comfy precision

I like to think of Ansi Molina from Welcome to the Wayne as autistic. 

Like the rest of Team Timbers, Ansi can perceive paranormal activity without becoming delirious, an ability that sets him apart from most people. This means that he is mentally different from most people, therefore not neurotypical:

Strong sensitivity to touch: In the web series, simply holding Olly's hand is a huge breakthrough for Ansi that requires a great deal of encouragement and incentive.

Often speaks in a highly precise, formal style, using vocabulary that is advanced for his age: 

Rehearses what he's about to say in his head and "edits" himself out loud, suggesting that socializing doesn’t come naturally to him and requires extra practice and consideration:

Wants everything to be neat, tidy, consistent, “perfect,” which could be because he has more difficulty processing and managing his environment when it is unpredictable, disorganized, or inconsistent:

Frequently washes his hands with hand sanitizer, which could be a way to self-soothe by focusing on rubbing his hands together and knowing he can make them clean and “safe”

Fond of quiet and/or orderly places, such as libraries and post offices:

Easily becomes accustomed (if a bit self-conscious about being “babied”) when his friends help him maintain a routine:

Strong dislike for unstructured play: Ansi collects Gleeco plastic block construction kits and only wants to put them together the way they are pictured on the box and then arrange them neatly on a shelf.

Ansi gets very upset when Olly suggests that they build new things with Ansi's Gleeco blocks and mix together pieces from separate kits.

Through his interest in Gleeco blocks, Ansi displays sophisticated knowledge and skill: He can perfectly construct Gleeco kits just by looking at the box, without reading the instructions. 

Ansi has won four Gleeco building competitions by building a large, complex kit that was released without instructions:

Ansi doesn’t want to team up with his best friend Olly in a Gleeco building competition simply because he has never done it before:

Requires an abundance of incentive to try something new

Sometimes benefits from explicit warnings that he is about to make a mistake:

Tends to avoid initiating social contact; the thought of doing so sometimes seems to not even occur to him:

But Ansi likes to follow others who engage him first: Ansi’s current best friend Olly introduced himself to Ansi

Even when trying to prove he can do things without Olly and Saraline, Ansi starts following and helping Wendell immediately after meeting him.

Difficulty reading the intentions of others: Ansi seems to think a kid on the playground yelling "You stink, Molina!" was offering hygiene advice:

Does not identify strongly with gender:

It’s common for autistic people with subtler symptoms to go undiagnosed for many years. If you identified that strongly with the autism symptoms I described in my Saraline post, it’s possible that you are autistic. “What that means” is, you might have learned something that could help you better understand, and accept, and take care of yourself. 

Thanks! Reading Saraline as autistic made me feel really good too. I’m so glad I could share that feeling with another autistic person! If you want to know more about my personal experiences with autism, be sure to check out this ask I answered about that earlier today. 

Yes! I finally got diagnosed last year. 

Growing up undiagnosed, I was praised for things like my advanced vocabulary and how much I could learn about my special interests, but I was made ashamed of the rest of the ways being autistic made me stand out. I was taught to think of myself as gifted but also lazy, clueless, careless, selfish, etc. That it was my responsibility to redeem my best qualities by overcoming my many flaws. 

Even though my parents and teachers and doctor agreed I might be autistic in high school, I was only ever told how intelligent and high-functioning I seemed, so for years I didn’t think it was anything I might need help with, or something that explained all the ways I stood out from other people that I had learned to be ashamed of. 

I like to think of Saraline Timbers from Welcome the Wayne as autistic. 

Her face and voice are not very expressive

Drab, practical sense of style suggesting more interest in managing her environment than her appearance

Always wears a hat that could be used to manage sensitivity to light in her eyes

Always wearing headphones that could be used to manage auditory sensory needs

Devotes the vast majority of her free time to a specific interest: Paranormal investigation 

Through her interest, she displays specific knowledge and skills which are highly sophisticated

Only wants to engage socially with other people that want to participate in activities related to her interests

Avoids social contact by staying in her room

Regularly notices things that most other people do not

Can mentally withstand exposure to paranormal phenomena that cause most people to become delirious, suggesting that she is mentally different from most people, therefore not neurotypical:

Has said she has difficulty making friends and relating to other people her own age:

Despite often acting very mature for her age, she also retains self-soothing behaviors from much earlier in childhood: Sucks her thumb when in distress,

and sometimes carries a worn-out comfort object her parents tried to get rid of “years ago”:

Her favorite toy is a doll called “Pracky the Practice Friend,” suggesting that making friends is something she could benefit from practicing

Thinks she can become friends with somebody she doesn’t like by being nice to them until they reciprocate, suggesting that she understands friendship as a matter of correctly performing expected behaviors rather than connecting with people you like: