Shawn and Gus from Psych are both Autistic Characters
Gus is the better of the two of them at masking. Passing as NT and being good at learning about pharmaceuticals has helped him keep his really good job.
Sean gave up on masking years ago. He finds it exhausting to try and pass and just decided he wasn’t going to bother. That means he doesn’t meltdown as much as he used too but it also means people make unfair judgements about him when he’s does something they don’t understand.
For many years they felt like the only person they could be themself around was the other.
They have different sensory needs
Gus is sensitive to smells, if he finds a smell he likes he will keep going back to it wanting to experience it again. A bad smell can cause him to meltdown.
He likes clothes and has his own idea (uniform) about how he should be dressed. He is particular about the way this clothes fit. He even goes so far as to purchase custom tailored shirts.
Shawn sometimes just wears the same thing for a month, if he finds a shirt or jeans that are comfortable he just keeps wearing them.
Shawn is constantly taking in information and he can be overwhelmed by it. He seeks sensory things for distraction. Sometimes this means sitting close to the TV and letting the lights and sound take over all his senses. Sometimes it means finding a new special interest and letting it become all incompassing, sometime it means focusing on whatever snack the next food cart guy has and letting himself be overwhelmed by the taste, smell, and texture.
When Shawn and Gus get excited they jump and flap together. They love to dance and sing in their own ways, they share snacks, quote movies and talk about their special interests together.
