"whatever people say i am, thats what im not"

★ like katniss, finnick tends to hyperfixate on things that he likes. his special interests are sharks, dolphins, the ocean as a whole and star wars. he definitely went through a huge harry potter phase around the time he won the hunger games and he ended up blowing half of his winnings on collectables. he somehow managed to salvage some of them from district four after the war and theyre proudly displayed in his and annies house.

★ is always stimming, vocally and physically. the first time he met effie, he could not stop copying her accent. he also likes rocking on the balls of his feet, whistling and/or clicking his fingers.

★ as you said in your ask, he learnt really quickly how to read social cues and how to "fit in". therefore, he is an expert at masking. only unmasks around annie, katniss and mags-- occasionally, peeta and johanna too.

★ is the biggest fan of parallel play. in my mind, annie is neurodivergent herself, so i feel like parallel play fits into their routines quite often and quite well.

★ prefers to use loop earplugs rather than noise cancelling headphones. he likes how subtle they are.

★ tends to take things way too literally. he was twenty-four when he realised what the phrase "wearing your heart on your sleeve" means (and even then, he still thinks it's a stupid metaphor).

★ he gets on better with people older or younger than him. he definitely doesn't feel that sense of belonging with his peers, and it showed all throughout his school life growing up and his time in the career academy.

★ katniss wasn't diagnosed until after the war for a multitude of reasons; there was a major lack of healthcare in the districts, as we see so often in the books/movies. even after she wins the hunger games, haymitch has his suspicions, but he doesn't want to bring it up to the capitol doctors because there's still such a stigma around it.

★ has the worst sensory issues known to man. she hates socks and shoes; she would much rather walk around barefoot, even if the people around her think it's unhygienic. as a child, she used to sob if her food was touching and she despises the heat and the way it makes her hair stick to the back of her neck.

★ tends to have frequent shutdowns cause she will push herself until she physically can't keep going anymore. peeta is the best with these. he doesn't push her to talk-- he knows she struggles with words when she's feeling overwhelmed. he is more than happy to just sit with her and let her decompress.

★ hyperfixates on things she likes and can infodump about them for hours. thats why she gets along with finnick so well; they will just trade facts about their interest back and forth until one of them get bored.

★ believe it or not, haymitch is the best with her meltdowns. he's good at distracting her or simply watching over her in a safe place until she has regulated herself again.

★ struggles with naming her emotions and has to use different colors to explain how she's feeling (red is anger, blue is sad, etc...)

★ peeta is constantly researching into the asd spectrum. he's always asking katniss what he can do to make life easier for her because he gets that not everybody who's autistic experiences the same difficulties.

★ katniss is a big fan of her weighted blanket. will constantly have it wrapped around her if they're at home.

★ effie doesn't understand it to begin with, but she loves katniss, and even though at times she can come off as ignorant, she does try her best to listen and learn.

★ katniss wasn't diagnosed until after the war for a multitude of reasons; there was a major lack of healthcare in the districts, as we see so often in the books/movies. even after she wins the hunger games, haymitch has his suspicions, but he doesn't want to bring it up to the capitol doctors because there's still such a stigma around it.

★ has the worst sensory issues known to man. she hates socks and shoes; she would much rather walk around barefoot, even if the people around her think it's unhygienic. as a child, she used to sob if her food was touching and she despises the heat and the way it makes her hair stick to the back of her neck.

★ tends to have frequent shutdowns cause she will push herself until she physically can't keep going anymore. peeta is the best with these. he doesn't push her to talk-- he knows she struggles with words when she's feeling overwhelmed. he is more than happy to just sit with her and let her decompress.

★ hyperfixates on things she likes and can infodump about them for hours. thats why she gets along with finnick so well; they will just trade facts about their interest back and forth until one of them get bored.

★ believe it or not, haymitch is the best with her meltdowns. he's good at distracting her or simply watching over her in a safe place until she has regulated herself again.

★ struggles with naming her emotions and has to use different colors to explain how she's feeling (red is anger, blue is sad, etc...)

★ peeta is constantly researching into the asd spectrum. he's always asking katniss what he can do to make life easier for her because he gets that not everybody who's autistic experiences the same difficulties.

★ katniss is a big fan of her weighted blanket. will constantly have it wrapped around her if they're at home.

★ effie doesn't understand it to begin with, but she loves katniss, and even though at times she can come off as ignorant, she does try her best to listen and learn.