#disabled headcanons

merlin — bisexual. ADHD.

i have never seen a more ADHD-coded protagonist in my life. forgetful in the most inconvenient ways, constantly distracted, blurts things out before thinking, cannot stop fidgeting, hyperfocuses on magic to the point the rest of the world disappears, has absolutely no sense of self-preservation. he also definitely has chronic pain. this man gets thrown into walls every other episode, poisoned, chained up, knocked unconscious, hit with magical blasts, sleeps in forests, and somehow wakes up the next morning like "well. better go polish arthur's boots." no. his joints are held together by hope.

arthur — bisexual. dyslexic. chronic migraines.

look me in the eye and tell me this man enjoys reading. he learns through doing. he remembers conversations and demonstrations far better than written instructions. he'd absolutely mix letters around if he had to read long documents quickly and spent years hiding it because he's the crown prince.

also migraines. stress. bright sunlight. heavy armor. dehydration. endless council meetings with his father. i'm amazed he can see straight.

gwen — biromantic asexual. chronic fatigue syndrome.

she works constantly. she's emotionally available for literally everyone. she's sewing, cleaning, comforting, organizing, solving problems, worrying about morgana, worrying about arthur, worrying about everyone. she deserves twelve consecutive naps.

morgana — lesbian. PTSD. chronic pain. migraines. insomnia.

the nightmares started before the magic. then the magic made them worse. then everyone started gaslighting her. girl has probably not had a proper REM cycle since birth.

morgause — lesbian. hypermobile.

i cannot explain this one scientifically. she simply moves like someone whose joints do whatever they want. graceful until suddenly she folds herself into impossible positions. also i think she's one of those people who's always bruised and has no clue where half of them came from.

gwaine — pansexual. chronic shoulder pain.

this is the one i feel strongest about.

he grew up fighting. sleeping on tavern benches. carrying swords everywhere. getting into fights every three business days. dislocating a shoulder? that's just tuesday. i fully believe he injured one shoulder years ago, never let it heal properly, and now it aches whenever it rains or whenever he overuses it—which is every single day because he's gwaine.

everyone notices except him.

"gwaine, you can't even lift your arm."

"course i can."

tries.

"...that's embarrassing."

he also absolutely shrugs with one shoulder because the other one hurts too much.

lancelot — bisexual. PTSD/C-PTSD with dissociative episodes after his resurrection. before he died, the trauma came from a lifetime of being told he was worth less because of his birth, from violence, loss, and constantly expecting the worst. sometimes everyone else's voices sound impossibly far away. he keeps functioning because that's what lancelot does, but there are moments where he feels like part of him never truly returned from the Isle of the Blessed.

percival — bisexual. partial hearing loss. man has been around enough swords clashing directly beside his ears to permanently lose some hearing. people have to repeat themselves. he says "what?" a lot. he pretends he heard the first time. gwaine was the first to learn sign.

elyan — demiromantic. PTSD and a chronic shoulder injury. people forget that before he came back to Camelot, he spent years traveling alone, fighting to survive, and later became a knight in a kingdom that was almost constantly at war. he doesn't talk about the things he's seen unless someone else asks first, and even then he keeps it vague. loud arguments make him instinctively scan for exits, he sleeps lightly his right shoulder never healed properly after one of those fights. some mornings it's just stiff, other days the pain shoots all the way down his arm and makes gripping a sword difficult

leon — gay. chronic knee pain. camelot's oldest employee. that armor weighs a ridiculous amount. he's absolutely making old man noises every time he stands up.

gaius — aroace. arthritis. the man deserves heated blankets and tea.

freya — lesbian. epilepsy. i like the idea that the curse and her epilepsy are completely separate things. people constantly conflate them because they see a seizure and assume it's magic, which means she's spent her entire life being feared instead of cared for.

elective mutism. after years of abuse and isolation, there are days where speaking simply feels impossible. she communicates just fine through gestures, expressions, and writing, and merlin learns to understand her without ever pressuring her to talk.

her and percival get each other so well.

geoffrey of monmouth — aroace. poor eyesight. arthritis. this man is approximately eight hundred years old. he absolutely owns at least four pairs of reading glasses. he has chronic wrist pain from writing all day and absolutely despises when someone interrupts his cataloguing because he'll lose his place. his ideal day is complete silence.

balinor — bisexual. deaf in one ear and walks with a permanent limp. he automatically turns his good ear toward whoever's speaking, misses conversations if there's too much background noise, and sometimes asks people to repeat themselves without a hint of embarrassment. his limp is more noticeable after long journeys or in cold weather, though he has an uncanny ability to hide how much pain he's actually in

CW for normal House shit. C-slur and whatnot.

(Post-stabbing in season 8)

Written by a physically disabled guy with a sick sense of humor.

DISABLED PRIDE MONTH BABEYYYY‼️

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤ⊙ㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ𓆪

                 𓊔 Laios Touden  𖦹 She/Her, They/Them

                              𖦹  Transfem, Nonbinary 𓊔  AroAce

                 𓊔 Autism, ADHD

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤ◡ㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ𓆪

i’m like 90% sure i posted this 1 already, but nico di angelo you are so boygirl and ilysm

- Regulus has cerebral palsy, as a result of a gene mutation causing his brain to develop differently

- Specifically he has ataxic cerebral palsy, so he has trouble with balance and coordination when walking, and he has a hard time with quick movements and with tasks such as writing which require a lot of control

- He also is deaf as a result of a gene mutation, which also led to slight "issues" in his pronunciation when talking

- His parents always ignored his disabilities as a child, instead liking to pretend he was able bodied, and never giving him the help and support he needed

- He was forced into speech therapy, and his parents would always force him to try "walk properly without falling over" so as to not "ruin their reputation"

- When his speech didn't get much better and he still couldn't miraculously hear them, Regulus' parents finally got him a cochlear implant at age 9, but that was all the support he ever got

- Once Regulus got to Hogwarts, he decided to take matters into his own hands

- The speech therapy has stopped, which he was glad about, but he was still slow and unsteady on his feet and struggled with writing and moving quickly

- After a couple weeks scouring the library, Regulus found a charm he could put on his quill so that it would write for him, and that was one accommodation he found for himself, his classmates giving him odd looks but never questioning it

- After much deliberation, after struggling with the stairs and walking to his classes on time, Regulus decided to get himself a cane

- Just after Christmas in his first year, Regulus got Sirius to help him in finding and buying a cane, as Sirius had been through this with Remus already and was more than happy to help his little brother

- Regulus got his cane in January of 1973 while still in first year, and of course people asked him what it was for, why he needed it, even went as far as to tell him he couldn't possibly need it as he was only 12 years old

- This got to Regulus at first, but then he remembered about Remus and his cane, how cool it made him look, and he began strutting around Hogwarts with his head held high, death staring anyone who dare question him or look at him the wrong way

- Regulus was still a little unsteady with the cane, and still had to go quite slowly, but it helped, and that was what mattered

- So Regulus used his cane for a few years, leaving it at Hogwarts over Christmas and asking Sirius to send it home with James over summer so that his parents didn't crucify him, and all was well, he was finally getting aid in walking and it was a lot easier for him

- In his 5th year, having run away from home with Sirius the previous year to live with James, it finally hit Regulus that he was free. For good. He could use any aids he needed without worry of consequence from his parents

- He decided that he wanted to try out a walker, as he thought this would help with his balance a lot more than the cane did

- Over Christmas break of his 5th year, while at the Potter's, Regulus brought up the idea with Effie and Monty, who were more than happy to help him, and were very happy that he was finally asking for help and not completely hiding his feelings anymore

- Within 2 days, they had found a walker that seemed suitable and it was in the house, ready for Regulus to try out

- That day, Sirius, Remus, James, and Regulus, Peter and Marlene both living nearby but occupied with family activities, went for a walk down to the village, Remus with his cane mainly to help Regulus feel more confident, and Regulus with his brand new walker

- It did help, it helped a lot. And while Regulus was sad he didn't get the chance to get one earlier in his life, he was thrilled that he had one now

- With the walker, he could balance a lot better than he could with the cane, and he could even walk a little faster, not having to slow the group down any slower than Remus' pace with his cane

- Regulus used the walker every day of Christmas break from there, even when they all took a trip to Diagon Alley together

- In Diagon Alley, while Regulus did get a few stares from older witches and a few people in his classes, he employed the tactic he had used when he first got his cane; head held high and death stare all the way, and he made his way through all of the shops happily talking with his brother and his friends, more confident than ever

- Going back to Hogwarts, Regulus hit the issue of the many stairs in the building, not being able to use his walker up them

- He settled for using his cane at any time where he had to go up stairs, and using his walker whenever possible