5-4-12 Unheard of TV reference

[Bardlp]

Just putting this out there, but Asperger's syndrome is not the only sort of autism where social performance is the main problem. If he is on the spectrum, as opposed to just being self-absorbed, Pervasive Development Disorder NOS seems more reasonable to me so far than Asperger's. /not a psychologist

[Amarikah]

My bet is on autism spectrum unless he never shows his obsessions or his quirky side. If he is a neurotypical under his armor, I'd attribute his behavior to bullying over his weight.

I'm autistic myself (Asperger's) and I've learned the social rules well enough to function in daily life without getting shuffled off to the side at every given possible moment. I think exactly like Ronnie in order to survive daily life. Partially bullying, partially sexual abuse, partially autism. (Insert chicken before egg argument here on social ability and abuse and bullying.)

Either way, Ronnie is now my favorite character. I can't see him as being mean. I see him as scared to death of what may come at him. (Terrified of himself, no less.)

(has done academic work on autism in social environments, but not a clinical psychologist.)

[Fen]

Why is Asperger's brought up whenever a character does anything a bit not socially normal?

Geez.

[Trefle]

Wait, Panel 3;
Is that Leah? and a High School background? So he had ...history, with Leah?
Are the lower panels his background in High School?

Interesting that people here thought of Ronnie as having Asperger's or autism; I really thought of him has having TOO much scar and being very wary and defensive towards people, to the point of self censoring and reading it the way he wanted it to be; vague, with heavy undertones of threat, preferably without reactions given just to be safe.

I think part of him still wants to believe, but the other parts have seen too much proofs. Dunno; it might be either one of those OR more than one OR all of them, just putting my guesses out here.

[mindstalk]

Why is Asperger's brought up whenever a character does anything a bit not socially normal?

Geez.

He's not doing something a bit not socially normal. He's being shown, possibly, as unable to interpret normal human interactions. *That* sounds like autism.

[Valerie]

Why is Asperger's brought up whenever a character does anything a bit not socially normal?

Geez.

He's not doing something a bit not socially normal. He's being shown, possibly, as unable to interpret normal human interactions. *That* sounds like autism.

Right. If he's just willingly ignoring people, that's one thing. If he is actually unable to understand tones of voice and facial expressions, autism is strongly suggested.

[Zoupmachine]

I had a fairly negative reaction to some of the posts here. Especially ones saying he's uncaring and the like. I think T used this method not to say that he doesn't pay attention to what people are saying, but to just show the thought process that's going on while he's hearing things.

I think that for me, this hits home a little. I don't know what other people's intentions are. That makes me uncomfortable. If I try to find out more, either by thinking it through outloud--then I'm over-thinking things--or by asking--that's just awkward, why don't I already understand, I need to just let things go, go with the flow--I'm doing something wrong. If I go with my gut, "I'm ALWAYS misunderstanding people." It's incredibly frustrating. I have intense amounts of empathy. But sometimes, I just don't get what's going on. And I live in fear of taking someone at face value and having them later turn around and shove it in my face and go "ha, you really thought I meant THAT? What a LOSER!"

[Valerie]

I had a fairly negative reaction to some of the posts here. Especially ones saying he's uncaring and the like. I think T used this method not to say that he doesn't pay attention to what people are saying, but to just show the thought process that's going on while he's hearing things.

I think that for me, this hits home a little. I don't know what other people's intentions are. That makes me uncomfortable. If I try to find out more, either by thinking it through outloud--then I'm over-thinking things--or by asking--that's just awkward, why don't I already understand, I need to just let things go, go with the flow--I'm doing something wrong. If I go with my gut, "I'm ALWAYS misunderstanding people." It's incredibly frustrating. I have intense amounts of empathy. But sometimes, I just don't get what's going on. And I live in fear of taking someone at face value and having them later turn around and shove it in my face and go "ha, you really thought I meant THAT? What a LOSER!"

You sound like you need hugs. *hugs*

The responses here are all across the board, it seems. We seem to have three basic opinions floating around right now.
1. He might be on the ASD spectrum or have a similar condition, in which case he is unable to understand people.
2. He's just used to being bullied/abused and he now simply ignores people to avoid being hurt.
3. He's got a "me against the world" mentality that he doesn't need and is kind of a jerk for it.

Any of the three are possible, but I think 2 is probably the most likely candidate at this stage.

[DudeMyDadOwnsADealership]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

A very high (at least 80%) possibility, and that he got by in high school by distancing himself from his peers while relying on academic prowess to get ahead, at that.

Disagree. He's not bending anyone's ear about things that are interesting to him, and he conversationally doesn't appear to have any of the symptoms (Jerky syntax, inappropriate levels, etc.)

No, he's just decided that the single best way to survive is with the armor on.

Not exactly something people with Asperger's never do. I learned to monologue at the thin air, so I'm able to get it out of my system without making friends and family into sock puppets as early as my preteen years, but I'm only selectively self-effacing at best. Ronnie is clearly extremely reserved, self-effacing, an introvert (which, in the type of social situations Ronnie is used to finding himself, might as well be a severe social disorder, or at least that what it feels like from my end of things,) and very self-conscious about his lack of natural group-think instincts, which is basically what Asperger's Syndrome is, if the cause is cognitive.

I never said the possibility of Asperger's Syndrome being the root source of his need to shut everyone out, and silently tell himself he's shit, was high. I said the possibility of him having Asperger's Syndrome in general was high.

[wowy319]

I had a fairly negative reaction to some of the posts here. Especially ones saying he's uncaring and the like. I think T used this method not to say that he doesn't pay attention to what people are saying, but to just show the thought process that's going on while he's hearing things.

I think that for me, this hits home a little. I don't know what other people's intentions are. That makes me uncomfortable. If I try to find out more, either by thinking it through outloud--then I'm over-thinking things--or by asking--that's just awkward, why don't I already understand, I need to just let things go, go with the flow--I'm doing something wrong. If I go with my gut, "I'm ALWAYS misunderstanding people." It's incredibly frustrating. I have intense amounts of empathy. But sometimes, I just don't get what's going on. And I live in fear of taking someone at face value and having them later turn around and shove it in my face and go "ha, you really thought I meant THAT? What a LOSER!"

You sound like you need hugs. *hugs*

The responses here are all across the board, it seems. We seem to have three basic opinions floating around right now.
1. He might be on the ASD spectrum or have a similar condition, in which case he is unable to understand people.
2. He's just used to being bullied/abused and he now simply ignores people to avoid being hurt.
3. He's got a "me against the world" mentality that he doesn't need and is kind of a jerk for it.

Any of the three are possible, but I think 2 is probably the most likely candidate at this stage.

Does it have to be 2 or 3? Because the two of them can easily be combined. I know plenty of people who have been bullied a lot (and I do mean a lot, one of them ended up dropping out because of it), and ended up turning into pretty insufferable jerks as a way to cope. And as for the idea of him being unable to understand what people say, let's not forget that this is hardly the first time T. has done something unusual with dialogue or perception of characters. I mean after all, we just saw Sara fight Rene Descartes to represent a new understanding of things, as well as the whole world being redder when she was talking to Leah. I mean, is it possible Sara has synesthesia or hallucinates? Sure, it's possible, but it's much more likely that T and Jason were just going for an interesting visual way to show what a character is thinking. The same is probably true here.

[wowy319]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

A very high (at least 80%) possibility, and that he got by in high school by distancing himself from his peers while relying on academic prowess to get ahead, at that.

Disagree. He's not bending anyone's ear about things that are interesting to him, and he conversationally doesn't appear to have any of the symptoms (Jerky syntax, inappropriate levels, etc.)

No, he's just decided that the single best way to survive is with the armor on.

Not exactly something people with Asperger's never do. I learned to monologue at the thin air, so I'm able to get it out of my system without making friends and family into sock puppets as early as my preteen years, but I'm only selectively self-effacing at best. Ronnie is clearly extremely reserved, self-effacing, an introvert (which, in the type of social situations Ronnie is used to finding himself, might as well be a severe social disorder, or at least that what it feels like from my end of things,) and very self-conscious about his lack of natural group-think instincts, which is basically what Asperger's Syndrome is, if the cause is cognitive.

I never said the possibility of Asperger's Syndrome being the root source of his need to shut everyone out, and silently tell himself he's shit, was high. I said the possibility of him having Asperger's Syndrome in general was high.

...we've seen two comics with him, and you're able to diagnose that he's got a disorder, and then say the probability of him having aspergers is at 80%? That's reading a little too far into things based on what is very likely just an artistic choice.

[CEOIII]

It's 2.

You get mocked and pushed around long enough, you start to analyze every syllable directed at you. Every inflection, every gesture, it all means something. And you're always right about what it means. Every smile is a contempt-filled smirk, every gesture a middle finger, every word the worst insult possible directed at you. You start to live your life with your shields up.

No one gets close enough to hurt you.

No one gets close.

T even got the shape of my glasses right, more or less.

[Muttley]

Low self-esteem, perhaps leading to a touch of victim mentality. Maybe a only child, and not socialised in his early years, so has difficulty reading other's emotions. Some of this is from personal experience, some from observing my son and his schoolmates.

Many of you seem to be very quick to label him with a disease or condition. I find this obsession with labels peculiar, not to say disturbing: by sticking a label him, you've set your expectations about what he'll do next and how he'll react, when there isn't enough evidence to make any kind of diagnosis, including "not ill at all".

I believe that if you stick people in pigeonholes you're doing them and yourselves a disservice. Once labelled, there is a strong tendency to treat everyone with the label in the same way, not considering anything else about them, which is simply wrong.

Example from real life. I'm diabetic. What does that tell you about me, my appearance, social interactions and general character?

Answers on a postcard. Please write on one side of the paper at a time. Judges decisions are final.

[sgtrock]

You guys are all missing one important clue: Every interaction shown has been with girls. I wonder why T did that?

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

You guys are all missing one important clue: Every interaction shown has been with girls. I wonder why T did that?

... sgtrock wins the thread.