the autistic jeffersonian girls and their friendships are so special to me . listening to brennan talk through her thought process while pacing the bone room floor . angela's office being her sensory space with pretty lights and soft furniture . helping cam put together a sensory kit with noise cancelling headphones and her favourite types of tea . daisy happy stimming when she figures out the clues on a difficult case . jessica being hyperverbal and infodumping about whatever new subject she's started studying . all of them loving each other and how different they are !!!! none of them letting anyone say shit to any of them !!!!
autistic girl friendships in the jeffersonian <333
once again!!! here's what i love about 9x11 in terms of what it says about autism!!
okay so, the professor?? he's autistic. once again, they didn't say it, but it was EXTREMELY obvious. him saying "i had chicken, if it was thursday. i like predictability" also they know his daughter there who always get his food meaning he probably gets the same one every week for years... mood <3
brennan immediately clocking that they're the same was such a special moment to me <3
it was soo sweet that she asked him if he wanted to finish his task first before they talk to him because that's such an integral part of autism, to struggle with transition, especially transition between tasks!!! what i really like about this show is that it feels like they truly sat down and researched how to make brennan a fully fleshed person who's autistic and not just said oh yeah she's bad with people and called it a day. it's soo important to me <3
ok in the beginning her saying "i find myself quite giddy at the prospect of discovering how it destroyed the remains" special interest time !!!
what do i do when i'm upset? you bury yourself in your work. ijust ! love the way she's like hey look at what i do (person you love) and now transfer that over to the professor who behaves the same way to have some empathy. love her <3
"booth refuses to accept the fact that i understand the professor because he and i are quite similar." "emotions are difficult for people like the professor and myself. getting lost in our work can be a refuge. booth thinks that makes us weird." "not everyone understands people like us"
i NEED to mention that brennan says "i have excellent pattern recoginition!" because of of course you do!! this is so well done <3
aaaaahhhh i love 6x17 actually in terms of how it charaterises her and what 6x17 says about autistic behaviours!!
i love how she smiles when she recognized dr. filmore and she's like i know him!! and the way she's not getting that he's being sarcastic about her article and just takes it at face value and thanks him for his opinion
the way she's saying why should i apologize this is my opinion this the way i see it really reminds me of the Not Doing It Until I Understand The Rule thing. also just. she's so real for this btw.
her saying she didn't apologise because he didn't ask for it... a neurotypical person would know that they needed to apologise for their action and know that the other person wasn't going to ask for it, but she doesn't know these social rules
following my previous point, people are telling her all episode to apologize for saying her opinion so she's like new rule: apologize to people about what you think of them and immediately applies it to all contexts. this is something we see in the end scene with where she lists off things she feels sorry for thinking about him and he tells her actually, the rule doesn't apply to every single thought. literal thinking!! not seeing the unspoken rules of The Rules!!! the way she says oh after booth says you don't have to apologize for what you think really sold this for me
i love the moments where we see brennan super excited about her work like in 5x05 over the mummy case or in this episode at the body farm where she keeps being like booth!!!! look at this!!!! this is so cool have you seen this before?? this is sooo rare this is a dream!!
and just. once again missing general social rules and sarcasm in various settings
also the way it needs to make sense to her why she has to aplogize to Mr. filmore before she's doing it also made me go !!!!!!
she takes things extremely literally like with the social rule, or with definitions of words like when she explains that she didn't apologize to dr. filmore because the original meaning of the word doesn't align with her view of her apology and says that the word contrite fits much better to what she's doing. literal meaning of words!!
in my autistic opinion... here you go. a SLIGHTLY more organized version of what i have dropped in the DMs of anyone who is willing to listen, copy and pasted from a google doc i have so eloquently named "bones is fucking autistic" !!
this headcanon is like. 95% confirmed, which kind of makes my heart do a little "!!!" <3 idk brennan means a Lot to me and always did as a young autistic afab person :-) so here you go !! (under the cut)
okay SO here is my explanation for my headcanon, explained in bullet points- this took up multiple google docs pages so i hope you're ready
emotional display:
has absolutely zero poker face- we see this frequently. there are too many instances to count where she cannot hide her facial expressions !! it is also referenced by booth in late season 8, and i think a few other characters have mentioned it throughout the series?
this is especially in the earlier seasons, but her response to stress and trauma is Very Neurodivergent. she rarely has an outward response- it's so rare to see her cry before season 7/8 ?? this could also definitely be a trauma thing but like,,, trauma symptoms and autistic traits are unfortunately hard to differentiate between because autistic people tend to go through more traumatic situations
not exactly emotional display, but similar- she clearly has alexithymia, or something of the sort (basically, she struggles to recognize her own emotions). this is exhibited a few times- the one i can remember right now is "i don't understand what i'm feeling" "you understand happy, right?" (conversation with angela, season 9). this is actually something i have rarely seen in a character- at least not done well. it makes me very happy !!!
empathy:
she struggles to understand why others would think differently than her- her view of the world is Correct in her eyes, and she finds it difficult to look from someone else's point of view. this frequently ends in her criticizing those around her- her view of the world is incredibly black and white, so when others disagree with her, she believes they must be wrong.
extension of the black and white thinking- she doesn't understand concepts, no matter how hard she tries. she needs evidence and proof. examples of this would be her views on god/religion, love (pre-season 6), and marriage (pre-season 8)
despite her lack of empathy toward people, she exhibits a lot of empathy toward animals. this is actually a really common autistic trait?? examples of this would be her emotional attachment to the dogs in 4x04, or her explosive reaction to finding out the tiger was killed in 8x04
social/conversational skills:
this is probably her most obvious and easily recognizable autistic trait- it's what made me go "she's autistic" after watching a few episodes
she does not understand jokes or sarcasm very well- she frequently gets confused by jokes, explaining why they aren't funny or don't make sense, especially pop culture jokes. when she does understand jokes or pop culture references, she gets very excited and explains them out loud, even though everyone around her already understands (just adding- i love this so much ?? her explaining jokes is Very Cute. i'm sorry i'm a simple gay who can't go ten minutes without declaring my love for her)
struggles with small talk and social niceties- this is used as a joke in nearly every episode. she doesn't do small talk well- preferring to talk about topics that are actually important or interest her. she doesn't see the need for most social conventions either, which leads to her frequently being seen as rude.
she misses social cues in conversations- she frequently brings up topics that are probably not Appropriate for the setting (talking about dead bodies in a restaurant, talking about sex while standing over a dead body, etc.)
she is incredibly literal, and doesn't understand metaphorical speak. this goes hand in hand with the not understanding jokes- she takes many phrases at face value, sometimes confusing others
tone:
she frequently comes off as cold or blunt without meaning to be- many people read her as "heartless" or just uninterested because of the way she speaks, even when she is very invested.
i don't know how to explain this other than her speaking pattern is Very Autistic- the way she pauses mid sentence all the time, the facial expressions she makes while speaking, it's all autism babey !!!
intense focus on one topic:
okay it's very obvious that her special interests are forensics and anthropology
she gets hyperfocused, often losing herself in her work and putting herself through the ringer for it. she puts her work above (almost) everything, and has stated on multiple occasions that she would be nothing without her work.
she often explains the things around her with references to anthropology and ancient civilizations- she uses these references to explain her feelings, the situations she's in, and frequently, to solve crimes. things make sense to her when she thinks about them like this.
not engaging with peers in an "expected" way:
she is often showed to have difficulty getting close with people- she doesn't like showing emotion to others, and would rather just talk about the task at hand. this could very well be explained by her trauma background- but i believe it's probably a bit of both.
she finds it difficult to bond with her peers over common things, like pop culture, and rather talks about work or other things. she doesn't open up to a lot of people, even those who she is incredibly close with.
other/misc.:
stimming !! this doesn't have enough instances to get its own section, but i like to interpret that wonder woman scene as vestibular stimming, purely because i love to spin and jump !!!!
detail oriented, to the point of obsession. it's common for autistic people to get caught up in the details of things, which she definitely does.
views on sexuality differ from the "norm"- she is very critical of monogamy during the first half of the series, and does not see the point in marriage. also she's definitely arospec, just putting that out there <3
i am autistic and i love her therefore i'm right
final notes:
i think she's one of my favourite autistic characters to exist- i usually despise the socially awkward detective trope, but it's handled well here. the people around her don't expect her to change the innate aspects of who she is- rather, they love her unconditionally (even if they are exasperated at times- which is natural to feel with people that you love)
i very much like that they didn't go with the socially awkward + smart = unattractive trope either- she knows that she's hot, and so do the people around her. i'm so sick of nerdy girls not being allowed to be hot 😭 especially when it comes to autistic-coded characters- let autistic people have sex lives 2k21
she just,,, holds a very special place in my heart. as an undiagnosed autistic afab kid, she meant a lot to me. i saw a woman on screen who was smart like me and sometimes confused people because of her intelligence, who didn't really get social situations, who didn't know how to express how she felt. she was like me- and she loved herself, and people loved her. she's a very important character to me and has been since i was really young <3
thank you SO MUCH to anybody who read this- brennan is the loml and i will infodump about her until the end of time
