#cripplecharacters about
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This isn't a disability question, it's a mod question, because I'm curious: mod Sasza, how is your name pronounced? I've been reading it like "Sasha," but I'm not sure if that's right.
Hi! Very much a fair question.
"Sasha" works fine! If you want to be Very Correct, both of the "a" sounds would be much harsher than you would usually say them in English (you can also throw "Sasza" in Google Translate for Polish and it will give the correct pronunciation).
Thanks for the ask =)!
mod Sasza
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Hey! I've been following for a while and really appreciate the advice. Do you have any ways to describe someone with a prostecic? I'm struggling to figure out a way to explain my main character's arm that doesn't seem so generic. Thanks so much!
How to Write a Character with a Prosthetic
I don't have any knowledge or experience with prosthetics, so I'm not the best person to ask, but I can direct you to a few people and sources who are:
-> @ancwritingresources has an excellent post with multiple resources about this that can be found Here.
-> @cripplecharacters also has numerous posts regarding prosthetics that they navigate with the tag #prosthetics. A link to those posts Here. I also believe that they are accepting asks, just be specific with your question.
-> @cy-cyborg has posts about this subject as well, Here is a link to their navigation page.
If anyone has other resources/posts/information feel free to share them in the comments/reblog.
#writeblr#writing resources#ask box prompts#writing tips#writing advice#how to write a character with a prosthetic#how to write#writing help#writing tools#writer tips
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i’ve heard of blogs to write deaf or disabled characters. do you happen to know any of these?
- @writeintrees
@cripplecharacters (cripplecharacters.tumblr.com) covers writing characters with disabilities, including questions related to deafness/HoH.
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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!
Learn more about WQA
See my ask policies
Visit my Master List of Top Posts
Go to ko-fi.com/wqa to buy me coffee or see my commissions
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going into next year, remember to keep fighting for disability and mental health rights!
[PT: going into next year, remember to keep fighting for disability and mental health rights!]
remember to:
put image IDs and plain-text on posts
tag eyestrain and flash warnings (DO NOT use #epilepsy, that puts epileptic people in more danger)
remember to tag potential triggers! (very important, i hate it when posts include my triggers and don't tag it)
remember that hyperfixating on / having a special interest in a problematic thing does NOT mean you're a bad person, as long as you acknowledge the problems with it. also, i can't believe this isn't talked about more, but a hatred for a thing can also turn into a hyperfixation / special interest! example: i had a hyperfixation on harry potter in a way that i absorbed criticisms of it and knew everything about it, but only because i wanted to be able to articulate how much i hate it and why. hyperfixation / special interest in something does not mean you like it / endorse it! (rant over)
PLEASE stop clogging up disability tags with fanfiction. yes, it's good that you're representing disabilities, but instead try tagging it with #disabled character or #disabled reader or something of the sort.
something i wanna leave in 2023, but unfortunately don't think will be going away soon is ableist / saneist slang or slang that makes light of disabilities / mental health. examples of this include: "delulu", "letting the intrusive thoughts win", "psycho", "schizo" (when referring to something that has nothing to do with schizophrenia), "bipolar" (when referring to something that has nothing to do with bipolar disorder), "sociopath", "psychopath", "narcissist" + MANY more
please stop infantilizing autistic people. i'm so tired of being treated like a baby.
c-punk is NOT an aesthetic and it is exclusively for physically disabled people. and if you're not physically disabled, call it c-punk.
uplift disabled and mentally ill voices.
below is a list of disabled creators you can support!
@my-autism-adhd-blog. summer (she/they) talks about their life as an autistic individual who has ADHD. super cool blog!
@cripplecharacters. a group of mods help answer questions about writing disabled characters. learned a lot from them.
@mogai-transcriber. (nameless) (she/he/it) describes mogai posts.
@accessmogai. reign (she/her) is a great mogai transcriber too. high quality IDs for all
@cpunkwitch. super cool witchy blog. cassandra (it/he/her/neos/none) is super cool and it's nice to hear a disabled voice in the pagan community.
@crippledpunks. cool positivity blog that talks about disability and educates on cpunk
@accessfashion. multiple mods add image descriptions to outfits. super epic stuff.
@cane-you-dig-it. disability and cpunk stuff. also just a super cool and talented individual.
@autistic-af. i wish she was my aunt, she's super sweet and her cat posts always make my day!
@crippled-peeper. relatable posts tbh.
@crippled-dinosaur. dino (it/he) talks about physical disabilities and cpunk
+ many more! feel free to add to this list
#this is the first of many posts i'll be making on stuff like this#aech rambles#disability#new year#mental illness positivity#positivity#long post
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Hello!
I am a hearing author but my dad is D/deaf and has a cochlear implant, I am currently writing a deaf character and wanted to give them a CI to pay tribute to him because he is what inspired me to write a deaf character in the first place. But after doing some research on how to write the character I learned that CIs are disliked by the Deaf community for a number of reasons. Should I change the characters aid to something else to avoid any faux pas?
Hello,
this is generally not a writing advice blog, I recommend reaching out to @cripplecharacters .
Overall, CIs are controversial in Deaf community. That's not to say you should always avoid writing them, its just that its important to do research and think if its suitable for the character in question.
I know Deaf people who absolutely hate CIs and would never get them and shun people who have them. I know Deaf people who don't want them for themselves, but are okay with others who have them. I know Deaf people who don't want them but made a decision to give them to their Deaf kids. And I know Deaf people who decided to get them in adulthood.
Also, there is a big number of people who got their CI when they were kids (usually bcs their parents were hearing) and lived with them their whole life.
I would say hatred of CIs was more prevalent in the past. Nowadays, most Deaf people I know are ambivalent or positive about them.
The issue really isn't the medical devices themselves, its more the attitude of hearing and medical community surrounding them. Cochlear implants are often seen as magical cure to deafness - which they are not. Another issue is that lot of medical professional and experts discourage usage of sign language for cochlear implant users, which sucks. (And based on linguistic research, its actually wrong - research show that kids being bilingual in spoken and sign language is beneficial for them).
If your dad has a CI and you are basing your character on him, I see no issue in your character having CI. I would say its actually better option in this case. Why not chat with your dad about how he feels about the device and how would he like to see deafness portrayed in writing?
Good luck and sorry for later response,
Mod T
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Hey I saw your tag about Harumi and just wanted to check that you're making sure to research albinism properly!
I'm not accusing you of anything, I haven't read anything else about Harumi from you, but a lot of people treat albinism as "oh, they're just, like, really, really pale" when that's not it at all! The lack of melanin has a lot of serious side-effects on a person with albinism's health — particularly sensitivity to sunlight and impaired vision — as well as multiple causes for albinism that affect people differently! And I would hate to see someone unknowingly perpetuate stereotypes if I can help it.
Anyway, if you ever have trouble with what/how to write for her, I'd recommend @cripplecharacters and @blindbeta as starting resources. I hope you have a swell time, and good luck in your writing endeavors! 👋
oh, yes, i do actually know about that! one of my first ever ocs is albino, and i did a lot of research when developing her :0 (and i used to have classes with an albino person, but i don't want to pull the "i knew a [x] person in school" card about it)
ty very much for the concern anon!! as well as the resources; they're great for anyone else who wants to write characters like this, as well as help flesh out and cut away negative biases
#asks.png#jay.error#like i don't WANT to pull the ''i knew [x] person in school'' card#but i do remember them and how they weren't ''like me''#and according to my mom (i was fairly young at the time) i was making an active effort to be nice to them#so don't worry anon i have done a lot of research about it!#lillian (my oc) would not be the the person she is without it#and without the influence of that kid i knew#again ty for your concern about it!! always good to see ppl making sure everything's being done properly and respectfully :D
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Hello, my name is Alexandria or Dria for short. Your post about writing characters who use wheelchairs was really helpful my friend and I are creating a comic and one of our main characters is an immortal character who was a hero before a spinal injury (c5 vertebrae) and became paralyzed from the neck down and left the hero-ing world. A group of rookie heroes goes to him for help when the same villain who injured him resurfaces years later. He ends up agreeing to tell them everything he knows and helping them as much as he can and it's a found family thing. If you know anyone else who would have good advice it would be great if I could reach out. Do you have any more tips? It's a comic so if you have anything that you think I should include that would be really appreciated. Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Hi Dria! Thanks for stopping by. Your comic sounds really cool, and I hope you and your friend have fun writing it!
Without knowing more about your story, I don't have a lot of specific tips besides what you've likely already read in the post - make sure the wheelchair you're drawing is appropriate for your character's needs and abilities is the main one that comes to mind. Not to self-promote, but you may also want to look at my post about overused disability tropes.
In terms of more general themes - reading your synopsis, I'm wondering why the hero leaves following his injury. Is it because he doesn't feel he can succeed as a hero anymore, and if so, why not? Is that reinforced by the story? By those around him? If it's for other personal reasons, how does that interact with his disability and the way his life has changed? How has he adapted to his disability in the time since his injury?
I don't want to tell you what to write or what not to write - I have no authority to do that, and I wouldn't do it if I did! What you've written here makes me wonder if the storyline is that he gets injured, is no longer able to be a hero, and then when a group of (I'm assuming nondisabled, but I could be wrong) young heroes shows up, he acts as a mentor because he can't contribute in other ways. In this case, I would say to maybe try to subvert the narrative of tragic disability that derails a life. It's not necessarily inaccurate, but it's also so, so important to recognize and celebrate disabled joy, disabled success, and disabled people with a quality of life and life enjoyment that is just as high as before they were disabled.
As for resources - @cripplecharacters is a great resource for writing disabled characters! The extensive and experienced team of mods answers specific questions, and the blog posts writing disability resources from other blogs on Tumblr as well. Make sure you read the FAQ before sending an ask - they want specific questions, not really a "how to write x" vibe.
The last thing I'll say is I highly recommend searching "writing disabled characters" "disability writing resources" "writing wheelchair users" and key terms like that. I do not recommend just using the tags "wheelchair user" or "actually disabled" or anything like that. Please do not use people's actual life experiences as writing advice if they have not explicitly offered that. Do not ask disabled people for writing advice if they have not explicitly offered to give people writing advice.
The above is not specifically directed at you - I've seen some posts lately from people that are really frustrated with their vent/personal posts being used as writing references, and I wanted to mention how inappropriate that is in case people hadn't heard or thought about it. Anyway - that's all I can think of! If you have any more questions, feel free to come back, and good luck with your comic! Happy writing (and drawing)!
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I know a lot of us are writing, directly or indirectly, about disability, be it Eddie and Max post Vecnapocalypse, or Steve post Jonathan/Billy/Russian soldiers. I found the most amazing resource today - @cripplecharacters
The people who run the account are amazing and I highly recommend reading through the posts for pointers and direction. Personally while it’s something I want to write about in relation to these characters, at the same time I’m incredibly nervous about getting things wrong or causing offence.
Anyway, amazing resource, I know I already have some questions queued up!
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hello!! i saw your post reblogged on cripplecharacters and was wondering about a couple things (n sorry if you've posted smthn before and i missed it!!). i see your disapproval of fantasy dwarves, and would love to hear more of your thoughts abt the subject in general! i'm thinking of creating a couple shorter races for a world i've been working on (some taller races already exist), and was wondering if that on its own would be an issue? if its not, would it be better to come up with a new
"racial name and avoid names like dwarf/halfling? would having evidence of normal humans with non-fantasy dwarfism help? are there any stereotypes that would be good to completely avoid for this potential race, esp ones that i might not be aware of? i'd also love to hear about anything else that comes to mind on the subject!! thank you so much for your time and energy!!"
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Hello!
I think that small fantasy creatures/beings can definitely exist without drawing the parallel to little people, particularly ones that are human-like but obviously mystical in nature - such as fairies, pixies, gobins, orks, etc. "Dwarves" and gnomes however, equate being of short stature with being mythical in a way that causes people to draw a parallel to people with dwarfism. People have related dwarfs with gnomes throughout history, particularly when m*dget villages were popularized in the 1900s.
I think including characters of all stature in fantasy stories is perfectly fine, but if you do include real little people do so while naming it. And be sure to make it clear that their disability is not what makes them mystical/magical. Avoid "dwarves" and their "culture" all together.
Hope this helps!
- Elliot (they/them)
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Monthly round up: July
What’s up friends! Another month ends and we’re here again to summarize what happened in the blog - basically your Mods went on a frenzy as July was disability pride month in the US. Even though we know the fandom goes well beyond the US, we decided to adopt this celebration since it’s such an important topic, and something that really resonates in the fandom, particularly considering Remus’ narrative as a werewolf.
So without further ado, we want to show you what’s been up this month, before jumping into August content!
Fic Recs
This month, we rec’ed five lovely fics, plus we made a disabilities rec list, especially for this topic (check it here). The five fics featured in our Rec Friday were Forget-me-not, by @halictus-writer (full rec here), fractured skies, work that’s been orphaned (full rec here), of barnacles and mermen by @xinasvoice (full rec here), Signs of Affection by @kittycargo (full rec here) and A Bit of a Revelation, by LadyAmina (full rec here)
Resources
What a month to highlight some resources about disabilities! We put together a post about drawing wheelchairs, boosted @cripplecharacters (rec with some featured posts here), put some resources together about how to write intellectually and developmentally disabled characters and made a full week of content centered in images descriptions and resources to make content more accessible, including 1. a post about what are IDs and why they are important, 2. a resource post with links to guides to write ID, as well as some of @blindbeta posts about image descriptions and some featured posts of them, 3. a tip sheet about how to do images descriptions, and 4. a personal account from Moth about how their experience making IDs has been, to which we added later a link to a column talking about the experience of an artist making image descriptions and how it has benefited them and their community.
For our creator spotlight we were lucky enough to get the insights from @desicosplay (read the interview here), and in our monthly column, we had the privilege to read Theo’s words about writing disabled Remus.
Art
Like every month, we shared a lot of art! We particularly loved sharing and describing two works of @lilgaywolf depicting Remus as a cane user (here and here) and @emmesse96reborn amputee Remus (here).
Cosplay
This month we got to share some wonderful characterizations of Sirius and Remus! We started with Jordyn’s Sirius (space_bunnie1 on tiktok, don’t forget to go show some love!), with a Hogwarts Era secret relationship video, and the heartbreaking story “common sense and keen eye” from @mymischiefisnevermanaged, with @desicosplay as Sirius Black, that depicts a exchange between Dolores Umbridge and Sirius Black while he’s in Azkaban. @departmentofroleplays has an amazing cos-test for a fem!Remus Lupin, and even though it’s not a characterization of Wolfstar directly, @arabella-prongs‘s Mary, implying some feelings between Sirius and Remus, was an unavoidable since we adore it!
And with that, we say goodbye to the month of July, but don’t worry, it’s always disability pride month in your Mods’ hearts!!! We hope you keep enjoying the content we have for you, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have requests for rec lists, questions, or any kind of boost or love letter! we would love to hear from you!
Colorfully yours,
Theo and Moth~
#Monthly Round Up#July#Long Post#Wolfstar In Color#Thank you for all your support during this month!#we hope to see a lot of IDs soon!#and please submit any kind of diverse content you want us to boost!!#you can send self-recs and fics you'd loved#we would be happy to use this space to share the love
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The Blind c!Tubbo Post (Tubbost)
(TW: Scopophobia, Eye Scarring/Discussion, Ableism Mention, Death Mention)
SO! literally nobody asked but I would like to share with you all my headcannon for Tubbo after the Festival.
I'm one of the many who depict canon deaths as scarring left over after respawns, and my first depiction of Tubbo after the Festival was him with blast scars over his face, blinded by the firework shot into him at close range. I also depicted him with his eyes permanently closed in every art...
...which I have NOW learned is not actually how eye scarring works! (Or maybe burn scars specifically DO glue your eyes shut, I'm not a doctor, I've only done some digging.)
Then I started to wonder what Tubbo's eyes WOULD look like open after the Festival, since there would be no way his eyes made it unscathed from an explosion right between them. It was then I discovered macular corneal dystrophy!
Macular dystrophy is specifically the name for the corneal opacity caused by injury/scarring! And yes, while I know "cloudy eyes = blind" is an insulting caricature of blind characters in media, in this instance I think because the discoloration is a direct symptom from scarred blindness, it's not just another half assed able-bodied depiction (I hope).
(However; if I'm incorrect, I implore blind folks to let me know and I'll scrap it immediately 👍. Also, Tubbo's situation is very very specific, so I went more general with my research since I couldn't find anything about eye injury related to explosions specifically.)
So, I found how it'd look for Tubbo to be blind after his execution. The next thing was to figure out how getting around in canon could be explained with my fanon interpretation of Tubbo being completely blind.
This was obviously the bigger hurdle, since I was/still am an uneducated, inexperienced person with full sight. To tackle the task to have a blind interpretation of a character without being offensive or ignorant, I turned to @cripplecharacters, who were INSTRUMENTAL in educating me on disabilities. (MASSIVE thanks, y'all!! I would still be researching and not creating if it weren't for you :,3)
You can visit the blog for specifics, but what the mods have done was compile an FAQ about blind folks for those who genuinely didn't know anything about them (read: me)
It was through them that I learned the dos and donts of depicting a blind character in my work, hence why my final headcannon of Tubbo is a) completely able to independent and mobile, NOT infantalized, b) almost always has an earpiece to explain the surroundings of the SMP's constantly shifting environment so he can realistically move around without hurting himself, and c) IS NOT COMPLETELY INHIBITED BY HIS BLINDNESS, emotionally or physically.
Of course, there's always going to be things he can and can't do because he is now blind, but in the grand scheme of things, Tubbo adapted well to his situation after time to get used to it. Becoming blind did not depress him or confine him, and it certainly did not stop him in his journey of self growth as a character.
I struggled with this, as I didn't want Tubbo's disability to be obsolete in the long run; blindness is now a part of him, and it was important to me that that is shown; but I also didn't want his loss of sight to, well, completely cripple him. I know it's a slippery slope to maintain as someone who never has gone through or experienced any inhibition of sight other than run-of-the-mill glasses, and I know I definitely didn't learn everything about how to properly convey a blind character.
That said, I open the doors to educate* me if you wish! Tell me if I was offensive or incorrect in any of my above research! I want to be respectful over all else when I draw/write disabled folks.
Basically, TLDR: in my fanon interpretation, c!Tubbo is blinded after the Festival, and I did a lot of research to depict his blindness realistically and respectfully, and I made this post at 2:45 AM because 👉 insomnia 👉 so sorry if the wording is a bit funny in places.
*please only comment if you're a professional in the field of optometry/eye injury or a blind person yourself! To those who are full sighted and just as inexperienced; this literally cannot be explained by you, so please refrain :)
#this is important to me so posts like these will get the tag:#meraki infodumps#dream smp#blind!tubbo#big queue#tw eyes#tw scopophobia#tw injury#go follow cripplecharacters right now they're a fantastic resource
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Mods
[large text: Mods]
Sasza
[Large Text: Sasza]
Hi! My name is Sasza and I use he/him pronouns. I am a disabled artist who loves to write and draw characters like me! I am autistic, (mildly) intellectually disabled and have several physical conditions including-but-not-limited-to dyspraxia, severe hyperkyphosis, cranial nerve diseases (causing double vision, chronic pain and a facial difference among other things), and hypermobile joints. Sometimes I use a cane. I'm very passionate about accessibility and disability representation in all kinds of media - books, comics, video games, and any other kind of art that's out there!
Bert
[Large Text: Bert]
Hello! I'm Bert (previously Mason), and I use he/they pronouns. I am a writer who loves to write plays and fiction with characters like me and my friends. I am autistic and have ADHD, I have psychotic PTSD and a DID system. Physical health-wise I have migraines, fibromyalgia, and a lateral lisp. I love talking about representation and ways we can make a kinder and more inclusive space everywhere we go.
Sparrow
[large text: Sparrow]
Hi, I’m sparrow, they/he for me. I’m a disabled artist who makes a lot of disabled characters like myself and probably like a quarter of the world. I have autism and ADHD, among other brain things, as well as chronic pain in both my jaw and my knee and ankle. I also have POTS and some sort of sleep disorder. I am a sometimes cane user as well. I really enjoy research and thoughtful art that makes people feel seen. Aside from that, I am a huge fan of historical fiction and really enjoy fantasy as well.
Rot
[Large text: Rot]
My name is Rot, I use all pronouns including neo pronouns as well as any rot and insect themed nounself pronouns. I’m an artist who loves putting disability in my stories. I’m mostly undiagnosed due to medical neglect and have chronic fatigue, hypersomnia & chronic pain that ranges from mild to debilitating. My known disabilities are pots, ganglion cysts, nerve damage, tics, autism (level unknown), asthma, GERD, anxiety and psychosis. I have a metal implant, use a cane and am mostly verbal and use aac infrequently. I have experience with temporary palsy, needing carers (family members who stepped up, not hired carers) and being in a wheelchair, though I currently don't have any of those.
Patch
[Large text: Patch]
Hey! We’re The Patchwork Quilt but please call me Patch! I use sof/soft/softs, red/red/reds, they/them/their, and ae/aem/aeir pronouns. I’m autistic (level 1, the very high end of low support needs, unreliably/semi-speaking, AAC user), and I’m a system with highly complex dissociative identity disorder (we use we/us and I/me language interchangeably. Please don’t ask who’s fronting). I also have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics (AKA dyscalculia), developmental coordination disorder (AKA dysgraphia/dyspraxia), chronic fatigue syndrome, essential (kinetic) tremor, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, dependent personality disorder, severe auditory processing disorder, psychosis (likely somewhere on the schizophrenia spectrum), and Tourette’s syndrome. I use a rollater that can turn into a powerchair. I love drawing, writing, and playing D&D and coming up with creative ways to incorporate disability into those three things. I will be attending college for a degree in disability studies this fall. I have also experienced/survived ABA therapy and RAMCOA I’m happy to answer questions about any of the above!
Virus
[Large Text: Virus]
Hello! I go by Virus and I use She/Her but anyone can use any pronouns for me, have fun with it. I'm a writer—mostly fanfiction—who has been in fandom very long and used to be a classical musician. I have Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome along with it's fun co-morbidities (MCAS, POTS, Gastroparesis, Fibromyalgia, and Von Willebrandes). I also have Pan-Hypopituitarism which is the following: Adrenal Insufficiency, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes Insipidus, Precocious Puberty, Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hyperprolactinemia/galactorrhea, as well as High Estrogen and Testosterone issues. I have Pituitary Dwarfism/Proportional Dwarfism, Myoclonic Epilepsy, and a Speech Disorder. I used to have a Port-a-cath, Picc-Lines, and a feeding tube, amongst many other things. Phew, now that that's over. I love every art form with a favour towards music, writing and the fiber arts. I love seeing representation no matter how big or small especially in medias that rep is often glossed over!
Rock
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Hi! I am Rock; any pronouns are okay. I am a writer, mainly of sci-fi and fantasy, and I love adding all sorts of disabled characters. I am hard of hearing (mild-moderate bilateral hearing loss) and have profound auditory processing disorder. I have scoliosis, POTS, and lower-body muscle weakness so I am a full-time mobility aid user. I am also intersex; I have several hormone deficiencies among other conditions as a result of my intersex variation. I am excited to join the mod team!
Aaron
[Large Text: Aaron]
Hey, I'm Aaron, he/him. I'm a writer of fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, utopia, and historical, and I like writing incorporating casts of disabled characters into all of them and reworking magic, technology, and science to accommodate them. I have a TBI, a lot wrong with my speech, cognitive issues, slight developmental disability, myofascial pain syndrome, medium support needs autistic but fully verbal, OCD, multiple types of anxiety, PTSD, depression, severe ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, articulatory initiation anomia, medically significant migraines, a chronic headache, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue. I'm also visibly disabled (one of those people who looks autistic) and transmasc. And I can't wait to see what amazing things you guys come u with.
Zohar
[Large Text: Zohar]
Hello everyone! I'm a new mod, and you can call me Zohar. I'm a writer of fantasy and sci-fi for the most part, and definitely prioritize disability, LGBT, and Indigenous representation in my work. I am Blind with a form of Albinism/strabismus/ptosis, along with some hearing loss. I am intersex/transgender with mixed gonadal dysgenesis (XO/XY Turner Syndrome) that goes hand in hand with GHD/pituitary dwarfism and affects my skeletal and hormonal health. I also have POTS and complex DID caused by RAMCOA and am comfortable answering asks about that. He or She pronouns is fine with me. I can't wait to help out here!
Icarus
[Large Text: Icarus]
Hello all! My name is Icarus (He/Him). I'm a new mod here and a writer of original work (Primarily contemporary short fiction and cosmic horror) with some fanfiction on the side. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, autism, PTSD, Tourette's Syndrome along with several other mental and physical health conditions. I also had epilepsy, asthma, and a heart condition as a child but have since grown out of them. I am currently seeking a diagnosis for something causing a few different symptoms including chronic pain, mobility issues, sensitivity in my joints/bones, progressive vision loss (Currently to the point where I have very little to no peripheral vision), and dizziness/fainting episodes. I am a full time cane user at the advice of my physio. I am also a gay trans man and in full-time university studies.
#mod sasza#mod intros#cripplecharacters about#mod bert#mod sparrow#mod rot#mod patch#mod virus#mod golem#mod rock#long post#not writing advice#mod aaron#mod zohar#mod icarus
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hello! I saw one of your previous asks and I was wondering if I could ask you for some writing help too! I have an autistic character that i love, but I'm not sure how to convey that this character is autistic in a way that feel aunthentic and organic instead of stereotyped, specially since she's a girl and I haven't seen many (accurate) representations of autistic girls in the media. I've seen videos about autistic people and they've been very helpful on what not to do, but + I would still love
to get some of the 'do's' what i have so far is that she has a Fixation on the sea, she has a hard time reading sarcasm and/or emotions in others, and she has an overall seemingly 'detached' personality (even if I wouldn't call her that, since she cares about the people she loves, she's just bad at putting it into words). I jsut want to make sure i'm on the right path! thank you so much for listening and I hope this is not a bother!
Hi Anon! I’m not bothered at all and I’m happy to answer this kind of ask. As always, I can only speak for myself, but I’ll try to give you a few pointers. (The previous ask mentioned is this one.)
First, it’s lovely to hear about an autistic girl! I’m not sure if you’re speaking about an adult or a child/teenager, but either way, it can be interesting to read about how autism can look a bit different in women. The gender distinction that has often been made is something I don’t agree with because I feel that it’s an unnecessary shortcut, but a number of autistic people, in majority women and people socially perceived as female, learn to “adapt” more to neurotypical standards by masking their autistic traits a lot, and might not be detected as autistic until adulthood. Masking takes a lot of energy, which can translate as feeling “socially exhausted” all the time and lead to burnout. This article list traits that can be found that are less common and obvious. It is far from perfect imo, but it can give you new ideas!
You didn’t really say if your character is a main or a side character (which changes the amount of detail you’ll want to go into) but so far to me you seem to be on the right track! Having a hard time reading people is something a lot of us struggle with. It might not just be sarcasm, btw, understanding metaphors and jokes can also be hard. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have a sense of humor: it’s entirely possible to be able to use sarcasm and struggle with noticing it when it comes from other people, and a lot of autistic people have a very developed and specific sense of humor that can be seen as odd.
The “detached” personality is something you may have to handle with care because lack of empathy is a harmful stereotype. Maybe look up the difference between cognitive and affective empathy. Some of us do struggle with empathy, many of us struggle with expressing it in a way that’s comprehensible to neurotypicals, but it doesn’t mean that we lack it. It’s fine for your character to struggle with it, but be careful that she doesn’t end up seeming cold/robotic if she’s not the POV character.
Now for some “do’s”: I’m only going to talk about autistic traits here and assume that you’ve fleshed her out with an actual personality outside of her autism, just like you would any other character.
- I agree that it has to come up organically, but it would be a lot better in terms of representation to make her explicitly autistic, ie use the word autistic. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the story. If you’re in a fantasy setting or for some other reason you can’t use the actual word, then describing something like neurodiversity would be a good way to make it explicit. In fanfic, I personally think that tagging “autistic [character]” is enough if the fic is short(ish) and the word isn’t used in the story but the character’s autism is fairly clear, but in an original story, you don’t really have that possibility.
- Something I like to do when coming up with original autistic characters is to choose a few specific stims from them, that regularly come back in my descriptions. It falls under the same umbrella as choosing mannerisms, it gives characters their own specific flavor. You can choose a happy stim, a nervous stim and a bored stim, for example. Autistics stim a lot and in a lot of ways, but I think most of us have a few stims that come back often. It can be things like chewing on a toy/finger, flapping in a specific way, rocking on their heels, twirling hair, fidgeting with a toy or jewelry.
- Sensory differences. It’s also something that you can choose for your character: maybe she likes to listen to music very loudly, and often speak a little too loudly, or on the contrary she’s hyperacusic. She might wear sunglasses outside, or need lights on all the time. She might need subtitles to understand a movie, or be super distracted by sparkly things. She might not make eye contact, or make it too much, or seem to make it by looking somewhere close to the person’s eyes. She might find touch painful or difficult, or seek it constantly, or both (can depend on the moment, how tired she is, or if she trusts the person).
- Like I’ve said before, meltdowns/shutdowns are a delicate thing to portray if you’re not autistic yourself, but overloading can and does happen without going all the way to either of them. It’s actually fairly frequent, and happens when there is too much sensory (or emotional) stimuli at the same time or a too long day or something. From the inside, it can look like struggling to think, feeling like your skin is crawling, feeling like everything is too much, and struggling to initiate actions/figure out the steps to do something. From the outside, it can look like the person is rejecting touch, needs to isolate themself, is irritated, might struggle to speak/be very quiet. As long as the character isn’t mocked for their behavior, I think it’s something you can portray without too much risk.
- A specific interest about the sea is a nice idea! The sea is a very large subject, though, so she’ll probably have a predilection for some things. Is it water currents? Fish species? Underwater plants? Beaches? There’s a lot of options to choose from here.
- Maybe think about co-occuring conditions, because most of us have at least one. Some are very hard to distinguish from autism itself, like dyspraxia or ADHD, because they’re linked or similar to autistic traits. A lot of us are also disabled in some other way: for example there’s a clear (though unexplained) link between autism and hyperflexibility, which can lead to joint pain, gut issues and chronic illnesses like EDS. Many of us have mental illnesses, growing up autistic in this world is honestly traumatizing and it’s hard to find autistics without some kind of C-PTSD or anxiety (on that subject, this post points out that the current diagnostic criteria can probably only diagnose traumatized autistic people anyway).
- A pretty good portrayal of an autistic girl (and to my knowledge the only one where the actor is also autistic) is Matilda in Everything’s Gonna be Okay. I didn’t actually watch until the end and I’ve been told the last episode isn’t great, but the start was pretty good. She’s a teenager, and at one point gets a girlfriend who is also autistic and has a service dog. In Elementary, while Sherlock is only autistic-coded, there is at one point (season 4 I believe) a recurring character named Fiona who I thought was a pretty good portrayal as well. She’s an adult, and she’s stereotypical in some ways but it’s better than most portrayals I’ve seen or read.
I would advise you to have a look through the blog @cripplecharacters. They answer asks about disabled characters, and I know they have answered a number of questions about autism and have at least one autistic mod. Their answers are usually very interesting!
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tips on how to write mute characters so they have as much expression?
Hi! Great question. My initial advice would be to focus on facial expressions and body language—those can be very telling when it comes to communication. However, I myself am not nonverbal and haven't written mute characters before, so I don't have too much knowledge on this subject. Since I don't feel qualified to talk specifically about how to write mute/nonverbal characters, I'm going to refer you to some great resources that you might find helpful. Blog-wise, @cripplecharacters is a blog dedicated to answering questions about writing disabled characters, and there are a couple Script blogs that might be helpful as well (@scriptautistic and @scriptshrink come to mind for your question). There's also a great compilation of resources here that also includes resources for writing Deaf and Blind characters. Research is going to be crucial to your story. (If anyone knows of any other resources for writing nonverbal characters, or disabled characters in general, please feel free to share!)
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laika, 27, they/them, white and tme. disabled furry
my eyes have gotten worse; a lot of my art has become eye strain because of this, though i tag what i can tell or suspect may be eye strain
this is my art blog. i mostly draw my ocs. i like animals, though i can draw humans too, i probably won't
stuff i care about a lot and depict in my art and writing that i'd like for you to maybe care about too:
this will be added to when i find things i want to add to it
what is visible difference? (changing faces uk): x
about disfiguremisia (changing faces uk): x
posts written by people with facial differences about their lives (about face): x
"something's wrong with me", a post by molly mccully brown about being visibly different: x
"visible difference & disfigurement in the arts", a pdf about how the media discriminates against people with visible differences (face equality international): x
an article about terms like "disfigurement" and "deformity": x
"the broken country", by molly mccully brown, about disability and intimacy and relationships, but she also mentions medical trauma and ableism and that's why i'm spotlighting this. there is some nsfw text in here i think, but it's not specific: x
"disability and poetry", an interview with jennifer bartlett, john lee clark, jim ferris, and the cyborg jillian weise, which i link because it can be applied to writing generally: x
"so, what's up with monster factory?" a video essay by icon, which touches on the topic of ableism and disfiguremisia in media, especially horror: x
"disability: an addendum on disposability", another video essay by icon, about eugenics and covid: x
a disclaimer: my characters are for me. my point is, if you're here for always right always good heroic perfect do gooder disabled characters you're not going to get that from me. i am also passionate about ableism, disfiguremisia, and media representation, but i also want to have fun.
people who also care about media representation of disabled characters who i like a lot:
cripplecharacters: x
blindbeta: x
cy-cyborg: x
a-little-revolution: x
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A Primer on Disability
A small crash course for people new to disability discussions.
What Counts As Disabled?
When we talk about disability, a lot of people think of wheelchair users or people with prosthetic limbs and other obvious physical conditions.
But in reality, disability is incredibly diverse. Any long term condition that significantly impacts how you live your life is a disability. It can be subtle or even unnoticeable to people who aren’t experiencing it. Disabilities that can’t be seen from the outside are called invisible disabilities.
People often don’t think of conditions like diabetes or colour-blindness may not think of themselves as disabled, but both can cause a significant disruption to your life and change how you live. Not everyone with diabetes or colour blindness identifies as disabled, but some do. Someone's decision to identify as disabled or not is entirely their own and not anyone else's business.
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Language: Person First vs Identity First
Person First language (PFL) means putting the disability after the person and is usually phrased as "a person with [...]", eg "a person with autism." There are some disabilities that are almost exclusively described with PFL, such as Down Syndrome.
Identity First Language (IFL) means stating the disability first, eg. "an autistic person."
This blog will always use identity first language unless talking about a person who has specifically requested otherwise, or a disability that uses PFL (such as Down Syndrome). This post explains why.
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Writing Disabled Characters
Why you should
Five simple tips
Writing Strong Disabled Characters
Writing Disabled Antagonists
Tropes to Avoid
Tropes to Avoid pt2
@cripplecharacters is a great place to ask questions about writing disabled characters
Spoon theory is a central part of so much of the disabled experience. The post that began it is here.
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How to Make Your Posts Accessible
Use image descriptions. Image descriptions make the post accessible to people using screen readers and also other people who might struggle to understand images, such as dyslexics or people with colour-blindness. If you're not sure where to start with writing them, my post here might be a good place to start.
Tag your posts properly. Tag for common triggers and add other warnings if your asked to, even if they seem absurd to you. It costs you nothing, and people don't have to explain their triggers or squicks to deserve being taken seriously.
Avoid alternating caps or spaced out words. Alternating caps look like this: aLtErNaTiNg cApS. Spaced out words look like this; s p a c e d o u t. Most screen readers will read these out letter by letter, making it difficult for users to understand what the text is saying. This website explains how screen readers read content.
Coloured fonts and unusual scripts are also often inaccessible
It's a good idea to use /s and /j when your intentions might not be clear. Writing /s at the end of a sentence tells the reader that the sentence is sarcastic. /j means that the sentence is a joke.
Break up walls of text. This makes it more readable! I'm going to make another post about making text easy to read. This website has good tips for where to start.
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But overall, remember that the disabled community is diverse and complicated, and that other disabled people might disagree with things I say on this blog. That’s perfectly okay, and I’ll try to share those viewpoints here too! The thing about life is that so often, there is no right answer.
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This post is a continuous work in progress.
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