Asian culture vs undiagnosed autism
We’ve talked about how being a professional athlete provides some cover for Shane being autistic and why that contributes to him being undiagnosed/unaware of his autism, i.e. he thinks he has strict routines and diet because he’s a professional athlete, not because he’s autistic, when really it’s both. He doesn’t realize it’s both because it works so well and makes so much sense for him that he never questions it. I also wonder how much Shane being half-Asian contributes to the same thing. Some thoughts below.
(Disclaimer: I am not an autism expert, I’m just an adult Asian person who, like Shane, never suspected that I might have autistic tendencies. But then I watched Heated Rivalry and went “oh shit, that’s me, wtf?!?!?” and now I’m wondering why it never occurred to me before that I might be neurodivergent and maybe something similar is going on with Shane)
Avoids eye contact: this could be due to autism but could also be because many Asian cultures view direct eye contact as rude, too forward, presumptuous, aggressive, etc. I distinctly remember being asked in fifth grade why I don’t make much eye contact and my response was “cuz I’m Asian. We don’t do eye contact. It’s a cultural thing.” In hindsight, maybe it’s both.
Socially awkward: there’s a stereotype of the quiet, introverted Asian who doesn’t talk much, keeps their head down, works hard. Not exactly a social butterfly. Shane was probably a quiet, introverted kid as well. He doesn’t talk much in the series; both Hudson and Jacob Tierney have talked about how they have to communicate Shane’s feelings without saying much. Is this introversion, being stereotypically Asian, or autism? Maybe all three in Shane’s case, with the introversion and Asian traits masking or explaining away the autism.
Numbers/pattern recognition: most autism self-assessment quizzes I’ve seen ask a question about fascination with numbers or patterns, and I’ve always answered no because I was an English major and math is not my thing. I also hate the assumption that all Asians are good at math. My headcanon is that Shane isn’t particularly good or bad at math, it’s just math, but he is good at systems thinking: understanding the rules of a system, finding gaps in the rules, adapting the rules, extrapolating from the known to the unknown, creativity within set rules, etc. Numbers and patterns are a form of rules/systems. Hockey is also a game of rules and systems, so Shane’s high hockey IQ probably comes from his autistic abilities with systems-based thinking. But he doesn’t think of this as “being good with numbers” or “strong pattern recognition” because we’re talking about back checking and breaking down defenses, not equations. But the thinking abilities are the same. He just doesn’t realize this because It’s Not Numbers and also “shut the fuck up, just because I’m Asian doesn’t mean I want to be an accountant.”
Physical distance/touch: Shane doesn’t touch a lot of people. People don’t really touch him either, outside of backslaps and other typical bro/athlete interactions. He’s pretty self contained. Hudson has talked about the physical aspects of playing Shane, how he’s always stiff and wound up and tense. That’s why it’s so striking and notable that he can’t keep his hands off Ilya and fucking melts under Ilya’s touch. I don’t know if this is a universal Asian experience, but my family wasn’t very touchy-feely either. We love each other but we don’t hug or kiss. Neither did my Asian friends/classmates (I grew up in an Asian enclave in the US where 50% of my classmates were Asian). I think the first time I ever hugged my friends was in high school. I thought this was another one of those *puts on Rozanov voice* “Asians do not do this.” And maybe that’s why Shane doesn’t think it’s weird that he doesn’t touch people or like people touching him. He’s just being Asian. (Fun story: apparently my touch aversion is so obvious that a corporate personality test that my work had everyone take as a team building exercise included the sentence “Maintain at least three feet distance from [OP name]” in my results. Yes, it gave a minimum safe distance. With a specific number. I don’t know why my reaction was “this must be because I’m introverted and Asian and therefore not a hugger” and not “hmmm maybe I’m neurodivergent.” Maybe Shane has the same thought process.)
And of course, neurodivergence, mental health, and therapy are not commonly discussed in Asian culture. This applies to most cultures, but I feel like it is especially taboo or ignored in Asian culture. IMO anyways.
