#writing intellectually disabled characters

[cripplecharacters]

Writing Intellectually Disabled Characters

[large text: writing intellectually disabled characters]

Something that very rarely comes up in disability media representation are intellectually disabled characters. There is very little positive representation in media in general (and basically none in media meant specifically for adults or in YA). I hope this post can maybe help someone interested in writing disabled characters understand the topic better and create something nice. This is just a collection of thoughts of only one person with mild ID (me) and I don't claim to speak for the whole community as its just my view. This post is meant to explain how some parts of ID work and make people aware of what ID is.

This post is absolutely not meant for self diagnosis (I promise you would realize before seeing a Tumblr post about it. it's a major disorder that gets most people thrown into special education).

Before: What is (and isn't) intellectual disability?

ID is a single, life-long neurodevelopment condition that affects IQ and causes problems with reasoning, problem‑solving, remembering and planning things, abstract thinking and learning. There is often delay or absence of development milestones like walking (and other kinds of movement), language and self care skills (eating, going to the bathroom, washing, getting dressed etc). Different people will struggle with different things to different degrees. I am, for example, still fully unable to do certain movements and had a lot of delay in self-care, but I had significantly less language-related delay than most of people with ID I know. Usually the more severe a person's ID is the more delay they will have.

Intellectual disability is one single condition and it doesn't make sense to call it "intellectual disabilities" (plural) or "an intellectual disability". It would be like saying "they have a Down Syndrome" or "he has autisms". The correct way would be "she has intellectual disability" or "ze is intellectually disabled".

Around 1-3% of people in the world have intellectual disability and most have mild ID (as opposed to moderate, severe, or profound). It can exist on its own without any identifiable condition or it can be a part of syndrome. There is over a thousand (ranging from very common to extremely rare) conditions that can cause ID but some of the most common are;

Down Syndrome,

Fragile X Syndrome,

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,

Autism,

Edwards Syndrome,

DiGeorge Syndrome,

Microcephaly.

Not every condition always causes ID and you can have one of the above conditions without having ID as long as it's not necessary diagnostic criteria to be met. For example around 30% of autistic people have ID, meaning that the rest 70% doesn't. It just means that it's comorbid often enough to be counted as a major cause but still, autistic ≠ intellectually disabled most of the time.

A lot of things that cause intellectual disability also come with facial differences, epilepsy, mobility-related disabilities, sensory disabilities, and limb differences. A lot, but not all, intellectually disabled people go to special education schools.

Intellectual disability isn't the same as brain damage. Brain damage can occur at any point of a person's life while ID always starts in or before childhood.

"Can My Character Be [Blank]?"

[large text: "Can my character be [blank]?"]

The difficulty with writing characters with intellectual disability is that unlike some other things you can give your character, ID will very directly impacts how your character thinks and behaves - you can't make the whole character and then just slap the ID label on them.

Intellectually disabled people are extremely diverse in terms of personality, ability, verbality, mobility... And you need to consider those things early because deciding that your character is nonverbal and unable to use AAC might be an issue if you're already in the middle of writing a dialogue scene.

For broader context, a person with ID might be fully verbal - though they would still probably struggle with grammar, what some words mean, or with general understanding of spoken/written language to some degree. Or they could also be non-verbal. While some non-verbal ID people use AAC, it's not something that works for everyone and some people rely on completely language-less communication only. There is also the middle ground of people who are able to speak, but only in short sentences, or in a way that's not fully understandable to people who don't know them. Some might speak in second or third person.

Depending on the severity of your character's disability they will need help with different tasks. For example, I'm mildly affected and only need help with "complex" tasks like shopping or taxes or appointments, but someone who is profoundly affected will probably need 24/7 care. It's not infantilization to have your character receive the help that they need. Disabled people who get help with bathing or eating aren't "being treated like children", they just have higher support needs than me or you. In the same vein, your character isn't "mentally two years old" or "essentially a toddler", they are a twenty-, or sixteen-, or fourty five-year old who has intellectual disability. Mental age isn't real. Intellectually disabled people can drink, have sex, smoke, swear, and a bunch of other things. A thirty year old disabled person is an adult, not a child!

An important thing is that a person with ID has generally bad understanding of cause-and-effect and might not make connections between things that people without ID just instinctively understand. For example, someone could see that their coat is in a different place than they left it, but wouldn't be able to deduce that then it means that someone else moved it or it wouldn’t even occur to them as a thing that was caused by something. I think every (or at least most) ID person struggles with this to some extent. The more severe someone's disability is the less they will be able to connect usually (for example someone with profound ID might not be able to understand the connection between the light switch and the light turning off and on).

People with mild intellectual disability have the least severe problems in functioning and some are able to live independently, have a job, have kids, stuff like that.

What Tropes Should You Avoid?

[large text: what tropes should you avoid?]

The comic relief/punching bag;

The predator/stalker;

The "you could change this character into a sick dog and there wouldn't be much difference";

...and a lot more but these are the most prevalent in my experience.

Most ID characters are either grossly villainized (more often if they have also physical disabilities or facial differences) or extremely dehumanized or ridiculed, or all of the above. It's rarely actually *mentioned* for a character to be intellectually disabled, but negative "representation" usually is very clear that this who they're attempting to portray. The portrayal of a whole group of people as primarily either violent predators, pitiful tragedies or nothing more than a joke is damaging and you probably shouldn't do that. It's been done too many times already.

When those tropes aren't used the ID character is still usually at the very most a side character to the main (usually abled) character. They don't have hobbies, favorite foods, movies or music they like, love interests, friends or pets of their own and are very lucky if the author bothered to give them a last name. Of course it's not a requirement to have all of these but when there is *no* characterization in majority of disabled characters, it shows. They also usually die in some tragic way, often sacrificing themselves for the main character or just disappear in some off-the-screen circumstances. Either way, they aren't really characters, they're more like cardboard cutouts of what a character should be - the audience has no way to care for them because the author has put no care into making the character interesting or likable at all. Usually their whole and only personality and character trait is that they have intellectual disability and it's often based on what the author thinks ID is without actually doing any research.

What Terms to Use and Not Use

[large text: What Terms to Use and Not Use]

Words like: "intellectually disabled" or "with/have intellectual disability" are terms used by people with ID and generally OK to use from how much I know. I believe more people use the latter (person first language) for themselves but i know people who use both. I use the first more often but I don't mind the second. Some people have strong preference with one over the other and that needs to be respected.

Terms like:

"cursed with intellectual disability"

"mentally [R-slur]"

"moron"

"idiot"

"feeble-minded"

"imbecile"

is considered at least derogatory by most people and I don't recommend using it in your writing. The last 5 terms directly come from outdated medical terminology specifically regarding ID and aren't just "rude", they're ableist and historically connected to eugenics in the most direct way they could be. To me personally they're highly offensive and I wouldn't want to read something that referred to its character with ID with those terms.

(Note: there are, in real life, people with ID that refer to themselves with the above... but this is still just a writing guide. Unless you belong to the group i just mentioned I would advise against writing that, especially if this post is your entire research so far.)

Things I Want to See More of in Characters with Intellectual Disability

[large text: Things I Want to See More of in Characters with Intellectual Disability]

[format borrowed from WWC]

I want to see more characters with intellectual disability that...

aren’t only white boys.

are LGBT+.

are adults.

are allowed to be angry without being demonized, and sad without being infantilized.

are not described as "mentally X years old".

are respected by others.

aren't "secretly smart" or “emotionally smart”.

are able to live independently with some help.

aren't able to live independently at all and aren't mocked for that.

are in romantic relationships or have crushes (interabled... or not!).

are non-verbal or semi-verbal.

use mobility aids and/or AAC.

have hobbies they enjoy.

have caregivers.

have disabilities related to their ID.

have disabilities completely unrelated to their ID.

have friends and family who like and support them.

go on cool adventures.

are in different genres: fantasy, romComs, action, slice of life... all of them.

have their own storylines.

aren't treated as disposable.

don't die or disappear at the first possible opportunity.

...and I want to see stories that have multiple intellectually disabled characters.

I hope that this list will give someone inspiration to go and make their first OC with intellectual disability ! This is just a basic overview to motivate writers to do their own research rather than a “all-knowing post explaining everything regarding ID”. I definitely don't know everything especially about the parts of ID that I just don't experience (or not as much as others). This is only meant to be an introduction for people who don't really know what ID is or where to even start.

Talk to people with intellectual disability (you can send ask here but there are also a lot of other people on Tumblr who have ID and I know at least some have previously answered asks as well if you want someone else's opinion!), watch/read interviews with people who have ID (to start - link1, link2, both have captions) and try to rethink what you think about intellectual disability. Because it's really not that rare like a lot of people seem to think. Please listen to us when we speak.

Good luck writing and thank you for reading :-) (smile emoji)

mod Sasza

[cryptiduni]

“white mourning.”

[hussyknee]

Fucking hate how in stories (both mainstream media and fanfic) someone nearly dies or is thought lost, but then turns up changed with brain damage or some kind of disability. And their family and friends, instead of being happy the person they loved is alive and returned to them, they just start mourning the version of them they knew. "Please God let them live!" but then "No wait not like that". And then it's all about the tragedy of them "having to see" the one they supposedly loved changed and impaired, instead of gratitude for their life or focus on their thoughts and feelings in their disabled state. Like that one horrible TV show said: "I don't know what I'll do if this is all that's left of the person I love."

"All that's left." Disabled people being hollow shells instead of different versions of themselves who are still as important, who can feel happiness and joy and love. Once cognitively impaired we're less than human, the mourned living.

I know that "love is not love that alters when it alteration finds" is incomprehensible to abled people, whose compassion and care is inherently conditional, but at least once I'd like to see a story that said "as long as they're alive, we can figure out the rest". It's a very strange kind of love that can't grant you enough humanity to at least be happy that you're alive.

[kayzero]

By the way! I'm curious abt your thoughts on how ztd handled junepei. How would've you done it differently?

Sorry if im being annoying/overwhelming :( I just wanna hear your opinion Dyfdy

there’s a post about the Junpei body parts puzzle and how it was symbolic and cool and how it would have been psychologically devastating for Akane if it were an actual planned Thing instead of just Mira fucking around, which basically encapsulates all of my ztdpei feelings.

ZTD Junpei is not significantly different from 999 Junpei, even though the narrative tells the audience that he really really should be. He spent a year chasing after Akane, he found himself staring at the cesspit of crime, and he’s still sillygoofy, if not a bit dumber than he was in 999.

He’s snarkier and cattier but not actually angry or bitter or frustrated toward Akane—he doesn’t even question things most of the time. He finds himself in another death game and he falls into line. There’s no cynicism, no quiet moments of reflection to showcase inner turmoil and grief, no real edge. They just dressed him in black and painted a scowl over his dopey lovestruck smile.

What would I have done differently? You’ve already seen some of it. He’s philosophically combative, if not argumentative, he’s asking questions and refusing to do anything blind, he tries his best to get a word in during decision-making. He’s still Junpei, so he shouldn’t be a Red Hood vigilante edgelord shooting every problem in the skull, but he has seen the darker parts of humanity, and if there are no other options…

Basically, I wanted a bit more VLR Tenmyouji and a bit less 999 Jumpy, so I did that, and you’ve seen most of what he has to offer in ZWG.

In the last two fragments that have yet to be revealed, he plays more of a supporting role in one, where I can showcase how his character has evolved but not overly diverged from his portrayal in 999.

And then the other one is his Character Fragment.

[lunathewafflelord]

Currently writing a post regarding the double standards when it comes to disability representation in the media and how it's strange that people are usually okay with physical disability (blindness, deafness, wheelchair users, missing limbs, etc) representation but get really critical of intellectual disabilities (mostly autism in this case)

Are there any topics that people would like to see discussed in this post, like personal experiences regarding this subject? Feel free to send an ask or a message!

[talesandfluff]

it's not just Ayda on her own and everything she represents, the behaviors and qualities that tons of autistic people can see themselves into, it's the way people treat her too. She never masks and people communicate with her exactly the way she is. Fig says she loves explaining things to her and loves the way Ayda dissects them, she says it makes her think about everything more deeply and that she likes that about Ayda. Adaine loves having someone who's as intellectually driven as her, is extremely patient with her from the get go and always trying to be kind to her, creates a spell for her to help her!!! with her struggles as an autistic young woman!!! to aid her in situations where she might feel too confused!!! (and we know that one of Ayda's deepest struggles is when she doesn't understand things!!!) literally disability aid in a specially crafted wizard spell 😭

and then there's everyone else being a sweetheart to her, Gorgug always trusts her authority and her judgement and on her behalf (though without her knowing or asking for it) asks Aguefort to stop the silence between them because Ayda doesn't want that anymore, Riz says her formal way of speaking and interacting with others is way better than whatever shit they're doing, Kristen is so warm with her and psyched about sharing an identity with her (which is something that matters so damn much to Kristen), Fabian has the least interactions with her and is still really excited about her dating Fig and when he gets misunderstood by Ayda does explain himself more clearly. Not to mention Fig's three parents and her stepdad all take to Ayda, actively include her and praise her, and Jawbone gives her this incredible gift of learning that there's nothing wrong with her.

like Ayda is not only cool as fuck but extremely valued by the people she meets who love her not in spite of her autistic traits but because of them, because they bring a rationality and a depth to their lives they didn't quite have before, and because they enjoy helping her in moments when she needs more support than her neurotypical peers. like we love Ayda but every bit as much as that, Brennan loves Ayda and Emily loves Ayda and all the intrepid heroes love her too and it matters so much to me that he chose to write an autistic character who is extremely loved and understood and supported, and the whole cast went along with that and loved her.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

I feel why they make Juleka as Reflekta again in "Confrontation" instead of people like Alya get akumatized because they need to give a reason of retconning Juleka and Luka as a twin and why Luka is now in Lycee while Juleka is still in College by make her repeated in class because.... a speech impediment ? Then her speech impediment miraculously "cured" due to her bravery to speak up to Damocles ?

If the writers has NO IDEA or TOO LAZY to know how the illness or mental disorder works, such as Speech Impediment, PTSD, Trauma, Tinnitus, pathological liar etc, they should never bring this for sake of cheap "Drama" or retconning the stuff *roll eyes*

The writers of this show understand intellectual disabilities about as much as Sia did when writing Music. Any struggles people who have to deal with those kinds of disorders that impace their everyday life can easily be overcome whenever it's convenient for the plot.

Just wait until Season 6, when the writers try to create a character with dissociative identity disorder, and the only research they do is watch that one episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

[cordial-imputresco]

One of the most aggravating things in the chonny jash fandom is the feminization and infantilization of heart. If you're my mutual or if we talk a lot you already know where I stand about this but I just need to talk about this with a wider audience before I go insane. Also thanks for 50 followers I promise I'll draw more when I'm not halfway across the globe.

First off, there's no fucking reason to infantilize heart. Genuinely. I think in the album he's only treated like a child when mind called him a boy and a kid. There's no other "proof" other than when MIND LIES ABOUT HEART, and still people write heart like this insolent little kid who cannot do anything for himself.

And, I don't know if these two things are truly related, but as someone who's physically disabled it grinds a particular gear when people make the canon disabled character (anyone who thinks otherwise literally. Why do u want to take rep away from disabled people SOO BADLY) act like a child. I understand it's probably not that for some people but again, why is it so hard to imagine a disabled person who can stick up for themselves?? Heart might rely on soul or mind for certain things since he's blind but he's also his own person. Blindness effects everyone differently but one thing any physically disabled person is sick of it's infantilization and this is still true for fictional characters as well. It's genuinely never okay no matter the context.

Heart is emotionally mature. I'm sorry he is, Heart isn't a 12 year old and Heart has delt with the brunt of the body's emotions for his entire existence. He thinks logically and genuinely makes good points which are rooted in truth while mind makes outrageous claims, constantly makes heart seem like the lesser one and is genuinely so emotionally immature that it's insane. The moment he's given control over their emotions he kinda loses his shit and cannot handle it (the end line of tha and the two songs between THA and TME prove this) and yet people think heart is worse with emotions. Be so honest and give me proof of this other than when he was CONDEMNED TO APATHY.

And if u want proof for that PLEASE just listen to the bidding. Or TSE. Or literally any song that isn't about heart wanting to end his life. He sticks up for himself and specifically he talks back to mind which some fic authors genuinely just forget about?? And I get it write characters how you want to but god am I tired of seeing heart and mind argue and heart could just be replaced with a doll who says the same 3 things. "That's not true :((" "you do that too :(((" and "*sniffle* ur wrong >:((" WHYYYY ARE YOU SO INSISTENT ON MAKING HEART DEPENDENT ON OTHERS THAT HE CANNOT EVEN TALK BACK TO MIND OR SOUL. Heart harbored anger and hate but it seems like some people ignore that and just place him into this box EXACTLY LIKE MIND DID. Why did the mind gaslighting work on you /ref .

Also, since heart is "the emotional side" people lovee to make him feminine and small and it's so upsetting. First off, this idea that emotions r feminine pisses me off because it's just regurgitating misogyny and I'm sick of pretending like it's not. People fucking. Yaoi-ify (only word I can think of right now sorry) heart and mind by making mind this trad masc tall guy with a strong jaw while heart has a softer jawline and is usually smaller. It's so aggravating to me that fanon heart is this soft boi with no genuine fight to him while canonically we have SEEN HIM TALK BACK AND BE MEAN TO MIND??? I get this fandom has a lot of teenagers in it but holy shit can people not do the same shit we were doing 8 fucking years ago with tomtord.

And just one last thing, stop trying to aggressively masculinize mind just because he's emotionally immature and has a deep voice. He's not this intellectual genius debater who is dishing facts towards heart and the few things he does say that are true he says alongside actual lies about heart. Write what you want and draw what you want but please understand the irl implications of your works and understand what type of ideas are you peddling by doing what you're doing.

TLDR: stop being fucking weird about heart and treat him like a grown ass man. He's not a child.

[erinelliotc]

Talking about "Ed, Edd n Eddy" outside of Tumblr with (probably) heterosexual cisgender neurotypical men is just... frustrating. I feel like I'm talking to a door. The guy got mad just for stating the simple fact that what the Kankers do to the Eds is sexual harassment. I mean, how can anyone deny that? I thought it was, like, obvious to everyone lol. I made it very clear that it's my favorite cartoon and that admitting that what the Kankers do is sexual harassment doesn't mean it's bad or that it should've been canceled, and the guy just said he wouldn't read my text. It's ridiculous.

People outside of Tumblr are so lazy and this scares and saddens me because I love writing and I can hardly summarize my thoughts. I mean, it's okay if you don't want to read it, but then at least keep quiet and don't give your opinion on something you don't know about or assume what the other person said. People simply leave discussions with a simple "I won't read it" and feel victorious for it, even if the person in question is agreeing with them, agreeing more than disagreeing, or only partially disagreeing. They treat "writing too much" as having already lost the argument itself and that doesn't make any sense. The worst part for me is that being lazy to read and having the inability to formulate a counterargument has already been widely normalized on the internet as winning an argument, and it totally pisses me off.

Why are people so lazy to... think, discuss and reflect? To use their fucking brains!? They just want to attack people for no reason and be right at all costs! They act stupid and others agree with them! Ugh, I should just stay on Tumblr. I've already accepted that this is the only nice and safe (or at least the nicest and safest) place for neurodivergent / autistic people.

Anyway, about what happened:

It was in this Instagram post:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Millennial & 90's Content (@paraeden90s)

Comments started here:

I replied emir.d95 with this text:

I mean, it is sexual harassment. Admitting this isn't the same as saying that the cartoon is bad or that it should've been canceled (far from it, it's literally my favorite cartoon of all time), it's just stating a fact. It's like denying that Ed has an intellectual disability and is bullied because of it, or that Kevin is a bully (at least in the initial seasons), these are things that aren't explicitly said in the show, but are obvious and don't make it bad (furthermore, it was the 90s/2000s, it was a cartoon within what was considered normal for the time). Problematic things and complications happen, they are part of life, showing them in a cartoon isn't the same as agreeing with them. It was very clear that the Kankers were a bother to everyone and nobody liked them. Danny Antonucci said the Kankers were based on a group of girls he knew during his 7th grade school year. In his words "they're based on a pair of Grade 7 girls who true to form were always on the lookout for potential boyfriends. They frightened us with their intensity and attitude yet they always wanted to play the innocent with the older guys whom they wanted to date". They were based on real girls who were actually scary, cynical and a nuisance to Danny and others. The Kankers are supposed to be creepy, problematic, a pain in the ass, and disgusting. One of the biggest features of this show is the gross things, disgusting the viewers, and the Kankers and them abusing the Eds and sometimes others is one of those gross things. And before anyone says something like "It's just a cartoon, it's not that deep bro", we're talking about "Ed, Edd n Eddy", a show that literally addresses domestic violence, shows the main character's redemption arc and how his brother's abuse influenced him to act the way he did, and consequently teaches about friendship, forgiveness and acceptance. It's not just a silly cartoon, it also touches on serious subjects when necessary, sometimes in a more shallow, light and humorous way, or in a more explicit and profound way, like in the movie. The Kankers are abusers, just like Eddy's brother, and his punishment in the end is precisely being abused by them. Like it or not, "Ed, Edd n Eddy" teaches us, even if unconsciously and subtly, that girls can also be abusers and boys can be victims of sexual abuse. It's a great show for a laugh, but also for learning some valuable lessons every now and then. The movie was supposed to have even more serious and touching scenes, but unfortunately they didn't fit into the available time and budget.

Then I got these:

So, yeah... The lesson is: Don't expect a healthy in-depth dialogue about "Ed, Edd n Eddy" with people outside of Tumblr xD

[cripplecharacters]

What would be your most general suggestions in order to write a character with intellectual disability respectfully and accurately? It’s hard to find many first hand accounts of people with IDs writing about what they’d like to see in these characters.

Hi, thanks for your question!

I will try to give a few general dos and don’ts on how to make an ID character - the question is vague so I won't be too specific but I hope you find something here helpful! First of all: please keep in mind that ID people are very different from each other in both personality and how exactly their disability impacts them. Some people won't be able to perform any ADLs (short for activities of daily living; things like bathing, dressing, using the bathroom or eating by yourself), some will be able to do all of them and a lot will be somewhere in-between. That makes it more complicated to figure out what is accurate and what not because it just varies greatly between people. Even people similar ability levels can be completely different - they can have different verbality levels, different physical conditions, some of them could be very stubborn while others could be the complete opposite and give up very fast, you get the picture.

What to do while writing:

Seems very obvious but make sure they're an actual character and not just their disability - give them a personality, relationships, hobby etc.

Portray the common signs of ID - a lot of us struggle with things like planning (especially long-term), organizing, abstract reasoning, problem-solving or are just slower with understanding/doing things in general. It's fine for your character to need help and ask for help with those things! They don't need to compensate for it with savant-like abilities or some amazing feats, it's ok for them to just be a regular person who struggles in some or most areas and gets adequate help so they can function better.

A lot of people with ID struggle with understanding language that isn't clear or simplified. Very elaborate sentence structure or weird wording can make it hard or impossible for your character to correctly understand what is spoken to them so if you want your characters to communicate properly they should probably use more clear speech. That doesn't mean babytalk or only giving them the bare minimum - try looking at this simplified version of this article to get an idea of what I mean (both links lead to Wikipedia). Simpler sentence structure and more common words make things more accessible.

Give your character agency over their identity and feelings. We can struggle with understanding things, but it doesn't mean we can't be gay, trans or any other LGBTQ+ identity and it's not fair to question our ability to do so. A person with ID should be able to decide about things regarding themself. Even if your character requires 24/7 care, they (ideally) should be able to have a say in who will be their caregiver, for example.

Getting someone's high needs met is not infantilization, it's just care. A character that needs help with bathing themself isn't "bad representation" or being treated like a child just because of it.

Make sure you look up how ID works medically so you don't commit any basic medical misinformation (like having it start in adulthood). Specifically look out to not confuse brain injury symptoms with ID. ID also doesn't directly affect someone's life expectancy on its own.

Connected to the last point, but you might want to try and decide on the cause of why the character has ID just because it will probably make your job as a writer a bit easier with figuring out what specific symptoms they might be experiencing. Someone who has ID because they went through severe meningitis as a little child might have different symptoms than someone born with Rett Syndrome. There are a lot of conditions that cause ID, but the most common are Down Syndrome, FASD and Fragile X Syndrome.

Try to remember: people with intellectual disability can be anyone and be anywhere! You can write a sarcastic autistic princess with ID, a loud love interest with Angelman Syndrome or a shy goth classmate with CRS and none of these would be “forced”.

What to NOT do:

Avoid the “always happy” character trope (goes double or even triple for characters with Down Syndrome because that's where it's the most prevalent). This one is a real issue with how people see real life intellectually disabled people. A character with ID should be allowed to have a full range of emotions just like everyone else.

Don't use the mental age theory - it's an ableist and harmful concept that claims that people with ID are mentally X years old (X never being their actual age). A 40-year-old character who can't eat or bathe by themself is 40 years old, not 3.

Avoid having your character compensate for their ID with some specific type of intelligence ("they're not booksmart but they have high emotional intelligence!) because that's neither how this works or what is helpful when it comes to representation. Your character shouldn't have to be smart "in some way" to be treated with respect.

Don't make your character extremely violent or brutal, especially if they're also unaware of what they're doing (basically don't make your character Lennie from of Mice and Men). I feel like this one is mostly about the impact on how some people see ID people (especially ID men of color) by painting them as inherently violent which is not true. That's not to say your character can't get into a fight but just try to be aware of this trope, especially if your character is marginalized in other ways as well.

Most people who seek any advice regarding writing disabled characters will probably know that using the r-slur is a big no, but words like moron, imbecile, feeble-minded or idiot also come directly from outdated medical terminology regarding intellectual disability. Personally, I'm very much against using them without acknowledging their origin and they can be genuinely upsetting to read.

Sorry it came out so long! I tried to put together both very basic advice and some more complex points so hopefully as much people as possible can take something away from this. If you have any more specific questions feel free to send another ask. good luck with your writing ❤️ (heart emoji)

mod sasza

[hayatheauthor]

How To Write A Disabled Character: The Dos And Don’ts 

As an author, it’s important to ensure the content you create doesn’t accidentally offend or misrepresent a community, especially one you don’t belong to. This is why I made my previous post talking about how to write POC characters without seeming racist, and why I decided to write this blog post on how to write a disabled character. 

Before I jump into my writing tips, I would like to put out a disclaimer. Unlike my previous post, where I could speak from personal experience, I am not disabled and thus am not attempting to be a spokesperson for the community. However, I have previously written several disabled characters and decided to make a guide of sorts for authors like me. 

I would also like to mention that I did some research into acceptable terminology before writing this, using this website and others, however, I am always open to learning and correcting myself if and when I do make a mistake. 

Don’t Make Their Disability Their Personality 

This is possibly one of the most important things to keep in mind when writing with a disabled character. This is an issue when writing about any minority, really, but it is especially true for this community. A person’s disability doesn’t define them or their personality, and the whole introverted disabled person trope gets a little tiring. 

It’s sort of like how every gay man isn’t overly feminine. Yes, there are disabled people who can be sad and quiet and introverted, just like there are others who are loud and obnoxious and extroverted. 

When writing a disabled character, you need to incorporate their disability into their personality rather than making it their personality. A fun-loving protagonist with a hearing aid might slap fun stickers onto it, showcasing their personality. Maybe a person in a wheelchair loves to paint it a new colour every other month. 

These are just examples of ways you could introduce your character with their personality rather than their disability. She saw a peak of pink behind the protagonist’s ears, he watched as a neon green wheelchair sped towards him with a whooping boy seated on it. 

When creating your OC forms, take the time to actually consider how their personality impacts their relationships with their disability and how that impacts their relations with others. 

Know What You’re Writing About 

Do your research! I sincerely cannot stress how important it is for a writer, or any sort of creator, to take the time to research the medical conditions their characters are going through. The same writers who pour over several articles to figure out how much blood would their character realistically lose by a stab wound are often the ones who choose to overlook the complexities and finer details when it comes to a disabled character. 

The issue with this is the spread of misinformation it can cause amongst your readers. This especially applies to factors such as sign language, brail, etc. Think of it this way, if you are bothered enough to use Google translate for dialogues written in a language you don’t speak, then why can’t you do the same for unspoken languages? 

Whether your character has an intellectual, physical, sensory, or other disability, it’s important to take the time to thoroughly research the issues you are portraying. 

Here are some things to consider when writing a disabled character: 

Are there any side effects caused by this disability? If yes, how does this impact them on a daily basis? 

Is the disability curable or reversible? Do other people have access to solutions your character cannot afford? 

Does their disability, develop, change, etc. over time? 

Show Don’t Tell 

Rather than simply telling us about their disabilities, it’s important for you to them show your readers. I previously mentioned how you can do this by incorporating their personalities into your writing, but that is only one aspect writers should consider. 

It’s also important to treat your character as you would treat any other character. Many authors often write long winding descriptions of the things their character can see, hear, or feel. It’s important to do the same when writing with a disabled character as well. Especially if they have a sensory disability! 

Maybe your character can’t see but their lips curl up into a smile when they hear a soft swish of fabric by their side, because they know it means their sister bought that dress she was talking about. 

Recognising a character’s limitations also gives you an idea of how your character would experience the world and allows you to accurately translate that to your readers. 

Flesh Out Their Relationships 

Finally, it’s very important for writers to break away from the cliches when writing about disabled characters. It gets tiring reading about a disabled character who is pitied by everyone around them until someone special comes along and sees them for themselves. It is also important to recognise that a disabled character doesn’t necessarily have to only befriend other disabled characters. 

Your disabled characters can have friends, rivals, love interests, mentors, etc. without these relationships tying into their disability. Don’t restrict your character’s experiences simply because of their disability! A great example of a well-written disabled character would be Isaac played by George Robinson. 

Final Words

Writing about a community you don’t come from can be scary because you need to consider whether or not you’re accidentally offending or misrepresenting someone. This is why writers often stick to the communities they come from, which directly impacts the amount of representation for marginalised communities. 

However, I feel that the right amount of research and a willingness to learn is all you really need to be able to write about a community you don’t come from.

I hope this blog on how to write a disabled character: the dos and don’ts will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday. 

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP The Traitor’s Throne and life as a teenage author. 

[owlhari]

a guide to not being ableist about norman becile

greeterings, fellow steam powered giraffe fans. while browsing becile content, i've unfortunately noticed a lot of ableism, both subtle and not, when it comes to folks talking about norman. i want to write a quick "guide" on how to not do that.

some disclaimers: this was not inspired by any particular post or user. it's a general trend i noticed, and to be fair, there are many years-old posts in this fandom with authors that may have changed since writing them.

don't take it as a personal attack if you realize you've done something mentioned in this post. take it as motivation to learn and grow!

also, i do not have a visible body/facial difference or an intellectual disability, but i am physically disabled and neurodivergent in multiple ways. i may have some "authority" on this topic, but don't take my word as the final say for any of this.

mini-essay starts below the cut.

let's start with language.

when describing norman and the 1950 incident, try to use neutral words. instead of saying he is deformed, disfigured, or crippled... say he was changed or transformed.

of course, if you are writing fic where a character is supposed to be ableist towards him, or maybe norman's feelings about himself immediately after the incident, it might make sense to use language with negative connotations.

but out of character, there's no excuse for using slurs. please don't call norman crippled. there are so many other words you can use.

why is neutral language important? because disability is not a negative thing by default. having a facial difference or a cognitive disability is not inherently bad.

(side note that yes, the official timeline uses language that is... maybe not the best. the official timeline also hasn't been updated since 2015.)

sort of related to language, look at canon for norman's speech patterns.

he appears in pages 11 and 12 of the comic, with plenty of dialogue. he does not speak "like a child" or have any apparent speech difficulties. of course, there's nothing wrong with that (i have a stutter! again, disability is neutral!) but the fact is norman speaks like every other character we see in the comic.

he enunciates himself just fine, he uses vocabulary you would expect an adult to use, he can be sarcastic and make jokes.

don't write dialogue for norman where he talks in the way you believe people with intellectual disabilities "should" talk. it just makes you look like a jerk who makes assumptions.

my last big point: wanda and norman's marriage.

it is canonical information that wanda walter married norman and took his last name. wanda's last name being becile in the timeline was confirmed by bunny bennett as not a typo or a mistake, she really did marry norman.

there is no reasoning given for their marriage, and they are never shown interacting in the comic. we don't even have a date for when they got together, aside from the fact that it was before 2015. however, this does not inherently mean their marriage was forced, that they're unhappy, or that wanda "had no other choice."

norman has been living at walter manor since at least 1956. if wanda truly did not want to be around him, why would he be there at all?

she has clearly forgiven him for what he did, else he wouldn't have been allowed to live with her for over fifty years. there are war-enhanced robots in the manor at all times, and you're telling me if norman made wanda uncomfortable in any drastic way, he wouldn't have been kicked out immediately?

of course, as i said, there is no truly canon reason behind their marriage. you're free to headcanon whatever you like. but if you're dead-set on writing that wanda was coerced or married him out of pity, i'd like you to consider why.

if norman didn't have a facial difference, if he wasn't disabled, would you be making those headcanons?

and finally... why does this matter, if norman's appearance isn't anything a human could possibly look like?

it matters because the way you talk about norman might come across as what you think of actual disabled people and it might make actual disabled people uncomfortable.

if your first thought when seeing norman in the comic (who, despite how little we see of him, seems happy and fulfilled) is that he must be a miserable man, suffering from his disabilities, with a wife who married him out of pity... i encourage you to do some reflecting about that.

thank you for reading. please be nice to disabled people, and have a wonderful day.

[olderthannetfic]

I feel like adding onto the whole aroace sex-repulsion discussion.

Apologies for the wall of text.

For context: I'm aroace and romance- and sex-neutral. I don't go looking for sex or anything like that, and I don't masturbate very often as I don't have a high libido either. I'm also married, and my spouse is in the same boat as me. I'm also autistic and I have Mild Intellectual Disability. I could also have ADHD but that was never evaluated for me growing up and I don't care to go looking for one now. I also grew up very religious; not Christian, but my religion has the same view of "wait until you're married to have sex". And I'm not white, so there's that.

All that considered, I have an ongoing fic series where the MC is aroace and has autism + MID, and I have gotten so many comments (and upon further investigation, more often than not from people who aren't even a part of these groups) that are trying to "well actually" me that "it's infantalising to make autistic characters aroace", or "aces like sex", or "aromantic people don't date", or "aroace Black characters are racist", and so and such.

Despite writing a very wide variety of a-spec characters, from aroace couples in a QPR to an aroallo character in a casual agreement with someone they're close to, to some not interested in that stuff at all (both aroace and allo), to religious characters getting around not being allowed to have sex by doing sex stuff that "technically" isn't sex stuff.

Some people just love complaining about your work and want something incredibly specific when it comes to telling stories about minorities, especially if its something that was written to deconstruct your own experiences. Some people are Just Like That. It's annoying, but we can block them at least.

Now, if you (whomever is reading this) or the stories you write contain minority characters, and others have a very narrow view of what that should look like, that's not your fault and you're not wrong and broken for it. If you're aroace and very romance- and sex-negative, that's fine. If you're autistic and you think you might be or are a-spec, you're not being childish and you're not a robot.

Honestly, I think all of this crap comes from a combination of stereotypes (like the simultaneous sexualisation and de-sexualisation of people of colour, the assumption that mentally disabled people are too immature for adult relationships) and people having to make sure that people who have newly come across the concept of asexuality understand that attraction and libido are two different things—seriously, I once had someone told me that my spouse was raping me because "ace people don't have sex", which completely disregards what consent even is—and that has led to a bunch of well meaning but ignorant people trying to over-correct.

But that's not my problem and neither is it yours.

--

[deramin2]

My Ace Shadowgast Fics

As a disabled gay ace writer, Shadowgast is a really compelling relationship to me, and one of the only times I've seen a demisexual character portrayed very well, especially in a relationship. I write them non-sexually for those interested in fics like that. I tend to write them somewhere between a QPR and romantic and could be interpreted either way as you please. They just are what they are together. For International Asexuality Day, I thought I'd share some of them. Most of my fics are very short.

CAT

Words: 4,228 Chapters: 1/1

After the events of Campaign 2, Caleb Widogast builds a legacy as a teacher and legal activist against the corruption within the Cerberus Assembly. His relationship with Essek remains complicated but strong. An important constant in his life, even when they're apart. Then literally the plot of PIG (2021) with Caleb instead of Nicolas Cage retooled for Critical Role: A reclusive Caleb's cat is stolen and he'll stop at nothing to get her back. To do so he must return to the underbelly of the high-profile life he burned out from. Major spoilers for PIG + an explanation of the often very subtle plot. However, knowledge of the movie isn't necessary if you don't mind spoilers. Major spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 2 epilogue.

Essek Invents Ambient Music

Words: 720 Chapters: 1/1 (Includes playlists for two ambient albums that inspired the fic at the bottom.)

Essek and Caleb develop a magical synthesizer and Essek develops ambient music as an artistic hobby.

Love Is A Multicourse Soup Dinner

Words: 901 Chapters: 1/1

Beau talks to Caleb about his relationship with Essek as they prepare a soup dinner.

Essek’s Mobility Aid

Words: 797 Chapters: 1/1

Essek reckons with chronic pain when he's unable to float to avoid detection. He and Caleb develop a new way of using magic as a mobility device that's less detectable. Together they teach both techniques to other disabled people.

Essek's Secret Closet

Words: 123 Chapters: 1/1

Caleb helps Essek keep a little slice of his old life.

Caleb's Fancy Magic

Words: 1,001 Chapters: 1/1

Essek contemplates Caleb's casting style and what it can teach him about his own path forward.

Something Is Fundamentally Wrong With Me

Words: 3,664 Chapters: 8/8 (Last chapter is a playlist to go with the fic.)

When Essek and Caleb have an accidental encounter with strange mushrooms in Aeor, they find themselves both transformed and hallucinating, and it becomes unclear what is and isn't real. As they get through it together, they become introspective and reflect on their relationship and trade poetry. A Long Essek fic. I wanted to write a Shadowgast fic that was very intellectually and emotionally intimate, but non-sexual. If you love queer poetry and song snippets, this fic is full of them, and there are references at the end of each chapter with links to the works where available.

[marxism-lelouchism]

Can I ask something from Code Geass? What do you think are Lelouch and Suzaku’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

i'm delighted you asked! always love talking about these guys :) full response under the read more because i ended up writing an essay lol

i think what makes lelouch and suzaku such compelling characters to me are their contradictions and complexity. i resonated immediately and especially with lelouch's character so i'm obviously biased towards many of his traits but i like how his aloof, intellectual front masks someone who cares deeply, emotionally about the people he loves. he's thoughtful, kind, and has a strong sense of justice (or perhaps more accurately revenge), and yet he's also capable of cold, calculated cruelty. he does everything in the name of a better world for his sister but he never once asks nunnally if she wanted him to lie, deceive, and kill for her. he claims to be a "knight of justice" but his desire to destroy britannia is not rooted in anti-imperialist values but rather the personal injustices he, his sister, and his best friend experienced. (i do think he has some genuine principles, they're just not his primary motivation.) in a story about resisting imperialism and colonialism, he is a white ex-prince whose power is the ability to force people to bend to his will. in many ways, lelouch is still the 10 year old boy whose world was ripped from under him, first with his mother's assassination and his sister's disabling, then with the invasion of japan, and he never grew past that, desperate for a sense of control over his life. his greatest strength is his love for his friends and family, and his greatest weakness is that he forces that love, his own concept of love, onto them. that he recognizes he must die for his loved ones to see a better world—and that he will not see that world with them—speaks to the strength of his resolve and is an incredibly satisfying, and tragic, ending to his character arc.

suzaku, similarly, is a hypocrite. i never disliked his character (unlike many fans who hate him for all the wrong reasons), but it did take me a while to really warm up to him and appreciate his role in the story and as a foil to lelouch. as the son of japan's last prime minister who became a soldier in the force occupying his own country, suzaku's biggest weakness is his stubbornness in clinging onto liberal, reformist ideals of change. it's easy to dismiss this as naivety or ignorance (he is the 17 year old son of a politician, born into an upper class family after all), but i think it's much more interesting to think of suzaku's liberalism as a deeply repressed recognition of how destructive and irredeemable the system he's trying to "change from within" is. i think, deep down, he must know that being a cog in the machine means that the machine will tear him apart—and he wants that. he says he wants the fighting to stop, the war to end (and yes, i also do believe that is a genuine desire to a degree), but what he really wants is to die, a punishment for killing his father and thereby surrendering a whole country to exploitation and degradation. suzaku, too, has a good heart (in any other story he would be the protagonist!), but it's often buried by a tremendous amount of guilt and self-hatred. his character development especially in season 2 is really interesting to watch. he turns some of that hatred outward, onto zero, and in the process he grapples with the question of if he's really much different from that which he hates. whenever i want to be harsh to suzaku i remember he was just a boy when his country was destroyed overnight and that he spent seven, very lonely years growing up in the jaws of a system that certainly did not show him much mercy.

as for what i love about their dynamic...short answer is probably everything LOL. the long answer is that they are really excellent narrative foils to the extent that their relationship, its ups and downs, is the primarily driving force of code geass. i've already mentioned how their contradictions mirror each other and i personally love how their conflict draws out a deeper political question of reform vs revolution. but despite all their differences, they work really well together. they complement each other's strengths, cover for each other's weaknesses, "there's nothing lelouch and i can't do together". there is a deep amount of respect and implicit trust they have for each other. they have their own secret codes and signs! their relationship and its development feels very real, intense, and fleshed out to a degree i don't feel like many other fictional relationships achieve. they go through/put each other through a lot in those 50 episodes. the miscommunication, betrayals, backstabbing, selling out, deception, and yet also genuine friendship, understanding, and reconciliation. it works and feels very believable. they start on opposite sides at the beginning of the story and you can see how they slowly come to understand each other and eventually meet in the middle. taking over the britannian empire to destroy it from within is their final compromise. it's a harebrained (politically implausible in the real world) scheme that only worked because they worked together.

i love how they are the one person who truly understands the other, who has seen the good, bad, and downright reprehensible. there are so many sides to lelouch, and suzaku is the one character who has seen them all. lelouch who thinks of suzaku as "my first friend and worst enemy", and suzaku who thinks of lelouch as "my worst friend and first enemy". there are many reasons why their relationship should be unequal, marred by the obvious power differences between a white colonizer and japanese colonial subject (an imbalance they're quick to recognize in their first meeting when suzaku beats up the trespasser in his home), and yet in their personal relationship, they are equals. lelouch goes through great pains to respect suzaku's free will and avoid using his geass on him, and even when he does geass him, the order isn't to force suzaku to listen to him but instead to live. when they become emperor and knight, it's clear that their relationship isn't one of lord and servant but instead of co-conspirators. "emperor" and "knight" are just roles they're playing. suzaku kneels before lelouch not because he's the emperor's knight but to pay respect to lelouch's resolve. they play many roles throughout the story, classmates, civilian and pilot, terrorist and soldier, emperor and knight, but at the end of the day they are just lelouch and suzaku to each other. despite, or because of, everything they've been through, lelouch still leans on suzaku as he dies and suzaku still sheds tears for him.

[mikuni14]

Sing My Crush

I binged Sing My Crush and absolutely loved the series. I liked practically everything, from the main and side characters, the interesting and innovative type of the villain and the conflict he created, the fact that the "11th episode drama" has its mostly external causes, that one of the ML falls in love twice and it's treated completely normally, that the story is interesting and well narrated, both MLs are equally likable and I was cheering for both of them, there was no separation at the end, which I totally expected, all problems were solved practically right away.

What I also liked is how both MLs reflect the "cat and dog energy", but in a way that is not irritating. I especially mean how typical a "puppy-golden retriever" is Im Han Tae. But he is the way I like, that is, this "dog" energy gives him only good features, i.e. absolute loyalty, optimism, willingness to help, the need to save and to care for other people, sincere and bubbly personality. And what's especially important to me about the "puppy/sunshine" personality type, which the series NOTORIOUSLY fail to do right, is that these characters sometimes come off "stupid", BUT THEY ARE NOT STUPID. It's just that someone else is taking advantage of their good nature and good intentions, and their belief in the goodness and good intentions of other people, or that they're being caught off-guard and need time to think.

Unfortunately, many shows create scenes for characters like this, often intended to be comedic, that "puppy" literally behaves stupid, or like a pre-pubescent boy in a man's body, and in some extreme cases like someone who, sorry to write this, appears to have some intellectual and developmental disabilities. The perfect example of this type of character for me was this guy from Love Tractor, which made me unable to finish the show because I felt so bad watching this 20 year old man act like he was raised in the jungle, who doesn't understand what's going on with him and his body and is completely freaking out. To me, mentally he was literally a child, I felt sick watching him as a love interest of a grown man.

Being child-like is ok when it is part of a personality that is open, trusting, cheerful, eager to explore the world, and curious. Being child-like as a mental level of an adult person is not ok, to me it's just creepy.

When I started watching Sing My Crush and I saw Im Han Tae I thought oh boy, here we go again, another man-child. And you don't know how happy I am that I was wrong. Im Han Tae has all the best features of the golden retriever personality type and is also smart and acts like a guy his age. Unlike many characters of his type in movies and series, he never runs away from his feelings, he confronts them and confronts Han Ba Ram, and when he needs time to think, he doesn't spend it avoiding and hurting in the process his love interest, or feeling sorry for himself and freaking out, but actually thinks the situation through . Like an adult. And he always, ALWAYS, tries his best not to hurt Han Ba Ram, even when he's angry with him.

Similarly, Han Ba Ram, who is portrayed as a typical "cute" and withdrawn character with "cat" energy, is not stereotypical, but also smart, has his own life outside of the romance, his own worries and desires that he doesn't want to "burden" other people with and is a good person who worries about others, and definitely tends to be self-sacrificing. And yes, he's incredibly cute and cries prettily (I thought I'd die and just turn into a puddle of goo when he started crying after boxing class 🥺🥺) and he's soooo adorable and I'd do anything for him (as well as Han Tae who is such a great character).

Ok, I will stop here, because of the chaos of my thoughts regarding this series. Unfortunately I binged the series with only one break, instead of writing my thoughts after each episode, which is the best way not to miss and organize all my reflections about the series 😉 Anyway, I highly recommend this series, I don't think there are any major, or even minor flaws (ok, maybe too much music, but the title says it all, also the singer's voice is really nice). Wow, this year Korea is spoiling me, this is the third series that I like so much 🤩