Question to discuss with the 1984 fandom: What do you think it would be like to be a person with high functioning autism in the world of 1984, specifically within the inner/outer party?
I know this sounds like a weird question, but I’ve got a 1984 OC with high functioning autism bc I like to project my issues on my characters so yeah I would like to hear a few ideas on how to portray that.
I already have a few ideas on what might it be like, but I’d like to hear y’all’s opinion/anything you’d like to add:
I don’t think they’d have much trouble when it comes to their monotone voice/facial expressions, cuz I feel like most of the citizens have that same trait.
2 Minutes Hate and the hate rallies would be really overstimulating and distressing for them, but ofc they wouldn’t be able to show that obv reasons.
Special interests could be a blessing or a curse; if they have a special interest in something that is not Big Brother related (which would probably be really hard to gain bc of how much the party shoves its ideology down its members’ throats) but if they have a special interest in something like Newspeak for example that could really help them with a career.
I don’t know how the party would feel about a member stimming, but considering that they take even the slightest change in a person’s face/body language/posture as a sign that they’re a thoughtcriminal, I don’t think they’d like it :(
They might possibly have sensory issues with their uniform (idk about you but I’m not particularly a fan of most one pieces, esp bc u have to get naked every time you need to use the bathroom) but again they can’t say/do anything about it.
With how ppl with autism often come across as ‘low empathy’ (keyword: come across) I don’t think that’d be a genuine issue for them bc the party hates empathy.
There’s a chance the Thought Police might arrest/kill them if they appear ‘too smart’ to be trustworthy (*cough cough* Syme).
If they’re autistic AND introverted, the party might think they’re too quiet and solitary so therefore they MUST be a thought criminal.
Going off of that note they’d also be under suspicion for choosing not to go to the party events a lot (hikes, games, etc.) similar to how Winston didn’t like going to party events.
Or on the flip side they could be like Julia and hypermask their loyalty and force themselves to participate in all the party stuff because they know they have to conform to survive.
Burnout would be even worse for them than it is for neurotypical party members ☹️
An autistic party member might have very mixed feelings about life: On one hand, they hate having to practice extreme conformity and fit into a box the party made for them, but on the other hand, how scheduled the party makes life for its members makes life a lot easier for them but there still comes times where they want to break free from their rigid schedule and do their own thing.
But yeah I wanna hear your thoughts on this bc idk I find it really interesting.
