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Ok so first of all, welcome to the club XD

For me, the character castle at least feels very ND friendly (I mean, judging by you guys’ positive reaction to the vulture vomit idea, the constant infodumping…), but it’s cool to know that there’s others of us here!

So, to answer your question, I actually really do!  So, for me personally, I tend to think in categories, and that really relates to how I organize my characters and sort them out.  It’s very important for me to dig into the psychology and experiences of my characters (it’s something that really, really fascinated me,) and I want to know them at their very core.  So, in the case of “diagnosing” them, that really helps me to have a solid understanding of who they are, how they work and function, and how that’s affected their growth and experiences.  It also gives me a framework for their future experiences – basically, I have a better idea of how they might react similarly or differently than other characters, and how that might impact the story.  Are they defined by their disability/disorder?  Absolutely not!  But, because it’s such an ingrained part of their mind and experiences that it’ll certainly impact their plot and character development!

So, for example, realizing that Kit has ADHD made me realize that some of the bizarre and flamboyant aspects of his personality are related to him being chronically understimulated and trying to create stimulation for himself (did I ever mention that he works at a perfume boutique?  Because he does, unfortunately.)  That also helped me immediately recognize that his initial obsession with Val was actually a hyperfixation – a strong, limited interest that creates lots of dopamine….which is honestly a recipe for disaster for their relationship.  So, it’s going to take a lot of introspection and adjustment on his part to recognize that he’s in a very unhealthy pattern (for him personally, I think that this might involve going on medication to cope with a number of related issues, although I know this isn’t the best solution for everyone!)  I never would have recognized this if I hadn’t recognized this part of him, and this unhealthy pattern would have gone COMPLETELY unaddressed.

But don’t worry, they get it sorted out and I think right now (in the castle) they’re past that stage 🙂

Also don’t get me wrong I’m absolutely not trying to medicate him out of his personality, because that’s not going anywhere and I would never want him to change XD  I just want him to be able to function at his best, and I just get the feeling that he might need light medication to help him 🙂

Or Val – for awhile I knew that she struggled with not feeling as feminine as other girls, and never being able to fit in with them.  I also knew that she dresses very practically, and sometimes comes across as more masculine (incidentally, very common with autistic women.)  So, knowing this aspect of her, I realized that she’s unable to do these things because of sensory issues – dresses, makeup, heels, etc. are all physically uncomfortable for her.  Now, how do I address this baggage?  Well, I think I need to start at it’s core – why does Val feel like her “image” defines her?  I think it’s because she’s surrounded by people who care more about the image she presents rather than what’s inside.  I honestly think that in many ways, her friendship/romance with Kit is going to help unpack a lot of that, because he loves her for both her mind/heart and appearance 🙂

Which is also interesting because Kit kind of understands where she’s coming from from a flipped perspective – from the point of view of an ND guy who maybe doesn’t look the way people think a guy should look, but who’s still undisputed very masculine.

At the end of the day, it’s a matter of personal preference.  The way my mind works, I like to categorize my characters because it helps me learn more about their unique perspective, but that’s just the way my brain works, and it’s not the same with everyone.

I’m curious, what’s your take on this?  I know it might be different than mine, but I respect your input and I’m interested to hear what you have to say!