A Shortened List of Simon Snow's Autistic Traits
because a full length list would be too long of a post.
1. His love of magic could easily be interpreted as a special interest
āNo ones loves magic like I do,ā (Carry On, page 9).
2. He is shown to have poor spatial awareness
āThatās when we hear the first scream. I stand up, knocking the table over and breaking the teapot more conclusively,ā (Carry On, page 235).
ā...before she starts treating me likeĀ a Great Dane who canāt help knocking things over with its tail⦠Youād have to be incorporeal not to knock anything over,ā (Carry On, page 267).
3. He is always interpreting things literally
āāLet hardship sharpen your blade, Simon.ā I thought he meant my actual blade⦠Eventually I figured out that he meant me,ā (Carry On, page 9).
It even affects his magic: āAnd sometimes when [Simon] casts metaphors, they go viciously literal,ā (Carry On, page 119).
4. He has his whole thing with lists to help him process things
āI keep a listāof all the things I miss mostāand Iām not allowed to touch it in my head until Iām about an hour from Watford. Then I run through the list one by one. Itās sort of like easing yourself into cold water. But the opposite of that I supposeāeasing yourself into something really good, so the shock of it doesnāt overwhelm you. / I started making my list, my good things list, when I was 11, and I should probably cross a few things off, but thatās harder than youād think,ā (Carry On, page 11).
^ Not only is the list thing autistic, struggling to take things off because he's grown used to the list as it is is autistic.
5. He has difficulty with verbal communication
āHalf of Snowās sentences are shrugs,ā (Carry On, page 354).
āIāve never been good with words,ā (Carry On, page 107).Ā They mention this like a million times.
This is the bit that really convinces me: "I donāt remember when I learned to talk, but I know they tried to send me to specialists⦠I used to see a counselor and a speech therapist. āUse your words, Simon.ā I got so bloody sick of hearing that. It was so much easier to just take what I wanted instead of asking for it. Or thump whoever was hurting me, even if they thumped me right back," (Carry On, page 108).
āSimon seemed conscious, but wasnāt saying anything. And he wouldnāt make eye contact,ā (Carry On, page 427). The eye contact thing in here is also pretty autistic.
6. He does a lot of stimming
āSimon groans and rakes at his hair,ā (Carry On, page 362).Ā He messes with his hair a lot.
āSimon was pacing around my bedroom, swinging his blade,ā (Carry On, page 454).
āI intentionally slam my shoulder into the wall next to the door. (People who tell you that slamming and bashing into things wonāt make you feel better havenāt slammed or bashed enough),ā (Carry On, page 274). This one especially stands out to me.
Again, just a short list. There are plenty more quotes for these traits, and other autistic traits that Simon has.