hewwo, it is i, your local annoying bianca stan. :D my question is, how does steve react when he finds out that bianca is autistic? and what does it feel like to her, him knowing? is she relieved, or worried, etc. (also hope u feel better soon!!)
hey!!!!!! Thanks so much for the question I love Bianca so much!!!!
okay so Bianca's autism is sort of based on my own and how I address it — generally speaking, 98% of autistic people I know have either known as soon as they talk to me or gone "well obviously" when I mention it, while almost all neurotypical people I mention it to are more or less like "gasp you're so normal though", and I joke about it very easily!
So Steve finds out that Bianca is autistic at the party at the start of Age Of Ultron! Bianca is there at both Tony and Steve's invitations, but neither of them realize that the other knows her. She hasn't been deliberately keeping it a secret she just hasn't really known how to mention it
Basically she's talking to Tony and he asks how she knows Steve and she makes a joke about how dating her special interest is winning at autism and Steve happens to hear it
He's not bothered by the comment at all — he knows her well enough to know when she's just being a little shit lmao — but he's definitely surprised that she's autistic! Back in the 30s, autism had a very different meaning (it was actually first used in reference to schizophrenia and then in the 40s it started being used to refer to children with social or emotional issues) and electroshock therapy was used as treatment, so like, he has no sense of what autism really is or means in the 21st century! So he does ask Bianca about it and she's pretty upfront about what it is by textbook definition and what it means for her specifically.
Steve is very chill about it because he already knows she has all of these behaviours, he just thought of them as being Bianca specific quirks! Bianca tries to act very casual about it because on a logical level she knew that Steve wouldn't be a dick about it, but she's definitely still relieved!
but also Steve definitely makes an effort to learn more about it and to always do his best to be aware and considerate of Bianca but tbh he was already doing that so we love a respectful and supportive boyfriend!!!
