#autistic jack

[ranttome]

I always thought the way Jack reacted to having all his pudding gone a little neurodivergent??? It was because it seemed like it was his comfort food and if he didn't have it today then he'll be in a permanent bad mood all day. it's because it's relatable to me but with swinging with a swing!!!!!!!

It's fine if anyone sees this as a long stretch and doesnt agree✌️

[puppydogwhitaker]

i’ve thought about it more and i hope the pitt cast reads all of my stuff and starts incorporating my headcanons into how they play their characters

[lutzgocelly]

Thinking about Jack and as his bond with Bitty keeps growing they learn to communicate with Jack in unashamed silence sometimes. More often than not it will be just Bitty talking and going by Jack's eyes, his hands grabbing something, his face doing subtle expressions, his arms holding him. There'll be no judgement or need to talk out loud if either doesn't want to, but Bitty can fill any silence about a subject or other, as well as appreciate the silence together with him

[dadstielkline]

[cello-trash]

Some autistic Jack head canons I’ve been thinking about regarding Jacks acceptance of his autism

Bob and Alicia knew he was autistic from a very young age but don’t tell him out of a misplaced thought that he’ll be better off not knowing and that he could be “more normal” that way

They esp don’t want the press to find out bc god knows what headlines they’d write

so Jack grows up knowing he’s “different” bc of how other people treat him but not knowing why

He gets officially diagnosed right after his OD when he really starts going to therapy regularly but he feels like it’s just another thing that makes him “fucked up” so he tries to mask even harder

Jack is esp sensitive to noise and he can get overstimulated easily. This makes hockey games hard sometimes. Usually he’s so focused on the hockey he doesn’t even notice how loud the arena is, but sometimes his head buzzes and he gets so overwhelmed that afterwards he has to just lay in the dark not speaking or moving for hours after the game

When he’s home, Bitty lays on top of Jack like a weighted blanket which is one of jacks favorite things. Bitty will feed him finger food and have him drink water to make sure he’s physically fine while Jack is nonverbal

When it’s an away game Bitty gifts Jack Monsieur Bun and Jack runs his fingers over the little stuffed animal and it calms him down

Things get better for Jack when he stops thinking of autism as something that means he’s a fuck up

it’s actually bc of Bitty he realizes this. He sees just how much stim toys and accommodations help Bitty with ADHD but sees how ashamed Bitty is of using them and when he tries to convince Bitty to use them when he needs them Bitty raises an eyebrow and goes “I’ll do it if u also stop being ashamed Mr. Zimmermann” and Jack goes “…oh…”

Once Jack gets some stim toys he realizes that he’s actually been stimming his whole life to calm himself calm down when he’s overwhelmed: the way he’d rock back and forth on the bench, the way he’d chew on his mouth guard, the way he’d tap his thighs in repetitive patterns, etc.

As he starts to mask less he finds that sometimes he’ll verbally stim by reciting people’s hockey stats on the bench (he memorized the stats for most of the NHL when he was a kid but mostly these days it’s Bitty’s stats) or flap his hands around

When the press see him do this he doesn’t really respond and just stares at them blankly until they move on… he doesn’t really see how him being autistic is their business

That changes tho when some other NHL Player in their division starts campaigning for AutismSpeaks and all of a sudden Jack is checking this man really hard constantly and getting into little fights with him

Of course people notice and he gets asked about it at a press conference

And Jack goes “well he’s either an uninformed idiot who should look into the orgs he works with before he does or he’s a piece of shit who represents a piece of shit organization” and he goes on this rant about all the shitty things AutismSpeaks has done/advocated for

And when the press asks him why he knows so much about it he goes “bc I’m fucking autistic. Y’all always called me a hockey robot with no emotions I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out.” And then he walks out of the press room

Bitty gives him the biggest hug and kisses afterwards and makes Jack his favorite pie (but not before they have hot sex)

Shitty calls him the next day and is like “bro I’m so sorry I called u a robot and made fun of u bro that was so ableist of me bro”

And Jack rolls his eyes and says “when the press called me an emotionless robot it always struck a nerve but with u it was always fond… u always stayed behind to explain jokes I didn’t get or play with my hair or whatever. U had my back and it was a joke… plus how do u know that I’m not actually a robot beep beep boop boop

Jack becomes an advocate for autism while he’s playing and then once he retires he does lots of fundraising and such

At first Bob and Alicia don’t get why he would want everyone to know that he’s autistic but after a serious talk with Jack they understand that they were thinking about it the wrong way. They were never malicious but they raised Jack during the peak of the “vaccine autism scare” and so subconsciously thought of autism as a curse

Jack jokes that thank god they didn’t actually understand that autism wasn’t a bad thing bc then they might have become Autism Parents tm and they’d have shitty puzzle piece tattoos

[queerstudiesnatural]

i am so happy that jack and cas are autistic

[asterlark]

jack has been autistic for 31 whole years so here's some autistic headcanons :))

he was diagnosed as a kid but didn't have a good grasp on what it really meant/that there were other people like him until adulthood

most people that know he's autistic have only really guessed but he's outright told bitty, lardo and shitty

he has so many stim toys! his fave is a spinner ring but he loves those silicone bubble popper things for meetings when he needs something quiet

he grinds his teeth from stress so the hockey mouthguard is actually great for him lol & he gets one to use while he's sleeping too. bitty also gets him stim toys for chewing which helps

he used to repress stims like rocking & verbal stims to appear more "normal" but as he gets older he learns to mask less and just stim when he needs/wants to

he has a huuuge issue with masking leading to burnout so he needs a lot of decompression time after socializing or press events

he is Constantly drinking water & gatorade bc feeling dehydrated/dry mouth is a big sensory no-no for him

he has safe foods (chicken tenders & pbj) and has a hard time trying new adventurous foods but always trusts bitty & likes eating what bitty makes bc he knows if it's a bad sensory time for him, bitty won't be offended & will even work to make it better

he loves hockey in part because of all the rituals & it feels like a subsection of social rules he can understand

another part of hockey he loves? it attracts weird fucking people who get his weird fucking brain

he LOVES strategy board games & will read the whole rulebook & annoy others (holster) by reciting from it at any given opportunity

he's Really focused on some things (hockey, bitty, school) and not so much on other things (remembering to clean, remembering people's birthdays, etc) so he sets a lot of phone reminders and uses habitica for habits, tasks & to-do lists

he only has a few outfits bc he's particular about clothes textures and likes old, soft shirts and jeans (same with his shoes. they're comfy! they're predictable! who cares if they're not Fashion)

he can get lost in a youtube documentary hole for Hours. if he finds something interesting enough he'll go on wikipedia and click around and read about it too

he has scripts for interviews & press conferences and rarely strays from them unless he's asked an unexpected question (see: "hockey is a fun sport. don't be afraid to get out there on the ice. i guess.")

he collects vintage coins & hockey memorabilia & gets way too into it bc he's a nerd with nerdy hyperfixations

[casmick-consequences]

literally! jack telepathically saw cas being autistic & was like oh i GOTTA get in on this. and then they both were <3

<3 jack only sees the best in cas, and he wanted to be exactly like him, even with the things that people may call "flawed" because to jack that makes cas just that bit more perfect in his eyes. :)