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baejax-the-great · 4 months

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Hi, I saw on one of your ao3 comments that you think Homers' Achilles is on the spectrum. This is a really interesting idea to me, but I don't know that much about autism - could you elaborate on why you think that? (Also, I think all of your fics are amazing ☺️)

Autism as a word and diagnosis did not exist in ancient Greece, and I have no idea if there would have been a similar concept about it (doubt it) or if more likely people with certain autistic traits would have been considered to have a certain type of personality. So for me to say that Homer deliberately wrote Achilles as "autistic" is a little tongue in cheek.

That said, reading the Iliad I did have a moment of "Ohhhh, dude's autistic I get it." Some people might look at my reasoning and say, "well, that could be a whole other thing with these other reasons," and that's fair. This is just how it came across to me and why.

Sense of justice/fairness. This is one of the more obscure autistic traits (that often gets misunderstood and shit upon by people), but it's how the book begins, so I'll start here. Autistic people are more likely to learn and follow rules to a T. This gets rolled into the trait of "rigid thinking" and has been related to autistic people's preference for solid routines. To think about where you lie with this trait, one example is the "walk" signal at a crosswalk. Some people jaywalk when the road is very clear and no one is around. Some people jaywalk when the road ISN'T clear because they don't give a fuck. And some people will wait for that light to turn white no matter what because that's what you are supposed to do and there are rules (although culture/country of origin will also affect how much relevance traffic lights have in your life).

This is a rule, but it has little do to with justice. So to figure out where you stand in terms of justice sensitivity, another metric is how angry you feel when you watch someone cut in line and not get punished for it. Some of us will sigh and move on with our life because dicks are everywhere, whatever, and some people will have a harder time letting go because this person broke a rule in an obviously unfair way, and they should be punished for that.

This trait does not mean that autistic people have a better sense of what justice is or what rules/laws are "just." That is all very subjective. But this trait does result in a stronger negative reaction to seeing those rules/laws violated.

Such as rage.

Achilles fits the bill here in both in terms of rigid thinking and his sense of justice. His reputation in the Greek tradition is as someone who was very educated. In fact, he is the most educated with regards to law and religion than the rest of the Achaeans thanks to his time with Chiron. More than that, he actually cared about what he was taught and was considered kind of a stick-in-the-mud in terms of believing that the armies should follow the rules and customs of their people at all times and that violating their own laws was bad, even if you really, really wanted to bang a hot chick.

When Agamemnon decides to take Briseis, he is breaking a Rule. The common interpretation of what happens here is that he has violated Achilles' pride and honor in doing so, and Achilles loses his shit. That's valid. To me it read a little differently. I mean, for one, Achilles is 100% correct in the first book. Agamemnon pissed off the gods in a way he shouldn't have bringing plague on everyone, and how does he solve this? By agreeing to do the thing Achilles told him to do to solve it and then immediately violating their customs to steal from Achilles, bringing down a plague of "Achilles is not going to help you anymore."

Achilles cries to his mom that he wants the gods to fuck over the Greeks to prove Achilles right, which is deeply immature, but also really makes sense to me. Like, Agamemnon did this shitty, illegal, rules-breaking thing, and he needs to feel the consequences of that action. Achilles isn't a god who can bring down a plague, but his mommy is, so get fucked, Agamemnon. It's Zeus time.

During the time Achilles is out of the fighting, he is routinely called hard-hearted, stubborn, and other words to indicate he will not be swayed, which again speaks to his rigidity of understanding how things should be done.

The Way Achilles Talks About His Emotions. Achilles very clearly states what he is feeling throughout the book, and he often restates it. We get it, bro. You're mad. And then sad. Really, really sad. While this is almost definitely for the audience to understand his feelings and just how deep they run, Homer also could have just told us outright what he was thinking without having Achilles say it out loud repeatedly. It also felt to me that Achilles talks about his feelings far more often and bluntly than other characters do, but again this could be because the story revolves around his 'rage.'

Regardless, even if it was purely for audience benefit, this is a behavior I have noticed with my adult ND friends, which is basically after a childhood feeling confused by what other people around them are doing or why they are reacting to things in a certain way, they have a strategy of very bluntly expressing themselves and where they are at in this situation. It can be far easier than trying to follow the subtleties of NT culture and just get whatever issue it is out in the open. Saying to someone "I am angry at you" can come off as overly aggressive and blunt depending on context, but it cuts to the heart of the matter. We can compare this with Odysseus, who does not express any very deep emotions at all in the Iliad (other than the fact that Thersites should shut the fuck up, anyway), presumably because that's nobody else's business.

The Embassy. Achilles' point to Odysseus that this entire war was started over a man stealing a woman is so correct and so ignored. He looks at this situation and says: Paris stole Helen, and Agamemnon rallied all the Achaeans to come make war with Troy. Agamemnon steals Briseis, and I'm meant to... keep fighting for him? In what way does this make sense?

Everyone around him sees it from a completely different perspective, basically that Achilles got angry over a girl. To Achilles this is not what it is about at all. And I'm with him on this. If stealing a woman is a sin egregious enough for thousands of Greeks to spend 10 years attempting to sack a city, then it is the same amount of egregious for Agamemnon to take Briseis and he's lucky Achilles didn't kill him immediately and sack Argos. He's getting off easy, which Achilles tells him.

Reading Odysseus lay out his argument followed by Achilles cutting him down with that bit of logic was like, yeah, I'm with Achilles, I don't even think he's being stubborn I just think he's right.

In the embassy chapter, Achilles also has his famous line about despising men who say one thing but mean another. Being very truthful and having difficulty noticing lies is another common trait of autism, and it would make sense for Achilles to find the dishonesty of his colleagues deeply annoying.

Old British scholars called him a sociopath. This might seem like a weird one, but I'm adding it into evidence. When I read the Iliad, I see Achilles as a very emotional person. Given that half the book is about his grief over Patroclus, I find calling him incapable of caring about others incredibly bizarre. But in addition to determining that these scholars who wrote these batshit essays have never once in their life had a friend, much less a friend that they loved, this kind of fits with how a certain type of old-fashioned scholar understands autism. I've actually been at neuroscience talks with crusty old assholes who talk about how autistics and orphans are incapable of empathy, and then use evidence that really just says to me they express empathy in a different way. (Yes, orphans. For real. A real talk I went to in like 2015. Did you know that orphans don't have feelings and don't care about the feelings of others. /s) Add to the old British tradition of their feral private school kids (which I believe they call public school? idk those assholes in blazers, you know the ones) literally caning each other for being smaller, weaker, or just different, and this to me is solid evidence that Achilles is neurodivergent and unwittingly awoke the bloodlust in these old (dead) bastards.

Speech Patterns. Not being able to read Ancient Greek, I can't actually say much about this one, but multiple scholars have commented that the way Achilles speaks in the Iliad is different to all the others. He has a unique way of speaking. Again, this is not necessarily an autistic trait, but it is common for autistic people to have different speech patterns than NT people, so it's more just a "hmmm, maybe" than actual evidence.

I feel like I'm forgetting other little things, but I'd have to fully reread the Iliad with this in mind to jog my memory, and maybe one day I will. TLDR; Achilles has a very rigid way of thinking and an uncommon way of expressing his emotions.

And as always, autism is a spectrum. Anything I've written about here isn't necessarily true of any autistic person out in the world.

#iliad posting #tagamemnon #man do I want this in the tags? I feel like...#listen I am not autistic I just believe in their beliefs #aka I'm related to autistic people and have ADHD and we got that overlapping vibe you know #anger outbursts are also a known trait of autism #there's also more subtle stuff #achilles gets really upset that despite being the best warrior he's not being appreciated #and sure that could just be pride or an obnoxious personality or whatever #but I've also seen this in my ND friends where maybe they are the best at tennis #but someone else is made team captain #because that person is more likable #and the ND friend is like but I'm better and I deserve that honor #and it really frustrates them #like Agamemnon sucks and everyone at that meeting knows it #but nobody sided with Achilles because conflict at this point is just like... can we not #okay rambling incoherently in the tags now I guess #achilles #old crusty scholar: as we see by the embassy chapter achilles is evil and awful #ND me: okay but he was 100% correct tho so I don't see the issue #people might be dying but he won that argument and that is the important part

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sassyblazesandwich · 2 months

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Aggressive ADHD and other disorders.

What is Aggressive ADHD?

Aggressive ADHD, According to understand.org is apart of ADHD in many kids and they are more quick to get angry. Kids with ADHD can feel emotions intensely and can have trouble managing them.

What can cause anger in ADHD?

Impulsivity. Impulsivity is a symptom of ADHD that is often caused by an inability to focus and control behaviors. According to verywellmind.com, "The impulsive nature of ADHD means that if someone feels angry, they communicate it right away. This is often more apparent in children since they haven't yet developed strategies that adults with ADHD develop. More than 50% of preadolescents with ADHD experience impulsive aggression, which is also known as affective aggression, and is characterized by strong, unplanned emotions, usually anger, that often takes place in the heat of the moment."

Could someone with ADHD have other disorders or disabilities to also cause aggression or anger?

Oppositional Defiant Disorder. According to verwellmind.com "Approximately ⅓ of all children with ADHD also have Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Children with ODD display Defiant, hostile behaviors towards authority figures. They often loose their temper, frequently argue with adults, defy rules, blame others, deliberately annoy others, are touchy, easily annoyed and behave in angry resentful ways overall."

What is ODD?

ODD or Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that typically emerges in childhood, between ages 6 and 8 and can last throughout adulthood. Some common signs and symptoms of ODD include: Being easily annoyed, causing conflict, frequent temper tantrums, Low tolerance for frustration, Lying, Moodiness and unprovoked anger, Noncompliance with even simple requests, No sense of conscience, purposeful irritation of others.

What does ADHD and ODD share in common?

Irritability, such as feeling intense negative emotions about things that you know are not that big of a deal or not a problem at all. Feeling impatient. Interrupting conversations or talking a lot, driven by the feeling that you need to say what you want to say right this second. Impulsive actions, done with little to no thought or planning. In ADHD, this might look like reward seeking impulses like skipping work to go to a party or gorging on junk food. In ODD, it might look more like aggressive impulses, like lashing out at someone with cruel words or physical violence.

What is Autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is a spectrum disorder, which means that it can vary in severity and presentation.

What is Narcissism?

Narcissism, is a personality disorder characterized by an inflated sense of self importance, a lack of empathy, and a need for admiration.

Is Narcissism associated with Autism?

"A study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that individuals with autism were more likely to have elevated levels of narcissistic traits than individuals without autism. It's important to note that it does not mean all individuals with autism will show narcissistic traits or that there is a casual relationship between the two conditions. It's also worth noting that while some individuals with autism may display behavior that could be interpreted as self centered, or lacking empathy, this is not necessarily indicative of true narcissistic personality disorder. Rather it may reflect difficulty understanding social cues or interpreting emotions accurately" -Steven Zauderer

My resources used:

#adhd #autism #narcissism #ODD #oppositional defiant disorder

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wandersoul8 · 1 year

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Eyyyyyy it’s finally time to share DM-664’s new reference sheet alongside her backstory (I finally got the confidence to share itt!) hope you like it and I hope you like my beloved Kaled-Dalek Hybrid OC 💙✨⚡️

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Name: DM-664

Nicknames/Aliases: 664, Hybrid, Creature, Failed Experiment, Lightning Rod, Muto, Dalek Mutant 664, Death Merchant 664

Species: Kaled-Dalek Hybrid

Home Planet: Skaro

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Them

Height: 6’5

Sexuality: AroAce

Neurodiversity: On the Autism Spectrum

Personality traits

When interacting with 664, It really depends on who you are most of the time. Though geelllbut some 664’s traits that she tends to show the most are her aggressive, loyal, blunt, violent, and is more reserved. She will occasionally be sarcastic if she feels the need to.

She has a lot of sadness and insecurities within herself which she tries to supress whenever around others and let it out when alone and can’t be seen or heard. though she’ll occasionally let it slip.

As well as that she often tries to hide her fear when encountering people like The Doctor and honestly Davros as well when she eventually encounters him again.

Some of her lesser known traits and traits she’ll grow to have) are currently

Empathy towards others, she’s slowly been developing this since Earth and when she crossed paths with the Doctor.

Only people who manage to get to know her properly will find out that 664 is actually quite respectful to those she likes or she seems as “superior”

Strengths

- Loyal to those she supports, will go to most lengths including putting herself at risk in order to protect those she is loyal to

- Physically strong & great at combat

- Very knowledgeable and smart when it comes to her interests (Creating and using weaponry (specifically long range, bombs, and electrical weapons) Dalek Kaled History, Flora and Fauna of Skaro and select other planets)

- High endurance levels to physical pain, especially high voltage electric attacks/shocks thanks yo the experiments she was put through.

- She also has a natural tolerance to some radiation

- Self Aware of her actions & has her own moral compass

Weaknesses

- Suffering from Long Term Mental Illnesses being Deppression & PTSD

- Forced emotion suppression that can lead to extreme anger outbursts and mental breakdowns

- 664 can be incredible destructive both to herself and to others and at times is often merciless

- can *rarely* handle and process compliments from anyone, especially her superiors (or those she sees as above her)

- Struggles trusting others as she is well aware that most either try to use her for something or backstab her. It takes a while for her to trust a new ally/friend fully because of that

- Despite having skills in the weaponry field, she isn’t very good at using heavy weapons while in battle as they are “too slow” for her to use

- 664 while holding respect for Davros and other Daleks, she does genuinely fear them from time to time

Goals/Wants/Needs:

- To die in a way that she seems “honourable”

- Somewhere to belong & feel welcome

- To be seen by those who know of her as more then just a failed experiment (wants to be seen as powerful & reliable)

- Getting some form of vengeance on those that have betrayed her

- For Davros to recognise her notable achievements & for him to see her as one of his own

(Keep In mind that while Davros has grown fond of 664 over time due to her ability to survive, her loyalty, and skills in weaponry & combat. Even though they haven’t interacted in a long time- when they do eventually cross paths, He’ll rarely show it as it would be considered “weak”)

Backstory:

DM-664 is a genetic experiment created by Davros on Skaro a few years before the Time War broke out. The Hybrid was supposed to appear more Dalek then Kaled.

Due to unknown circumstances she ended up resembling more like her a Kaled Ancestors.

Despite her mindset and speech was more like that of a loyal Dalek.

Following the first days of her existence, DM-664 was experimented on daily by Scientific Daleks as well as Davros and endured many kinds of experiments such as bone removal, replacement and implantation (including one that prevented 664 from screaming even though she always stayed silent), fusing Dalekanium into her bloodstream, and was even used as a live subject for some weapon testing.

664 though, was able to somehow endure it all.

664 was also used as a scapegoat for Davros, and often would get struck on the back from afar by his electrical manipulation which is where she got the lightning flower burns on her back from.

She was also put into areas with other Dalek experiments that would always try and kill her and each other.

After a few more years The Dalek Empire at the time had no more use for her & exiled her into the radioactive wilderness of Skaro which actually turned out to be much better for her in some ways.

During the time she was there she taught herself how to scavenge for small insects & create primitive weapons such as spears & daggers to hunt out of bone that would be used for hunting.

It didn’t all go well though as she did get sick when she had to drink the poisoned water.

the adapt in the different biomes as well as functioning on limited resources.

She traveled a lot in the span of 2 years, even coming across ancient wreckage from the 1000 year war, especially weapons, which sparked her interest in both Skaro's history and weaponry.

664 continued her journey along Skaro and eventually came across a small Thal colony camp (6-10 Thals) that was secretly trying to monitor what was going on in the Dalek city from a distance.

664, despite everything she had been put through was still extremely loyal to the Daleks, devised a plan and eventually took them out mercilessly one by one using the weapons she had created from the bones of animals she had previously hunted. She then raided the camp for what she needed and left.

Eventually the rotting bodies and raided camp from the small Thal colonies got found by a few Daleks while on patrol in the wilderness. A few days after the discovery they were able to trace the cause of the Thal’s deaths back to DM-664.

The higher ups decided that 664 could prove some use to The Daleks.

She was eventually located & was found mildly injured with a broken leg not far from a cliff face.

She was taken back to the city, healed , questioned, cleaned & after 2 weeks of having some of her more “feral” like behaviour being “corrected”.

DM-664 was questioned again & then given a small cell to live in within Davros' lab as well as getting her own custom Dalek like amour and a custom modified gunstick as her new weapon.

From there, she didn't do too many notable things aside from getting frequently used as a test subject and would occasionally be allowed to help Davros out.

She also got proper training on how to use her gun properly and other forms of Dalek weaponry.

At the time, the Daleks didn't have too much of a use for DM-664 just yet.

So they decided to cryogenically freeze her and store her on one of their more secure ships until she had some form is use.

Davros, at this time has actually began to slowly grow fond of 664 due to her interest in weaponry and her survival abilities, though it was never shown.

He ends up giving 664 his sonic screwdriver by slipping into the chamber 664 was stored in while she was unconscious, as he believes that she may get more use out of it.

About 1000 or so years, right at the very end of the Time War. DM-664 is unfrozen & re-awoken.

While she was little confused about the sudden appearance of the sonic screwdriver, she kept it close to her.

She then gets briefed about the current situation and then is put straight onto the frontlines in Arcadia.

Her purpose there was to back up Dalek squadrons and to take out powerful gun towers used by the Time Lords.

Towards the final days of the war, while patrolling with 3 Daleks. They cross paths with the War Doctor who kills all 3 Daleks instantly, leaving 664 the only one standing.

Confused the two stare at each other waiting for one to attack the other for a minute before 664 silently retreats in the other direction confused as to why he spared her life.

On the last very last day of the Time War. 664 having an instinct that things will get much worse from here decides to check out and see what sort of technology from some of the fallen.

She scavenges a small emergency temporal shift device from a casing of a dead Dalek and while toying around with it, accidentally activates it, sending her to Earth in the 2010's.

Unknowingly to 664, the temporal shift device she activated was slightly damaged was able to sub-consciously open her mind slightly to new, “impure” emotions.

DM-664 ends up detained, gun confiscated, & stranded inside an Extra-Terrestrial Detention Centre run by UNIT’s Australian Branch in Melbourne. Thankfully due to 664 looking more like her Kaled Ancestors, she was able to deceive her captors into believing she was something else more humanoid.

Over the span of 8 years, she and many other detained aliens that were considered “low risk” by UNIT were put on a study/re-educational like program where they were made to learn about Human societies & history & other misc skills.

One day, The Doctor eventually gets word about this UNIT run detention centre in Australia and decides to show up to try and put a stop to the operations of the centre, unexpectedly crossing paths with DM-664.

The Doctor confronts and exposes 664’s Skarosian origins in front of UNIT & the other captive aliens.

This news caused mass panic from the UNIT soldiers & a riot from the captive aliens.

While the masses were distracted, 664 and a couple of other aliens slip out of the crowds and head towards the highly secured room where their confiscated alien technology is stored, attacking anyone that tried to stop them.

664 was able to break into the room & retrieve her gun while the other aliens with her armed themselves too and they continued with their escape attempt. Unfortunately the escape attempt was foiled as the Doctor was able to calm both UNIT and the rioting aliens down.

664 and the few aliens with her were located and reluctantly surrendered.

The UNIT centre admins after all of the chaos decides that 664 was “too dangerous” to be held in the centre and they forced the Doctor to take 664 with him in the TARDIS.

The Doctor was open to the idea, though 664 reluctantly agreed and left with what little belongings she had.

She ended up traveling with the Doctor & his small group of companions for a number of years. Seeing new worlds, crossing paths with new enemies,as well as gaining some allies/friendships.

Eventually 664’s time in the TARDIS ended after an unexpected encounter with multiple incarnations of the Doctor and some Daleks shook this current TARDIS team & left DM-664 more traumatised after it had finished.

The Doctor ended deciding that it would be best to say goodbye to 664 for now.

He ended up leaving 664 on a quiet habitable alien forest like planet known as Icarro that was uninhabited by any alien civilisations, only a few species of animals.

DM-664 while still mentally recovering from everything that has happened before, began to take on this new stage of her life & see where it would take her.

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thisaliennerd · 3 years

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so true blaine, sam and britt are autistic!! but post about it i wanna know why u think that

I literally only needed one person to ask me this, so thank you for being that person, anon! Britt is very self-explanatory, and Sam is also pretty obvious imo (although I do have lots of notes on him too), but since I think Blaine needs a little bit more explaining, here is my evidence as to why I think he’s autistic.

First of all, let’s look at some of the common symptoms of autism in adults:

Difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling

Trouble interpreting facial expressions, body language, or social cues

Difficulty regulating emotion

Trouble keeping up a conversation

Inflection that does not reflect feelings

Difficulty maintaining the natural give-and-take of a conversation; prone to monologues on a favorite subject

Tendency to engage in repetitive or routine behaviors

Only participates in a restricted range of activities

Strict consistency to daily routines; outbursts when changes occur

Exhibiting strong, special interests

I think Blaine exhibits all or almost all of these things throughout the show, so let’s go through the list, point by point (with examples):

First, difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling. Blaine is very bad at this, especially romantic feelings. He doesn’t catch on to Kurt or Tina having crushes on him for way too long even though neither of them are subtle about it. He also doesn’t seem to pick up on most of Sebastian’s stuff. He seems to be aware that he’s hitting on him, but he doesn’t seem to be aware of his rivalry with Kurt or any of his malicious intent. Every time he and Kurt get into a fight he needs Kurt to explicitly tell him what’s wrong.

Second, trouble interpreting facial expressions, body language, or social cues. Blaine is TERRIBLE at this. He doesn’t understand sarcasm, he can never tell when people are lying to him, he often doesn’t understand how to talk to his peers, and he has no idea when people are uncomfortable. I have so many examples for this and the first point, but here’s just a small sample: s2e12 (22:15) - not getting that Jeremiah was very uncomfortable with the song, s5e9 (37:20) - when he’s named valedictorian instead of Artie or Tina, he apologizes to them and says that he thinks that things get handed to him, they sarcastically say they haven’t noticed, and Blaine believes them, s5e14 (15:10) - when he asks Kurt if he’s smothering him, and Kurt lies and says no, he believes him even though Kurt is a terrible liar, and (my favorite example of this) in s6e5 (40:15) - saying that he should thank Sue for trapping them in that elevator because now he and Kurt are just friends, and she says, “So thank me” and he actually says thank you (followed by Kurt saying, “Don’t actually thank her!” - amazing).

Third, difficulty regulating emotion. Blaine is very bad at regulating his emotions, especially negative ones. Most notably, anger. Blaine has intense angry outbursts, which will tie in later. Examples of this: season 3 episode 8 (13:50) - getting into a fight with Sam, season 5 episode 14 (26:50 and 27:20) - yelling at Elliot, and season 3 episode 15 (22:35) - outburst at Cooper.

Fourth, trouble keeping up a conversation. Blaine frequently talks about how he’s bad at communication and talking to people, especially about feelings, outside of song. He often has to sing to say bad news or confess things. Examples of this: Singing to tell Kurt about him cheating (s4e4 - 14:30), singing to confess his feelings to Sam (s4e17 - 21:15), singing to tell Kurt he’s not in June’s showcase (s5e20 - 10:40). When he is confronted by a conversation that makes him uncomfortable or that he wasn’t prepared for, he often has to shut down to think about it. Examples of this are when Kurt confesses his crush in season 2 episode 12 (30:40), Sam telling him he knew about Blaine’s crush in season 4 episode 17 (37:10), and the Frat Boy Physicals incident in season 5 episode 16 (21:05).

Fifth, inflection that does not reflect feelings. Generally, Blaine seems to be pretty good at this, especially in comparison to Brittany, but when he gets upset, he does sometimes get weirdly monotoned or just puts on a strange tone of voice. The best example of this I have is in season six, episode four (9:40 and 10:10).

Sixth, difficulty maintaining the natural give-and-take of a conversation; prone to monologues on a favorite subject. This is definitely true, especially when he gets upset about things. Season 5 episode 7 has the best examples of this, he starts by trying to lead the glee club in Mr. Shue’s absence, but he ends up coming on too strong and speaking over his peers (00:40). Next, when Kurt implies that he’s being a puppet master, he gets very upset, and keeps focusing on and coming back to that, even when Kurt tries to change the subject (6:45), and finally, he starts ranting to Brad, and cuts him off when Brad tries to chime in with his problems (11:40).

Seventh, tendency to engage in repetitive or routine behaviors. Blaine has the most consistent clothing and presentation out of anyone in the show, and as seen in season 3 episode 15 (17:15 and 38:10) and in season 5 episode 6 (28:15), Blaine has been dressing like this and doing his hair the same way since he was a kid. He even owns the same shirt in multiple colors (season 5 episode 6: 27:25). In season 4 episode 17, he talks to Sam about how his daily routine and how he walks the exact same way from class every day (00:45). This is also the first time Blaine mentions efficiency, he measures his routine down to the second, and it being efficient is really important to him. This comes back in season 5 episode 14 when he’s trying to make the loft more efficient (23:05). He also reveals in season 5 episode 20 that he needs to measure the stage before performing in order to improv (7:30).

Eighth, only participates in a restricted range of activities. Now you may be thinking, but Miriam, this doesn’t apply, wasn’t he president of like every club his senior year? Yes, he was, but this actually doesn’t disprove this one. He still really is focused on a few activities like glee club, student council, and school in general. He only signs up for the other clubs in a time of crisis, and he’s never seen doing anything outside of school in college or in seasons 2 or 3 (except for his special interests). And as these are all school clubs, that meet on school grounds, they’re still in his comfort zone.

Ninth, strict consistency to daily routines, and outbursts when changes occur. So we’ve talked about his routines, what happens when they’re broken? In season 5 episode 14, Blaine attempts to set routines with Kurt, making him breakfast every day, scheduling their days rigorously, etc., which leads Kurt to feeling smothered, but Blaine tells Elliot that he feels like he doesn’t know how to communicate. He feels very uncomfortable with the change of living in New York and the shift in the power dynamic between them. This is reinforced a few episodes later in episode 16, when these issues come back. In addition, episode 16 has an example of Blaine having an outburst when a short-term plan is disrupted. He and Kurt had planned to walk to class together, and Kurt had bailed without telling him, and Blaine gets very upset (23:05). Another example of this is when he finds Tina and Sam making out in season 5 episode 10 (24:45, 29:30). Their plans were disrupted, and he has an outburst/meltdown. Another example of long-term routines being disrupted is in season 3 episode 8. Sam has just come back to McKinley, and immediately, Sam and Blaine dislike each other. They’re both trying to choreograph and don’t like each other’s ideas, and they get into a fight that gets physical. Both of them are having an outburst due to the other invading the other’s space and routines (13:50). This then becomes an example of point three, as Blaine is seen boxing (physical reaction) to regulate his emotions (effectively stimming), which he also does in season 3 episode 15 when he’s angry at Cooper (26:40).

Finally, exhibiting strong, special interests. This one is probably the easiest to prove. Blaine’s special interests include show choir (he knows everything about it, he even reads the show choir blogs - s5e11: 6:50), boxing (he started a fight club at Dalton - s3e8: 14:00), Broadway (when he coaches the Warblers, Karofsky mentions that it’s pulling teeth to get Blaine to use any music that’s not Broadway - s6e3: 00:25), piano, and even music in general. To give some specific examples, Blaine is also known for having some shorter-term interests that he gets just as invested in, the best examples of this are puppet making (I know, I know, but it applies, he gets so into it for that week) from season 5 episode 7, dressing up as a superhero (no neurotypical person could do Nightbird, please) from season 4 episode 7 and season 5 episode 10 (16:45), and star wars fanfiction (he and Sam have a whole conversation about how ewoks are obviously polygamists) from season 5 episode 15 (5:20 and 26:35).

Blaine also has some other general traits. If you’ve ever watched him sing, he is constantly bouncing on his toes. He’s prone to incredibly intense eye contact, and is very sensitive to criticism, rejection, and public embarrassment (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria - I have too many examples of this to name). Little things that could be interpreted as sensory overload: season 5 episode 7 - hating loud chaotic environments, and lashing out because of it (00:35 and 00:55) and season 6 episode 5 - where he’s the first to say that they should just kiss to get out of Sue’s elevator because he’s getting very hot (29:00). In season 6 episode 1 during the break up scene, Kurt says that Blaine initiated a 3 hour fight about Kurt getting toothpaste on a towel (21:30), which is not neurotypical behavior, and Blaine responds in a way that indicates that it really bothered him. He’s an actor seemingly a very talented one, something that would make sense if he’d been masking his whole life. Finally, he has a very deep connection with Sam, who is clearly neurodivergent. He and Britt are the only people who understand Sam, and there are multiple times where Blaine knows how to calm Sam down when no one else can.

Now there’s also a case to be made about him having a terrible childhood and having some trauma from that, (I strongly believe that he feels like he has to be doing things for people in order for them to love him because of Cooper) but I also think that this is pretty compelling evidence.

The episodes that I found the most evidence in if you want to look for yourself are season 2 episode 12, season 4 episode 11 (this one’s also good for Sam), season 5 episodes 7, 14, 16, and 20, and season 6 episodes 1 and 5.

#blaine anderson #glee #sam evans #brittany pierce #glee headcanon #kurt hummel #klaine #autism #headcanon #gleeposting 😔

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simply-not-an-egg · 3 years

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Do Not Assume

Okay so for those who haven’t seen some of my previous posts talking about this, I’m currently on the waiting list to be diagnosed for autism, and the reason I’m saying this prior to getting into this anecdote is because, well, it’s necessary (story continues below).

Anyway, so today in my first period class, English, my hearing decided to be whack so I was getting severly overwhelmed by the noises, more specifically the sound of the airconditioner buzzing. Now I was sitting there having to stop myself from trying to scream or shout or have any sort of angry outburst as the pain of having to listen to this airconditioner kept worsening.

To give a bit of context or whatever you would call it, my ears felt as though they were literally going to start bleeding with the amount of pain I was enduring (think that one scene in Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared where Yellow Guy’s ears start bleeding) mixed with a worsening headache, and a hella amount of hand and arm pain (because I was gripping onto my sensory bracelet so tight to try to stop myself from screaming or crying. It has little plastic stars on it, by the end of class they had dented the skin in my hands and turned it red).

So my best mate, platonic love of my life, soulmate, who was sitting beside me noticed me beginning to enter a sensory overload, and they were also feeling similar as neither of us are neurotypical, so they asked the teacher (a relief teacher because our normal teacher was away on training) if we can sit in the hall (the classroom has a glass wall so teacher would still be able to monitor us) and teacher replied with “no, you’ll need to learn how to block out the noise when you have exams.” At this point, my head was down, and as i heard this that’s when I began to release MANY tears of anger and just dissapoinment I guess you could say (I’m not great at describing my own emotions, which, low and behold, yet another autistic trait).

Upon leaving class I stimmed and stimmed hard because that’s what happens when I try to hold back in emotion, especially such strong ones, and tbh I was feeling a little self-conscious about all my hand shaking and jerky arm movements although it was making me feel a hella lot better so at the end of the day I didn’t really care too much.

What I strongly cared about though, was how the teacher handled this situation. Now, my best mate, didn’t mention anything about sensory overloads and such a) because they knew I would not be comfortable with sharing that to a class and b) because even if they had said that, I can guarantee this teacher would not have believed a word because the way our school runs is that if you don’t have a note signed from a parent, whatever you’re suffering doesn’t exist (okay, so not all teachers I have run like that, but I can say for sure more than half of the staff run that way, which I get because there are sometimes kids that pretend, like a bunch of kids in the back of one of my other classes, but still).

So I’m aware that this is mostly just ramble, but the point I’m trying to make is, whoever you are, DO NOT make the assumption that EVERYONE IS THE SAME. Because as someone who’s had undiagnosed autism for close to 18 years, trust me, neurodivergents, especially females with autism, are VERY good at hiding the symptoms (hence the reason why most female autism cases get diagnosed so late).

Now, I did have a talk with my favourite teacher, who is also the head of our year and has known me longer than anyone else in the school in terms of staff, and she said she would have a conversation with aforementioned teacher before tomorrow’s lesson, so with all hope, I’ll be right then, but for the love of god, I will say it again.

NOT EVERYONE IS THE SAME.

NOT EVERYONE IS THE SAME, AND IF SOMEONE ASKS TO LEAVE CLASS TO HAVE SOME PEACE AND QUIET LET THEM. I DON’T CARE IF THEY ARE FAKING OR NOT BECAUSE HONESTLY, YOU DON’T KNOW, BUT I CAN GUARANTEE THAT MOST PEOPLE AREN’T AND THAT THEY GENUINELY NEED THAT QUIET TIME, OR TIME TO GO SOMEWHERE AWAY FROM THE THINGS THAT MESS WITH THEIR SENSES OR WHATEVER ELSE.

Because, I can also guarantee, if I had allowed for myself to have an outburst, I would have been much more of a distraction than anyone or anything in that godforsaken room.

TL;DR: Not everyone is neurotypical, even if you can’t outwardly see symptoms/traits/signs/whatever, so if someone asks politely to leave a room, or asks you to turn something off because it’s messing with their sense and likely causing them physical pain, do that or let them leave the room.

#actuallyautistic #autism #sensory overload #neurodiverse #neurodivergent #autistic

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evilelitest2 · 7 years

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So lets talk about Autism for a moment

Rare personal post for a moment. Now I don’t tend to talk about my personal life on tumblr very much, because it is my personal life and it is tumblr. But yes, I am autistic, and no, I don’t talk about it very much, and yes, I do have something to say about it for once.

A little while ago, a chap known as @leepacey had a post where they had a list of characters who they believed were Autistic. Most were characters who I didn’t know or I agreed with, but some on the list were characters like Zuko from Avatar, Flynn from The Force Awakens, Elphaba from Wicked, Hermione from Harry Potter, and Lilo from Lilo and Stich. All of whom are characters who I don’t think are autistic, just socially awkward. In fact I really think there is a problem with the way autism is understood in popular media where anybody who is uncomfortable socially is labelled autistic. This makes talking about the condition on its own terms rather difficult. And I said as much. But then @leepacey here PMed me this: "hi are you autistic? also did u read that screenshotted post at the top of my post before running your mouth? also why do you not want autistic people to have happiness” and then this: “also before you respond saying anything, please know: i don't care about literally anything you could say to me unless it's an apology for interacting with my post.” I said that yes, I was autistic and they responded with this:

“i get it, you're pathetic and miserable so you want all other autistics to be too”

Later on they made more than a few mean remarks about my dyslexia

Oh did I forget to mention? I am dyslexic, which should come as absolutely no surprise at all to anybody who follows me. Anyways.

I was surprised to find that I felt legitimately. Long time followers know that I don’t get hurt very often by internet drama, but there is something uniquely upsetting when somebody who claims to represent my interests spits in my face. Having your experience invalidated is never fun, and so you can consider this post the closest I get to an emotional outburst on the internet. But since it’s me, I want to re-frame this whole thing in terms of politics because...of course I do.

So....couple of problems here. The blog is decently popular and far more importantly, seems to be about autistic rights. It is claiming to represent autisic people, but has this really nebulous way of using a legitimate issue as a cudgel. And I see this behavior with a lot of people in a lot of different movements.

And no, this isn’t a “SJW are terrible” post because I’m pretty sure I’m an SJW, if that term means “somebody who acknowledges that social inequality exists.” One of the difficulties of social justice is that it is very difficult to talk critically about it without inviting alt right GamerGate reactionary trump voting assholes to leap in and declare the entire notion of social justice fundamentally wrong. So let me just say: Anita Sarkeesian is not a conman.

There is no White Genocide.

Autism isn’t abnormal.

But I can’t help but notice people use issues as way to abuse power, and so here is a helpful list of tips of how to identify those who co-opt causes for their own benefit. ‘Cause you find these people in every movement, and they are always toxic.

Since I am as always, horrible with technology, I still haven’t figured out how to screenshot personal chats, so I am posting the transcripts at the bottom here for those who want to see the details. A few things that keep happening:

1) There’s no possibility of reasonable, non-bigoted disagreement.

My original post was ‘I don’t think these characters are autistic because X” That was about the sum of it. Now, maybe I was wrong, maybe I am completely and utterly wrong, but this person didn’t really allow for there to be any way I could disagree with their conclusions without being somebody who wants to make autistic people miserable. I have to have an ulterior motive, I need to be motivated by something other than “I disagree with the actual content here,” because then they would have to respond to my arguments. It’s not as if addressing my arguments here was particularly difficult or upsetting--the only thing at issue is whether a fictional character is autistic or not.

And It’s not as if I wasn’t open to being wrong. For example, upon reflection, Lilo being autistic actually does make a good deal of sense, @chaotic-good-milk-hotel made a good argument for why it makes sense to read Lilo as autistic. We can talk, disagree, have a conversation about this without anybody having an ulterior motive or ill intention because you know...its just people’s head cannons.

2) They immediately go for the throat.

Again, this is a conversation about somebody’s headcanon that Zuko from Avatar is Autistic. This is the definition of a conversation that doesn’t need to get mean spirited in the least. But right off the bat I am hit by “also why do you not want autistic people to have happiness.” Because there is a certain type of person who really conflates any disagreement with the worse levels of disagreement. At the risk of going armchair psychology, I imagine that they want me to be the type of person who thinks Autism Speaks is legitimate, so they can feel more justified by lashing out at me cause you know....anger is addictive.

3) Massive hypocrisy:

Am I the only one who notices that they are like “I fight against ableism” but continued to mock my spelling after I told them I was dyslexic? Cause it isn’t really about the issue, the issue is just a way to put somebody else down.

4) Strawmaning

Here is my original response. Nowhere in this did I say I wanted to hurt autistics, nowhere did I support Autism Speaks, nowhere did I say that I wanted there to be less autistic representation, yet I am evidently dismissing the entire notion of autistic people being acceptable. Again: “i get it, you're pathetic and miserable so you want all other autistics to be too”

5) Conflating what is good for you with what is good for the larger movement.

This is the big one I really want to talk about. The rest are more personal gripes, but this is the biggest danger you find in communities for the marginalized: people who take their own personalities and make them into the supposed personality of the community. Throughout the chat leepacey continues to refer to any disagreement with themselves as a disagreement with the movement as a whole. So if you think “That character is not autistic” by extension you are saying “I think that autistics have no value whatsoever”. In essence “I speak for the autistics, if you speak against me, you speak against autistics.” Hmm, that sounds familiar. Speak. Autism. Autism. Speak. No, it’s not coming to me.

And you can find this kind of really dangerous attitude all the time in marginalized communities, because when you are legitimately oppressed by society, it is really really easy to rationalize all your behavior as just a response to oppression. When you do good work fighting against obviously evil people, it is easy to see anybody who opposes you as part of that same evil. And that’s how you end up attacking members of the group you’re supposed to be fighting for.

Criticism does not equal persecution. There is real legitimate persecution out there, you don’t need to elevate normal criticism to the level of oppression. And once you get into the realm of reading all criticism as persecution, then your movement has begun to attack itself.

This is the reason I rarely talk about my autism: because this is not the first time something like this has happened to me. The autism “community” which always winds up hurting me more than it ever helps. This person claims to represent autistic people, but they sure as hell didn’t represent me.

Happy April Everyone.

Chat logs are below, if any of you know how I can screenshot them and post them to confirm them as legit, please let me know because I don’t really like asking people just to take me for my word.

Today at 6:22 PMleepacey sent a photoset ✨ happy autism acceptance mo...hi are you autistic? also did u read that screenshotted post at the top of my post before running your mouth? also why do you not want autistic people to have happiness

leepacey: also before you respond saying anything, please know: i don't care about literally anything you could say to me unless it's an apology for interacting with my post

dicecast: I love this "Are you autistic""Before you answer, I am just going to go run on a a ton of preemptive defensive assumptions"But the answer is yes and you're post is just...wrong

leepacey: i get it, you're pathetic and miserable so you want all other autistics to be toohow dare other autistic people make positivity posts

dicecast: or.....ori disagree with the content of you're post like it is entirely possible that I don't think those characters are autistic without wishing hatred on autistic

leepacey: so just don't reblog it? magical i know

dicecast:atustics*

leepaceyso keep your garbage off my post

dicecast: I didn't want to not reblog it

leepacey*atustics 😂😂😂

dicecast: I thhink people mistake social discomfort with autism

leepacey: nice okay

dicecast: which I think marginalizes autism more. i'm dylexic dude but kudos for like immediately going for the throat

that level of defensiveness and hyperbolic ad hominem really is a testament to how much you care about people

because you know...it isn't remotely possible I might....disagree with those characters

being labeled as autistic

leepacey: i am autistic and am getting a masters in nonfiction creative writing, writing about myself and my autism. it's literally my life's work, writing about autism positivity as a way of helping the mental health of other autistic people and educating allistics about the traits of autism. but yeah; i'm spreading misinformation about autistic traits because god forbid people don't see us all as nonverval five year olds

dicecast: I wasn't aware that assuming i hate autistic people is spreading the message positively

Also, and this might be a bit difficult so I"ll go slowely but it is possible that I don't want autistics to be depicted as only non verbal 5 years olds

AND...

wait for it

I still disagree with some of you're choices on the list

leepacey: this post is made to help the mental health of autistic people. it's not meant as a definitive guide to autistic traits. i went through tags finding the most popular autistic headcanons, and compiled them on one post, because the beginning of april can be a very negative and triggering time for people because of autism speaks.

dicecast: like those don't contracit each other

leepaceyshut up for five seconds god you talk too much

dicecast: oh no....i write fast, how bloody terrible

now i actually agree that april can be triggering time for autistics and I hate autism speaks because they are awful

leepacey: yeah, hence the existence of my *positivity* post

dicecast: but again....i disagreed with you're choice of character

I don't think some of those characters autistic...and you're solution is to basically say i'm a self loathing autistic person....

leepacey: and you're still under the assumption anyone cares ?

dicecast: because I disagreed with you're choicesleepaceyokaydicecastwell I clearly got under you're skin...again, this is a major overreaction

because disagreeing with you

you specifically

isn't hating autistic peple

unless you are the autism pope I suppose

leepacey: my post has like 11k notes of autistic people saying how much this post means to them, and then a couple people like you (usually allistics) being like no!!! these characters aren't autistic!!!!! wah wah!!!! like how dare a post make autistic people happy, right? you're the one who decides if headcanons are okay or not

dicecast: The fact that you can't distinguish between "I don't think these characters are autistic" and "I don't think autistic people should be happy" says a lot more about you than 11k responses

cause you know...I didn't say autistic shouldn't be happy

Now we can have a reasonable conversation about if Zuko is autistic or notread into various scenes and talk about autistic representation

leepacey: that's the thing i keep trying to repeat to you: the post exists to make autistic people happy. you think that i'm so wrong to say these characters are autistic, as if it's some crime to humanity that i say "hey maybe prince zuko is autistic :D" like that's some crime against humanity

dicecast: Disagreeing with you is a crime against humanity?

leepacey: sarcasm, sweetheartnice reading skillzi'm done hear. go back to reddit, troll {and then they blocked me} -------

Note: I think it is pretty obvious that they thought I wasn’t autistic and were totally prepped to go into a whole “You aren’t autistic you can’t speak” spiel and then just got all huffy and ran off when they realized they didn’t actually have that particular gun in their arsenal.

And I want this duly noted...they messaged me. I didn’t go to them. Opening up with “Fuck you and I don’t care what you have to say” and then blocking me. Classy.

[Post edited by randomshoes, who is very angry because someone was very very nasty to her friend and he’s upset and she can’t do anything about it other than pick for typos. What you say to people matters.]

#@leepacey #Autism #Autism Speaks #Social Justice #Leftist Auto-cannialism #THi

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dicecast · 7 years

Text

Lets Talk about Autism

“i get it, you're pathetic and miserable so you want all other autistics to be too”

Later on they made more than a few mean remarks about my dyslexia

Oh did I forget to mention? I am dyslexic, which should come as absolutely no surprise at all to anybody who follows me. Anyways.

There is no White Genocide.

Autism isn’t abnormal.

1) There’s no possibility of reasonable, non-bigoted disagreement.

2) They immediately go for the throat.

3) Massive hypocrisy:

4) Strawmaning

5) Conflating what is good for you with what is good for the larger movement.

Happy April Everyone.

Chat logs are below, if any of you know how I can screenshot them and post them to confirm them as legit, please let me know because I don’t really like asking people just to take me for my word.

leepacey: also before you respond saying anything, please know: i don't care about literally anything you could say to me unless it's an apology for interacting with my post

dicecast: I love this "Are you autistic""Before you answer, I am just going to go run on a a ton of preemptive defensive assumptions"But the answer is yes and you're post is just...wrong

leepacey: i get it, you're pathetic and miserable so you want all other autistics to be toohow dare other autistic people make positivity posts

dicecast: or.....ori disagree with the content of you're post like it is entirely possible that I don't think those characters are autistic without wishing hatred on autistic

leepacey: so just don't reblog it? magical i know

dicecast:atustics*

leepaceyso keep your garbage off my post

dicecast: I didn't want to not reblog it

leepacey*atustics 😂😂😂

dicecast: I thhink people mistake social discomfort with autism

leepacey: nice okay

dicecast: which I think marginalizes autism more. i'm dylexic dude but kudos for like immediately going for the throat

that level of defensiveness and hyperbolic ad hominem really is a testament to how much you care about people

because you know...it isn't remotely possible I might....disagree with those characters

being labeled as autistic

dicecast: I wasn't aware that assuming i hate autistic people is spreading the message positively

Also, and this might be a bit difficult so I"ll go slowely but it is possible that I don't want autistics to be depicted as only non verbal 5 years olds

AND...

wait for it

I still disagree with some of you're choices on the list

dicecast: like those don't contracit each other

leepaceyshut up for five seconds god you talk too much

dicecast: oh no....i write fast, how bloody terrible

now i actually agree that april can be triggering time for autistics and I hate autism speaks because they are awful

leepacey: yeah, hence the existence of my *positivity* post

dicecast: but again....i disagreed with you're choice of character

I don't think some of those characters autistic...and you're solution is to basically say i'm a self loathing autistic person....

leepacey: and you're still under the assumption anyone cares ?

dicecast: because I disagreed with you're choicesleepaceyokaydicecastwell I clearly got under you're skin...again, this is a major overreaction

because disagreeing with you

you specifically

isn't hating autistic peple

unless you are the autism pope I suppose

dicecast: The fact that you can't distinguish between "I don't think these characters are autistic" and "I don't think autistic people should be happy" says a lot more about you than 11k responses

cause you know...I didn't say autistic shouldn't be happy

Now we can have a reasonable conversation about if Zuko is autistic or notread into various scenes and talk about autistic representation

dicecast: Disagreeing with you is a crime against humanity?

leepacey: sarcasm, sweetheartnice reading skillzi'm done hear. go back to reddit, troll {and then they blocked me} -------

And I want this duly noted...they messaged me. I didn’t go to them. Opening up with “Fuck you and I don’t care what you have to say” and then blocking me. Classy.

#leepacey #Autism #Personal note #Social Justice Auto-Cannibalism #Abelism'

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fyeahtaskmaster · 7 years

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Taskmaster: The Aspie Coded mercenary

There is little autism representation in media, the representation that does exist generally is the form of the young pre-teen white boy who is (selective-)mute which has been the image people think of when they hear the word autism. However like many things autism isn't that clear cut, it exists on a spectrum, it has no age where it disappears, it exists in people of all genders and all races. Many typical autistic behavioral characteristics are considered interesting character traits for stories, it's when a character ticks a lot of the boxes that you can really say a character is autism coded. Now often when people headcanon characters they recognized themselves in as autistic it gets backlash. So if you refuse to see Taskmaster as anything other than a gifted neurotypical this is your right of course, but if you are open to look a little deeper keep on reading.

The Chameleon

Anyone who has seen anything Taskmaster related knows he copies moves, the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon appropriately dubbed him a combat chameleon. However few media shows he copies much more than that, the smallest details of mannerisms, the voice, and indeed the techniques.

Observing and analyzing

Whenever Taskmaster gets introduced he is mostly seen observing from a distance; often through a sniper rifle scope, sometimes observing (live or stock) footage, watching from the sidelines. In short he mostly doesn't engage a character he has no info on. The data he gathered from observing then gets analyzed, broken down in formal rules, guidelines for patterns to be used to predict certain course of actions or to teach them.

Sure, it is in part about his powers, but canon states Tony does it for more than just that, when we look at the behavior in Autistic spectrum people who try to stay off the radar they put much effort in “being normal”, playing a part they studied in through observing people, watching fiction and nonfiction on TV, and reading books about the subject so they can link words to the feelings and such they are trying to understand. Many people with Asperger syndrome (aspies) end up studying psychology, religion and/or philosophy as a hobby or career because they want to understand how people work, trying to find logic in human behavior. Aspies (most commonly the female ones) who want to stay under the radar tend to stay on the sidelines at first observing and analyzing, learning body language and what is “popular” what will make them friends and they will often link certain gestures to what they want to convey, but when observed for a while it can stand out that the gesture often stays identically the same no matter the setting, it lacks the organic feel it would have with a neurotypical person. Tony does this as well for social interactions. For example he states he watched a ton of Romcoms to try and understand relationships.

Some Aspies are extremely successful in mimicking the social interactions and setting guidelines and rules to follow in situations, that it makes their social issues go unnoticed unless there are severe conflicts due to unpredictability. Coming into contact with an illogical or completely different or unexpected scenario can for some Aspies lead to an overload, which can be recognized by turning inside or lashing out. In one instance it is trying to withdraw from the unpredictable impulses the lashing out is due to anger being a secondary emotion, meaning it's a mask for fear, confusion or even other emotions.

It is also worth noting that Tony’s masks canon have lenses that not only help him by analyzing and recording stuff, but that all his masks offer him a filter between sound, light and smells (his stylized mask canon has a gas mask built in), on top of this Tony always tends to wear a hood that throws a shadow over his face, again limiting the sensory input.

Mimicking

Of course analysing and observing on their own means nothing if not used in practise as well. Everything Taskmaster sees done he can do. Above that he can even improve on it due to analysing and combining things he has learned. This applies to languages, voices, movements, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc… Something that happens for a lot of Aspies is that for example no matter where in the world they are from will speak english with an American accent because they learn by hearing english through television/games/radio. A lot of Aspies also are very talented at doing voices and imitating people. Tony is canon able to not only copy voices so well that they fool voice recognition software, he’s also known to speak most commonly used languages and dialects, being able to fake his accents and voice tones to a point where he can pass as a native.

Identity, emotions and attitude

The Ego

Tony himself is seen often as cocky, yet careful. He is extremely aware of the many uses of his powers and his intellect and prides himself and being able to do pretty much anything short of super powers, showing in the smug claim “Anything you can do, I can do better.” Thus he clearly thinks himself superior to many others. He radiates confidence and power in most his appearances, he tends to lead and only follow when the act is a means to his personal ends; be it money, intelligence, or simply getting his record cleared. Tony is also seen adjusting his identity based on what he believes others want, be it losing his Bronx accent that was him holding onto his roots, disguised appearances that are considered professional, or the masks he refuses to take of (exclude Siren and the Taskmaster vol 2 retcon comics for this). A lot of Aspies create an ego around other people, for Tony this ego is Taskmaster, often they will hate who they really are (due to considering themselves broken for example) and will try and function as the ego until they can't handle it anymore and they crack. Or they will simply lose sight of their own identity and feel lost.

Tony is canon rather paranoid, shows in his refusal to unmask for pretty much anything and anyone (Wade Wilson canon the only one confirmed to have knowingly seen his real face and lived). He doesn't trust anyone or anything, he always has at least one or two back-up plans or get-aways.

He refuses to walk in a job he doesn’t have all the details about, a job where he can’t be properly prepared. It is rare for him to take a job from someone he hasn’t worked with before or hasn’t been sent to him by a client he trusts, because he wants to make sure he doesn’t get set-up.

Disclaimer around the unmasking: The only canon shows of Tony’s face was Siren from the attempt to unite Malibu comics with Marvel when Marvel bought them up and The Taskmaster Volume 2 retcon from 2010, but since only the amnesia part of the retcon seems to have made it in the 616 canon and the Siren series ends with Taskmaster getting stuck in an inter-dimensional portal before magically reappearing without any info on how he got back home only to state later that he was in the DC verse for the crossover that happens seven years later. Every other time we see Tony “unmasked” like in the Udon collaboration comics Taskmaster Volume 1 and Agent X, every unmasked view of him was a hologram mask while genuinely unmasked Tony always appears seen from the back without his head in the frame or only a dark shadowed outline.

Emotional and mental health

If we look at emotional health we often also need to consider the support network, what is common with Aspies as that they put all their focus on a limited group of people, usually family, younger or older people, but rarely peers. Due to their problems with social interaction they often don’t make friends easily, keeping made friends proves to be extremely challenging as well. A very common consequence of this is the following; “Most persons with AS want to be social, but fail to socialize successfully, which can lead to later withdrawal and asocial behavior, especially in adolescence.” - Attwood, Tony (2007). The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome. Taskmaster canon has one recurring “friend”, this being Deadpool, their friendship seems to exist of them hiring each other for jobs, occasionally offering to help the other out for free, and trusting each other with some secrets (Wade went to Tony for help in working without his healing factor, Tony has unmasked around Wade). Outside of this Outlaw, Constrictor, Agent X, and Sandi have referred to Tony as a friend in some way or another, but these contacts are usually brief, and they tend to fall out of view. Tony has also been seen with Bullseye in bar cameos and such in several occasions. One thing all these have in common is that all these friendships are work related. Tony finds being a mercenary trilling, fulfilling and more rewarding than family or friends. He sees relationships as a liability a weakness they can use against him.

Tony does have short contacts of romantic nature with people from time to time and he often seems to befriend outcasts and weaker people. Even though he is a mercenary, a killer, and thus a criminal he does display a strong sense of justice. His only canon free jobs (or offers) were; taking out an abusive boyfriend, offering to help Wade with dealing with Black Swan to give him a shot to survive. On Top of that he purposely let a young hero reject beat him to give him a confidence boost after he noticed how depressed the kid got due to his rejection and he made sure Wade didn’t plan to get rid of a woman and her kids when he approached the bound people with a knife after having used them as a distraction to spring Tony from captivity.

Outside of lacking a decent support network Tony has been seen to struggle with emotions, usually not really showing much to any emotion, but when he does show emotion it was extreme burst, one example there is for example the first meeting with Wade and the breakdown that followed after the unpredictable defeat, an other example is his anger outbursts towards Agent X due to not knowing how to deal with the amnesiac new comer and the anger outbursts whenever he saw Sandi who was a love interest with other men. These short but intense outbursts of emotions are often referred to as Catastrophizing emotions, these emotional reactions are often of a short duration due to it burning out quickly.

Tony is paranoid, pretty much constantly worrying and calculating for everything that might possibly go wrong, trying to anticipate and avoid surprises, trying to avoid breaking away from the routine they have set for themselves, the rituals they keep. This once again is a pretty common thing among Aspies, anxiety and depression are very often seen here, the anxiety due to constantly trying to think of every possible outcome and usually ending up with often rather impossible worst case scenarios and the depression due to the feeling broken and outcast-ed due to the issues with social interaction. A big support and hold on that people with ASD tend to have is their special interest, some special interests are from short duration but can be very obsessive, for example getting into a certain band and getting all their stuff.

Others can be for a very long duration, being a support or a life long obsession that might fade in the background and resurface later. One of Tony’s mentioned briefly, but clearly specified as surprisingly thorough was the Spice Girls. However, Taskmaster’s very first appearance already pointed out a Special interest Tony had from a very young age, starting with watching documentaries and shows on TV of the inspiration to pretty much any hero in the marvel verse: Captain America. This had quickly broadened to all heroes and anti-heroes. This obviously shows in how he fights in the issues, many displaying it by overlaying the appearances of the heroes he is copying at that point for example, but it also shows in the fact that Tony has shirts for a lot of heroes and anti-heroes to wear when he’s teaching or using their style against someone.

TL:DR Taskmaster ticks of a butt load of Asperger Syndrome traits, pretty much all of the obvious ones that most specialists look for. Worrying, obsessions, mimicking, people watching, troubles with social contact and a high level of intellect.

Autism related sources

Wikipedia: Sociological and cultural aspects of autism Wikipedia: Asperger Syndrome Doctor Tony Attwood

and others I am too lazy to look back up

youtube

#Taskmaster #tony masters #earth 616 #taskmaster info post #aspergers

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