Happy Autism Acceptance Month, everyone! By request, my wonderful friends and I have taken on the daunting task of documenting the reasons why Spencer Reid is considered Autistic. Big thank you to you @spencer-reids-adventures and @foxy-eva specifically for their help. We hope everyone enjoys! This is not an exhaustive list.
Stimming/Self-Stimulatory behavior, including rocking/spinning in his chair, twiddling with his fingers, gripping sheets, bouncing his legs, biting his lip/tongue, rubbing his eyes, spinning pens, pacing (e.g., S6E12 "Corazon")
Explains multiple attempts at masking, including "being more conversational," (S2E19 "Ashes and Dust"), scripting conversation (S15E4 "Saturdays"), saying what people want to hear (S6E20 "Hanley Waters")
Verbosity - Difficulty recognizing when he's talking too much/speaking at inappropriate times (e.g., S1E16 "The Tribe" & S10E16 "Lockdown")
Began studying behavioral science to understand behavior that made him frustrated/confused (S11E22 "The Storm")
Averse to hosting/hanging out in his space; didn't invite his friends to his apartment for over 15 years (S15E9 "Face Off")
The only team member capable of proficient communication with other Autistic people (S6E16 "Coda" & S11E22 "The Storm")
He is referred to as Autistic by multiple characters, including a literal profiler, and does not deny or question it (S1E5 "Broken Mirror" & S8E3 "Through the Looking Glass")
Lack of social awareness, such as focusing on a convention while at a workplace shooter crime scene (S7E3 "Dorado Falls")
Various special interests, like Doctor Who (S6E16 "Coda" & S7E23 "Hit")
Literal thinking, such as focusing on scientific accuracy of a star-based fable (S5E13 "Risky Business")
Difficulty recognizing common phrases, such as the "sitting in a tree" song (S3E14 "Damaged") or jokes (S7E9 "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" & S1E8 "Natural Born Killer")
Makes inappropriate references, such as to Derek's playboy behavior (S1E18 "Somebody's Watching") and Rossi's age (S7E13 "Snake Eyes")
Coordination/Spatial deficits (S1E17 "A Real Rain" & S8E6 "The Apprenticeship")
Hyperfocuses on a task to the point he doesn't notice his surroundings (S5E20 "A Thousand Words")
Unusual/hyper-specific pedantic language (S3E6 "Remembrance of Things Past")
Resistance to change, manifested as a luddite dislike of technology (S6E7 "Middle Man" & S8E4 "God Complex") and struggling with Gideon's death (S10E14 "Hero Worship")
He receives (apparent disability) accommodations to be in the field (S6E10 "What Happens At Home...")
Introverted, difficulty sharing emotions, even with his closest friends (S10E13 "Nelson's Sparrow")
Heavily bullied as a child (S3E16 "Elephant's Memory")
Difficulty making friends (S2E1 "The Fisher King Part 2")
Trouble with eye contact, which persists throughout the series
His mother is schizophrenic, which has a strong genetic link to Autism
Dislikes small talk (S8E3 “Through the Looking Glass”)
Enjoys memorizing lists (S7E11, “True Genius”)
Savant skills - eidetic memory and hyperlexia
Matthew Gray Gubler has also explained that, regardless of the canonical confirmation, he views and portrayed Spencer Reid as Autistic. Specifically, he stated:
"He's an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three Ph.D.'s and one can't usually achieve that without some form of autism." (Note: Asperger's is an outdated term with Nazi origins, which is now referred to as a part of "Autism Spectrum Disorder" by most countries)
DISCLAIMER: I am Autistic, as diagnosed when I was a toddler. These thoughts are my own and shared for fun. If you disagree, please make your own post about it rather than posting them here. This was a labor of love for fans like me and those who love Autistic people and the characters like us. Thank you for respecting and understanding my boundaries!
Looking for more to read? Check out my Autistic headcanon posts for Penelope and Hotch!
You know what's very disappointing and at the same time not surprising in the slightest? That one would use a tribute to a man who tragically passed away to get a petty dig at a driver you do not like.
Max wasn't the only one who didn't put on the shirt, Valterri didn't either, yet someohow that "disrespect" passed by unnoticed.
What about pins in honor of Roland Ratzenberger, a driver who lost his life at the same place thirty years ago, too? The one who unfortunately doesn't get mentioned amongst most tributes dedicated to that tragic weekend.
Should we go through a list of drivers not wearing a pin dedicated to him? Lewis, Lando, Carlos, Pierre, Fernando...Stefano Domenicali himself, the president of F1 wasn't wearing it. Where's the post condemning them for their apparent disrespect?
Oh, it's just Max. Thank you for once again proving to everyone that when it comes to hypocrisy, arrogance and disrespect, you lot are unmatched.
I’ve barely watched ski jumping on a regular basis yet I’m starting to obsess over Lellinger just a smidge… like I wanna draw them… this is bad for my time management
snowghoul
vaporwave
romaincrisis
baratheonpilled
jacobvanloon
