Living Life Day to Day: The Disabilities Thread. (How To Properly Write Characters With Disabilities)

[Aspie_Gamer]

Good afternoon citizens of Tapastic. Aspie Gamer here. As many of you probably already know, I made a little shoujo inspired slice of life comic about Asperger's Syndrome (hence my username) called Life of an Aspie and the one thing that's received near universal praise thus far has been how I've handled the main character of the comic, Susan, and how she navigates Japanese high school culture as somebody on the spectrum. Growing up, I noticed a lack of characters who are autistic in most forms of media. (and this was before I was aware of the movie Rain Man or the manga With The Light, both of which depict autism fairly well, but I will say that the majority of people on the spectrum don't have uncanny bordering on supernatural specialties like Dustin Hoffman's character having a calculator for a brain metaphorically speaking) Originally, Susan Graham wasn't an aspie, but the moment I started writing conversations between her and her peers kinda basing them off of conversations I had with peers back in high school, it just made more and more sense over time to write Susan as an autistic character.

Being an aspie in real life, I feel I've done a good job accurately depicting what its like being on the spectrum while also making Susan her own character (i.e, she's really funny about who touches her. I'm not) and along the way, I've picked up a couple of "rules" if you will that I think writers who want to write a compelling character with a physical or mental disability should keep in mind.

1. Do Your Own Research. While the media can offer fairly realistic depictions of certain issues that people go through in real life, everyone is different of course therefore I implore everybody to research a disability that interests them. For example, if you want to write about PTSD, you could look it up on a site like Web MD that lists the basic symptoms or better yet, search for a thread or sub-reddit on Reddit where people who actually suffer from PTSD come together to share their experiences. It never hurts to ask people on the internet a question so long as you mind your p's and q's around them.

2. It's A Fact, Not Who They Are This may vary a bit such as if a character with a disability's arc revolves around them growing to accept the cards life has dealt them, but in the case of Asperger's Syndrome, I knew I didn't want LoaA to be a gag manga where Susan is constantly the butt of jokes. While she will have her bad days just like everybody else and while there will be some challenges for her to overcome as LoaA progresses, my aim for her character is to make sure she is still a functioning human being, not a stereotype or a thing to laugh at.

Anyway, that's all I've got. If you've got advice of your own you'd like to contribue about writing disabled characters or any stories about being disabled or knowing somebody who is and what your viewpoint on how being disabled should be handled in the media, feel free to share.

[CHMsketches]

It's nice to hear how some artists like you cares about this kind of topics :)))

I think that your own experience or meeting people that have this situation can help a lot too. You learn firsthand.

For example, I want to have in the future in my comic this topic too. Because I think that it's VERY important that people know about this kind of things.
I had an autistic friend in my school, my aunt was invalid, and this topic touched me ;w;
(I don't know if my english was good to understand it ) XD

[NickRowler]

Have you heard of the film Mary and Max? I felt like it was a film which help explain Asperger's quite well.

[BlackMantaStudios]

So you guys have probably heard of or played the visual novel Katawa Shoujo, which was a dating sim (made by some guys on 4chan back when 4chan still had a modicum of goodness in it) featuring girls with disabilities: third-degree burn scars (and the accompanying mental trauma), missing limbs, blindness, etc. I read all the routes and was amazed at how powerful the writing is. It's definitely not the best piece of literature out there, but it's most definitely a thrilling ride.

The problem, I've observed, is that most beginning writers treat the disabilities of their characters as either of two things:

• Something to force the other characters in the story to sympathize with the disabled character because "ZOMG WOE IS ME NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!!!!1!1!!"
• Or they present the disability as a sort of superpower and paint said disabled character as an "inspiration" to others.

Of course, either one is a terrible way to go about it. More than anything, people, with disabilities or not, are still at heart ordinary people. They do the things they do and feel the things they feel not because they're disabled, but because they're just like everyone else. They have limitations, yes, but so do most others, and they also have the capacity to work around these limitations imposed on them by their conditions. They're not members of a different species.

However, some writers overdo it and set them up as an "inspiring" figure. A symbol of overcoming adversity. Most of the time this is well-meant, but doesn't that just dehumanize them? Isn't that just tantamount to completely dismissing their achievements by, instead of duly recognizing what they have been able to do, setting them up as nothing more than a role model for others, a mold that others could shape themselves into? There's something wrong with that, won't you say?

The key to writing people with disabilities well is to treat them as normal people trying to overcome a different kind of adversity, nothing more, nothing less. They don't become helpless rag dolls because of their conditions, but they certainly don't become superhuman because of it, either.

[indagold]

As someone with multiple disabilities and the experience it was, how sudden it was for me and how much it changes your life kinda changed my perspective on things. For one I actually drew a comic a year before making fun of mental illness and then a year later I was diagnosed with bipolar.... oh the karma. What I hope is that it shouldn't take one to be in such a horrible situation to write a story like that but to instead understand what someone goes through.

Certain things I like to mention for one it's a health problem and a predicament someone is in. It doesn't make them who they are on the inside and it isn't something that should be considered an intricate part of someone. It is a part of someone but it isn't a defining factor to who they are. People can recover to a certain extant, sometimes it's harder for others. For some it's permanent but there's always room to live a normal life like anyone else.

Try to think less of a character as the "disabled character" and more as just someone who happens to disabled. Probably a golden rule to writing character, think of them less as the label applied to them, more as a human being with a life and goals. Try not to alienate them from the reader or other characters within the story because of this.

Also if you want to use fantasy and make up a fake disability as a basis on a real one or something similar I'd advise it not to actually use a real disability for the name or implicitly state it's the same thing. It just becomes super complicated and needlessly confusing to those people well aware the disability is nothing like that. I do like seeing characters with supernatural problems in stories who are a sort of a mirror for actual real life problems and the more subtle it is the better it works. One character is Zimmy in Gunnerkrigg Court I feel is a great example of this.

I'd say all my work I guess ended up as some metaphor for being disabled both implied and literally. I recently am uploading a comic Welcome Back where there are some mentally disabled characters. I didn't implicitly state what they suffered from. I wanted the real focus of this was what their fears were because of this and their own struggle with themselves and identity.
Another comic I made Garden of Mold was rather more surreal but in the end showed how a character could overcome his phobia of leaving to go to outside world.

Also I forgot to mention, yes someone who is disabled can be a dick. Being disabled doesn't spare you from being a jerk.

[AnnaLandin]

Those are some good rules, @Aspie_Gamer !

I've actually got two disabled characters in my comic - Masahiro is missing his left hand and suffering from the trauma and magic fallout from that, and Akane has trauma-induced semi-mutism.

I've taken some liberties here - what Masahiro's got isn't like a straight-up case of PTSD; it's more like a progressive demonic disease thing - but I've tried to make sure that their conditions influence how they act, even when it isn't immediately visible. Masahiro still has demonic-trauma even when he's quiet and calm and NOT freaking out. Akane still has semi-mutism even when she says a word or two.

You can build that kind of thing into the quiet moments as well, and even into body language and costume design. Akane, being semi-mute, relies a lot more on facial expression, gesture and body-language than a speaking character would - she finds ways around her disability-obstacle without removing the obstacle. I don't give her magic telepathic powers; she just develops a way to communicate silently. Masahiro keeps his elbows close to his body and tends to hunch forward when he sits, minimizing the space he takes up, and lessening the risk of him bumping into someone/something and possibly triggering a confrontation. He also covers up his injured left arm as much as he possibly can and pretends it isn't there.

[agentfink]

TLDR: cool, totally did this, appreciate the feedback and the research but also know I am writing a story!

Very good thread, I always appreciate when writers take the time to research characters who have certain character traits or conditions.

I am not sure if disabled is the word to describe my protag--- he has face blindness, but we have been doing research about the condition to properly portray it in a way that is truthful yet also understandable to those who don't have it. We've read articles, tests, documentaries, videos... and we've learned quite a bit (I hope to meet someone with it to dive into the daily routines etc, but we read a lot of that on forums already).

Speaking of forums... I will say that asking for feedback on the forum with what I have so far, was met with overall positive reviews, but also some critique that I feel mixed on-- but also understand where they are coming from (but realize that there may be other factors in play when interacting on the forum).

Mostly, they were saying how THEY would react in situations or explain their own experiences... completely disregarding how my character reacted. Having anxiety issues of my own, I handled it rather well I think. I am not writing their story, experiences etc, I am writing my characters experience, and his reactions. Because the condition has a range on the spectrum, there are other characteristics that this person felt should be portrayed (which my protag does have-- just not has blatant as this person would have liked)... which all I can say is -- sorry???

But I will say that their concerns are something we are addressing further in the story-- SO-- based on their crit-- I know we are on the right track... but I did get tired of "defending" or explaining -- in small sample I provided. Our exchange, I think, went well-- though I felt some hostility on his end-- but writing positive and sincere is the best way to engage I think. I learned some things I didn't know, so it wasn't just responding to a rant.

I feel that writing an accurate portrayal vs story telling mechanics is an entirely different issue that I don't feel obligated to explain repeatedly. I mean... I am not sure the FBI would hire a person who is faceblind! C'mon-- artistic liberties man!

But when interacting and researching, I will add: be polite, exercise patience, understanding, and step back for a second to see where the other person is coming from. They have experienced something you really have no clue what living through it is truly like.

And I think that, at the end of the day, take what you need to enhance your character and be as truthful as possible for whatever condition they have-- but remember what your story is about and don't get too sucked into those details. There is an audience that you need to explain and entertain at the same time... just be mindful.

As I said to the person I was chatting with, the character lives with this condition, but it does not define him. How he reacts to everyday situations is what defines him.

[scullpanda]

Well said @Aspie_Gamer the part some artists and writers miss is that we do live day to day and our diagnosis doesn't define us as people but are just a piece of who we are as a whole, not the whole kit and caboodle and most certainly not the same for every person.
I had someone a while back tell me Depression was a disability and try explaining to me the clinical of it, As someone who suffers from severe depression the last thing I ever want my mental health issues called is a disability , I function , I go through my days just like everyone else but have a little more to deal with to make it thru the day.

Honestly at this point I'm ranting about how I dislike the word disability to describe mental health because I hate people who know nothing about the disorders going thinking people are broken , For me as having Severe depression, and Severe Anxiety When Im called Disabled I don't stand for it (its odd but thats my two cents)