Vissy Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 Tbh I am a fan of her character, I really like reading chapters she's in. I just don't think she feels like someone who is struggling with all the problems a person on the autistic spectrum tends to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsdaughter613 she/her Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 I have a non verbal learning disability which, for me, presents a lot like aspergers (which presents differently than many other ASDs). Steris' experiences felt very similar to my own. I also have no problem expressing emotion. I have also learned to do things (such as making eye contact) by rote. Actually, many people with Aspergers are very self aware and find it easy to express their thoughts and feelings. The problem is doing so in an appropriate manner and setting. The other problem is trying to make sense of people who don't say what they are feeling, but couch it in social mores and cues which is where the difficulty lies. (This is one of the reasons Aspergers being put on the ASD list is still being argued. DSM 6 may switch it up again.) I don't know who you know with Mental illness or disability, but the ones I have worked run through a rather extensive spectrum. Some are self conscious, some are not. People with Down's Syndrome tend not to be self centered. One of the nicest people in my school had terrible Cerebral Palsy. Just as people without Mental illnesses or disabilities can be selfish, so can those with. FYI, I'm training to be a therapist, and have worked about 150 hours in different psychiatric settings. I've seen a lot of different people with different types of mental difficulties and they were each unique and different. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdoble97 Posted January 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 52 minutes ago, Kingsdaughter613 said: I have a non verbal learning disability which, for me, presents a lot like aspergers (which presents differently than many other ASDs). Steris' experiences felt very similar to my own. I also have no problem expressing emotion. I have also learned to do things (such as making eye contact) by rote. Actually, many people with Aspergers are very self aware and find it easy to express their thoughts and feelings. The problem is doing so in an appropriate manner and setting. The other problem is trying to make sense of people who don't say what they are feeling, but couch it in social mores and cues which is where the difficulty lies. (This is one of the reasons Aspergers being put on the ASD list is still being argued. DSM 6 may switch it up again.) I don't know who you know with Mental illness or disability, but the ones I have worked run through a rather extensive spectrum. Some are self conscious, some are not. People with Down's Syndrome tend not to be self centered. One of the nicest people in my school had terrible Cerebral Palsy. Just as people without Mental illnesses or disabilities can be selfish, so can those with. FYI, I'm training to be a therapist, and have worked about 150 hours in different psychiatric settings. I've seen a lot of different people with different types of mental difficulties and they were each unique and different. Very well said. In my line of work I occasionally I interact with with people that have mental health issues or learning disabilities and it takes a special type of person to work with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsdaughter613 she/her Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Releaser12 he/him Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 On 1/28/2017 at 1:26 PM, Rob Lucci said: It's not about intellectual pursuits. It's about how the character interacts and feels like. Steris, overall, doesn't feel like anyone with a mental disability I've ever known. A common thread there is reclusivity and withdrawal, resulting in extreme levels of self-centeredness. Steris, on the other hand, is incredibly aware of what she does. She says she's learned to do these social things by rote, but it doesn't feel like that. In how Brandon writes her, she doesn't have a problem showing emotions. She doesn't have a problem expressing her thoughts. She just has a thing with lists. Actually I really can relate to Steris. I have ASD and this seems to be a skillful portrayal, I love lists and I can express my emotions, but only because I've spent years studying human interaction. (Through books). It's not rote, it's just a LOT of practice, I currently have a problem of overstating my body language so that people can read me. My problem, personally, is figuring out what other people are thinking. Each person has a different set of expressions and inflections. What is anger in one person, might be playful irritation in another. Someone looking bored can actually be in emotional pain. The issue is not lack of emotion or expression, just an entirely way of thinking, we have to adjust the way we interact so that people understand us. My sister is even further along the spectrum and she is the most emotional person in my direct family. We have emotions, just different twists on the same things. I don't speak for everyone, but according to my observations of other people I know with ASD, these findings are accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Releaser12 he/him Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 On 1/28/2017 at 7:48 AM, Rob Lucci said: Steris is cool, though I find her somewhat unrealistic. I don't buy it that someone with a genuine mental disorder of the scale of Aspergers (unless it was very mild and non-debilitating on the spectrum) would be able to behave like she does. She reads more like an extremely OCD person to me. Many people on the spectrum exhibit OCD-ish tendencies without being OCD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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