roo's, as well as everyone else's, caretaker and soother. She represents the mother figure Christopher wishes he had in the outer world.

Next, Tigger holds onto Christopher's ADHD/autism symptoms, as well as his desire to stim openly.

In the outer world, Christopher is severely stifled and is not allowed to express these traits to people. Therefore, they are passed on to Tigger to hold onto. Tigger is very rambunctious and carefree.

However, his desire to find other Tiggers and his catchphrase of "being the only one" represents the loneliness Christopher feels because of his neurodiversity. He wants to be proud of being unique, but really, he feels alone.

Furthermore, characters like Piglet, Rabbit, and Pooh are all symptoms holders as well.

Piglet holds onto anixety. Additionally, he holds onto Christopher's feelings of being overlooked and underappreciated. Meanwhile, Rabbit holds onto perfectionism and an obsession for order.

Due to being raised in a strict environment, Christopher feels immense pressure to live up to the high expectations of society. Thus, Rabbit and Piglet are high-strung because that's how Christopher feels in his day to day life. Rabbit also represents the limitations society puts onto Christopher, which is why he is so judgemental.

Similarly, Eeyore holds onto Christopher's traits depression and isolation. He feels left out even among the other alters because he is inherently created to be an outcast.

Eeyore's desire for a tail stems from a longing to be "normal." Just as Eeyore thinks a tail will make him happier and more accepted by his peers, Christopher thinks that "masking" will do the same. In reality, what they want will always be out of reach. Perhaps temporary, but never permanent.

Owl is a factive based on Christopher's teachers, presenting as a mentor to the other alters. Yet, his lessons are confusing and nonsensical to the audience because Christopher's own struggle with school.

Owl also holds onto Christopher's dyslexia and learning disabilities, concealed by a false sense of ego and bravado. The same type of attitude that Christopher's teachers presents on a daily basis.

Lastly, Winnie also holds onto Christopher's autistic symptoms. While everyone displays these traits, Tigger and Winnie hold onto the "least socially acceptable" qualities. Hence why Rabbit often has conflict with them.

Winnie and Tigger lack social awareness, are blunt, and can accidentally hurt the others due to misunderstanding their body language and facial language.

On a different note, Winnie is obsessed with honey, which represents Christopher's desire to overeat in real life. This is a coping mechanism for his isolation, and later on, the ongoing stress of boarding school.

Overall, the Winnie the Pooh cast are alters created to hold onto traits that Christopher can't express in the outer world. The Hundred Acre Woods acts as an inner world for the alters and Christopher to escape the daily stress of life.

Unfortunately for Christopher, the demands of boarding school leave him unable to visit most of the time. However, he can still watch their misadventures from the outside.

Additionally, the various stories of Winnie the Pooh represent changes in his life, as well as actual events in the outer world.

Tigger's movie represents Christopher wanting a family that is neurodivergent but finding solace in his alters. On the other hand, Piglet's movie showcases Christopher feeling like an outcast that is taken for granted and once again finding solace in his alters. And so on, so forth.

In the end, Christopher is forced to suppress his alters, so they are permanently trapped in the Hundred Acre Woods, always yearning for their host. They have no idea what lies beyond their home because they have never known anything else. And they never will.

[foggyfanfic]

I think the thing that keeps me hooked on Encanto and Bruno is the implications of a mentally ill person in this setting.

Like he is all but confirmed mentally ill, and it’s not a curse, it’s not a metaphor, it’s not even PTSD or Cinematic Crazy Disorder, he has OCD. He has real person OCD, we know his compulsions and can make pretty good guesses at his triggers and obsessions, it is OCD. In a lot of fantasy we know that surely mental illness must exist, because presumably these people have brains and brains are where mental illness is stored, but we don’t often receive confirmation that it does exist. Even when characters start showing signs of PTSD, mileage varies on accuracy, and it often gets hand waved as normal trauma instead of clearly being a disorder that could potentially require a doctor’s help to treat. They have yet to state in canon that Bruno has OCD, but they put it into the script, they built it into his character, and they didn’t even go for the usual Has to Have Everything Neat and Tidy variety that we see in media, instead they’ve made a point to show his compulsions and generalized anxiety. This isn’t Detective Procedural OCD, it’s Based on My Aunt OCD.

And that more than anything has me thinking about the structure of this society and this family. I find myself writing mentally ill OC’s for this fandom more than for others because it feels more organic in the Encanto verse than it does the Buffy verse. I spend more time wondering about Alma and her family history, does she have a cousin or siblings that are like Bruno, or does she just assume he’s like that because of the magic? It seems obvious to me that the Madrigal family tends toward anxiety disorders, and after the comics I’m more convinced Bruno is autistic as well as having OCD, how long until some doctor comes to town and is like “Oh, hey! You guys all have mental illnesses!”? It’s the 50’s in the movie, so knowledge of this stuff ain’t great, but Mirabel would be 89(?) today, her grandkids might have been diagnosed, her great grandkids would definitely be the right generation to receive a diagnosis. Oof, but we saw when Encanto first came out that some people consider mental illness to be a White Thing, so how does the intersection of racism and colorism affect this? Does the great grand kid that looks like Pepa have an easier time getting anti-anxiety meds than the great grandkid that looks like Félix?

I should actually probably take my ADHD meds or this is going to get long.

I’ve been weaving Adelaide into more stories because she was originally designed as a vehicle for Camilo to have heavily autistic kids and grandkids, but ever since writing Juan I keep thinking about the experiences of two autistic kids in a rural village that doesn’t know what that is yet. And I want to play with that! Like he doesn’t struggle with facial expressions so he would fly under the radar, but she does struggle with proper emoting so she doesn’t. On the other hand, he went through a very showy phase that got him labeled annoying, but she’s a girl, and quiet, and society likes that. He has a good relationship with his family, so he has mentors and friends; but she has a bad relationship with her family so she has a found family and when Bruno comes out of the walls she would cling to him because he is an Adult that is Like Her. His special interest is math and math is useful so he gets plenty of opportunities to play with it, her special interest is stars and that’s cool and all but stars are not a job. How do people in rural 1950’s handle sensory issues? How accepting are people of those with mental illness when they don’t realize that’s why little Romero is like that?

And what about the downsides of untreated mental illness? We see through Bruno how isolating that can be, but I inherited my broken brain from my mother and she has taught me all the ways NOT to handle it. How many people in Encanto are self medicating because they have bipolar disorder and no clue that’s what’s happening? I read that folks with autism or OCD can often get swept up in fundamentalism because the rigid Right vs Wrong world view presses all the right disorder buttons for them. So how many of the most heavily Catholic people in town are mentally ill?

Oh my god and schizophrenia! I read that hallucinations and delusions can often reflect the culture surrounding the person with the disorder. So! In Encanto, a paradise that’s surrounded by a super violent conflict (because this is taking place in Actual Real World Colombia in the mid-20th century), what does that look like? Do they have aural hallucinations where they think they can hear distant sounds of screaming? Do they have delusions that they’re keeping the miracle alive by never letting their candles burn all the way down? How does the culture of the Encanto affect people with schizophrenia?! How are those people treated?!

I know it’s a Disney property, so obviously they’re not going to release a series that does a deep dive into what mental illness in the Encanto looks like but ugh! I have so many questions, do I really have to write all the answers myself?! Rude. I mean, I’m going to do it, if I have the time and energy I am one hundred percent going to write a story about being a mentally ill person in a magic rural village. But still!

Stay tuned for a longer story about Adelaide than I’d ever planned to write, and a stream of consciousness about how Julieta’s gift should affect PTSD. If I get around to it.

[satorutistic]

i made a quick analysis on why i think gojo is autistic :3

open for more

i know a lot of these traits can be linked to the six eyes and how he was raised, but its still extremely similar to the autistic experience.

main points r difficulty with facial expressions, sensory overload, social difficulty, masking, and restrictive interests.

difficulty with facial expressions

gojo has little to no control over his facial expressions. he is either extremely obvious or extremely hard to read.

- for example, when gojo is discussing something meaningful to him we can see him smiling while displaying positive emotions. this could be attributed to him unmasking because of excitement and/or joy.

this is the exact opposite when he is upset!!

- when gojo is upset, his face goes completely blank as if he doesn’t know how to process what he is feeling. when being sealed in chapter 90 and during the events of chapter 76, we can see this happening!

sensory overload

gojo canonically struggles with sensory overload. he wears something covering his eyes at all times because he gets overwhelmed easily. gojo often complains of “seeing too much” or “feeling too much” and a huge part of autism spectrum disorder is the issues with sensory processing. the six eyes definitely contribute to this, but i believe autism may be a coexisting condition that gojo has.

social difficulty

gojo is frequently unable to tell if someone is joking or serious.

- for example, he believes that utahime is joking about hating him when she really does. (this is stated by gege)

gojo always seems to have the incorrect reaction to serious situations and never truly knows how to go about a social situation. (“i ate that thing.” “really?”) gojo often skips over important details and dwells on unimportant ones. he also lacks the ability to have empathy and connect with most people! his social difficulty is just like what most autistic people experience.

masking

gojo masks to the point where others see him as somebody with no personality. he is constantly reflecting behaviors of others (ex: mimicking sugurus mannerisms) to appear as ‘normal’. during hidden inventory, gojo had absolutely no idea how normal teens acted, so he was seemingly out of place. quickly, gojo created a mask based on other teens and was perceived as a stereotypical ‘normal’ teenager.

restrictive interests

autistic people are known to have restrictive, often odd, interests that interfere with their everyday lives. i believe gojos special interest might be digimon!

- an example of this is chapter 66 where gojo compares tengen and the star plasma vessel to digimon! infodumping about a special interest and using it to make complex situations make sense is a common factor of autism.

and for a headcanon, i believe gojo uses sweets to stimulate his brain and thats why he likes them so much!!! okay .. that is all.. autistic satoru gojo is real ..

[servetolive]

There have been headcanons about Barnabas being neurodivergent/autistic that are interesting to me.

As an AuDHD person at first ofc I'm like "nah, projecting."

But naw, I think there's something there with that!

Before I fell in love with the character at Kanver, there was something "off" about him. I know the designers/writers meant to portray a confident/empty character, but way more than that came across.

For example, his inappropriate affect. Anyone notice that he has weird facial tics/expressions at the WEIRDEST times? Like he smirks when nobody is saying anything interesting. Or how he refuses to look people in the eyes? These are choices the devs actually made.

I cannot watch his love scene with Benna, Christ up a tree it is the most awkward shit ever BECAUSE OF BARNABAS. He can't even pretend like she matters, he monologues at her for no reason (and she thinks he's talking to her LOL), and he has that vacant look in his eyes while she's trying to be all on his dick. His expressions in that scene KILL me. Poor girl. (What I DO love about that scene is that it's clear neither of them are into each other, Benna just hasn't got the memo)

I feel like Barnabas is a neurodivergent (honestly dead ass autistic) who has "grown out of it," which we all know isn't a thing: we just learn the very hard way how normal people communicate and have to adapt. He repeats things a lot, much of them from Ultima (I have always done this because it's faster and less painful than struggling to come up with my own words).

A friend of mine initially said it sounds like he's possessed, but we find out he's autonomous and just... weird. No wonder he wants to eliminate bOnDs oF cOncScioUsNess because he can't fucking make any lmao

Now he's at that stage in life where he's figured out how to make himself look cool by shutting the fuck up so when he DOES talk people listen, even though he's rambling about some bullshit. But that comes at the cost of forming any meaningful relationships, if he wants to continue being a fearless leader. Much relate.

I love him.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[temporaerthaervaerk]

Reasons why I headcannon Haru from Free! as autistic (some aren't diagnostic criteria but I'm autistic and I relate, so bite me):

He only eats fish (mackerel) ("You like mackerel too much" is a running gag)

He loves water because of the way it feels (sensory seeking)

He's the only one who sees a difference in his swimtrunks (he likes some better because the way they feel/they fit differently) (hyper sensitive sense)

His special interests are swimming and mackerel

When trying to convince others to swim, he mimics the way he thinks you should do it (with no regard to social cues) (masking)

Limited facial expressions (unless it's about swimming)

He doesn't care about swimming time, records and winning

He has a set routine

"I only swim free."

Is often seen providing support by sitting quietly beside people // or engaging in a conversation with his back turned to the group.

Tendency to give entities human feelings ("Maybe the water hates him" // "I thought I should ask water about matter that involves the water.")

Appears blunt but cares deeply (asks outright if people are okay /// "we're not going to discuss it (about something another character finds uncomfortable)" // gives things freely to children)

Straightforward

Takes his promises very seriously

"He's actually looking at the camera for once."

"Knowing Haru he probably doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now."

Trying to understand his feelings through thinking // struggling to name feelings

He never uses his phone // doesn’t bring it with him // "Haru usually doesn’t carry his phone around with him."

He remembers small things about his friends and then gifts really meaningful gifts

When he knows how he feels he shares his feelings openly and without shame (and with an abundance of eye contact used to drive home his sincerity)

He notices people when they're sad // really perceptive // notices differences in behaviour (pattern recognision)

"You're supposed to smile for pictures." // "Haru is always smiling on the inside."

My man does not care about social norms (is always ready for a dip, no matter where he has to strip).

"I don't care about winning," (i love this boy)

"You're too easily impressed, Haru-chan." (Once again, I love him)

As kids Haru sometimes wouldn’t talk, and instead Mokoto would "translate" how he felt (i almost cried 😭)

"You're so cold," (i hate this)

He litterally just went to Australia because Rin asked him to without knowing the language + without doing any planning just trusting Rin– and then felt panicked when he thought Rin left him (... I once went to Italy with a girl because she said she wanted to and I didn’t get that it was meant to be a joke... until we were already in Italy and she told me she it was a joke but she was glad I took it seriously. She planned everything and I just followed along because I trusted her. Rin also said he didn’t expect Haru to agree, so yeah. I don't know)

"It was my first fight (with him)" (relatable dude)

"Hey, c'mon. You could look a little happier... But I guess that reaction is typical Haru." (Seeing someone for the first time in a long time)

"That’s really impressive," Haru says. "Hey," someone else says. "You're supposed to laugh at that!" (Once again, relatable dude. I don't get the joke either)

"What did you talk about?" *Haru answers truthfully* *the other person makes noises of disbelief*

I love him

[paradox-the-unimpressed-nun]

🍓My demon slayer headcannons (because everyone obviously wanted to know)

🍓Little warning some of these are suggestive also prob finna make a part 2

⋆⸜ ⚘ ⸝⋆ .* ⚘ ⋆*⋆⸜ ⚘ ⸝⋆ .* ⚘ ⋆*⋆⸜ ⚘ ⸝⋆ .* ⚘ ⋆*

🍓Muzan prefers his female form. I think he absolutely loves when people dote on him. Constantly gets called gorgeous or beautiful by all types of people. Also he likes to dress up, painting her nails picking out a dress putting on makeup. Her lipstick always matches her nails, her signature colors are red and blue

🍓 Fem!muzan is apart of the itty bitty titty community

🍓Kokushibou is trans. I explain in this post why I believe this

🍓Kokushibou reads story’s to yoriichi. I don’t think yoriichis parents ever bothered to teach him how to read so kokushibou reads to him.

🍓kokushibou and Yoriichi are black. Koku has dreadlocks, he likes to add charms to his hair. Yoriichi has big curls. But occasionally koku will braid Yoriichi hair- he just wants to be like his big bro

🍓 Yoriichi is autistic, he struggles with understand peoples emotions (like facial expressions) and ask people how they are feeling to know

🍓Kokushibou eats human food- the even though he will throw up.

🍓 Akaza has a soft spot for single mothers and old women. He will help elderly make their way home, he likes to chat. (Btw he canonically likes to talk to people)

🍓in the data book it’s stated douma likes hookah, alcohol and dancing. He lets people he likes smoke with him, He offered kotoha.

🍓Douma is pan but he has a preference for women. I also think he’s ace

🍓 Douma prefers to wear clothing that doesn’t show much skin. He mainly wears turtle necks- his swim wear is long sleeves or straight up wet suit.

🍓 douma WAS blonde but turned white due to stress (inosuke is giving him a hard time)

🍓Obanai learned how to make western style food for mitsuri. Her favorite is pasta- she’s a messy eater

🍓obanai also buys themed socks for mitsuri for every holiday 

🍓Genya has a big FAT crush on tanjiro (that canon can’t change my mind) which he try’s and fails to hide from tanjiro. “Genya you don’t have to be shy I have a crush on you to!” “Shut up! I don’t have a crush on you Leave me alone!!” He learned that from his brother

🍓Giyuu and Sanemi sneak away for ohagi, Sanemi is incredibly secretive with their relationship-though the others all know.

🍓Tengen invites Rengoku over on Sundays to paint his nails with his wives. They’ll spend hours painting them just for him to wash it off (his dad dose not like nail polish on boys)

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

So I just began dating this other autistic girl about a month and a week ago. We met at church and what was supposed to and/or maybe just be friends, led us into a very deep dating relationship. I definitely have no complaints but the one thing I struggle with is knowing and understanding her facial expressions. I am a high functioning autistic as she is too, but for the life of me, I can’t tell if she is mad, happy or angry. I only know when she actually smiles that she is happy.

How do I figure out what is going on? I seem to apologize a lot or I think I said the wrong thing and she is mad or what not! Do you have any tricks, hints or advice on this issue????

Hi there,

If I were in that situation, I would ask what’s going on. I’m level 1, and my boyfriend is probably ADHD, but he’s not diagnosed.

Anyway, whenever I have a face going on, he asks me what I’m thinking. Apparently I a have a “thinking” face? Lol

These, at least for me, are usually accompanied by some daydreaming too.

Don’t be afraid to ask her questions. She is your girlfriend after all. If she’s making a face, you could ask if she’s okay or what’s going on.

That’s all the advice I can think of. Maybe my followers can give some advice too?

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ♥️