Do you have any tips for writing autistic reid and meltdowns? (Sorry if this question is weird or overstepping, feel free to ignore it) Also I hope you're having a good day!
Hello, hello, hello!!
This is not a weird question at all! I think it's a really good question! And honestly, when I want to write autistic characters in general, I write them how I myself react to situations. For example, when I'm overwhelmed, I get headaches and semi-verbal (not completely non-verbal, unless it's really bad). I am slowly learning how to stop masking too since I was forced to mask my entire life and only recently (as in the past year) got my ASD diagnosis. I'm 27 years old and only now learning that it's okay to stim and be myself.
Meltdowns can be difficult to write IMO because sometimes it's hard to really put into words how they feel in general. Like, how do you explain what it feels like when your body suddenly stops working? When you can't control your facial expressions or "feel" your legs anymore? It's kind of like... when your emotions and senses are so overwhelming/overstimulated, you just want to scream or cry or shake the feeling away (this can happen when you're happy too, not just angry/upset. Personally, I shake my arms out while flapping my hands when I'm excited because it feels like there's SO MUCH happiness in me that I have to shake it out!).
My favorite ASD Spencer Reid authors are @spencer-reids-adventures and @glowingspence ! They both have AMAZINGLY detailed works that explore Spencer's autism in a way that is not only super respectful, but also easy to understand and see (like, I see myself in them a lot, if that makes sense), and Maya is really good at saying: "I'm autistic, and that's not a bad thing." (which makes me smile <3)
And of course, you can always google typical ASD traits or look for examples of stimming, meltdowns, overstimulation reactions, etc.
I hope this helps! <3