Personally as someone who’s neurodivergent I believe everyone in the mane 6 DEFINITELY has a sort of neurodivergence to them There’s no way any of them are neurotypical at all ESPECIALLY twilight, fluttershy, pinkie etc etc.
Rarity has a breakdown if her newest project can’t be exactly perfect to how it is in her brain, girl risks life, limb and sanity just for her work. And she has a cat, if that’s not autism then idk what is 😭😭😭 I’m neurodivergent too. also for rainbow dash, I think things such as being socially unaware with her ‘boasting’, her hyperfixations impacting her to the point of forgetting her friends exist, pushing her body to the limits for it too
I'm just gonna politely slide in here and add that Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 is just an entire episode of Rainbow Dash exhibiting ADHD behaviour. I used to wonder why she was so fucking *relatable* until I got my diagnosis LMAO
Fun fact, Twilight being autistic is cannon. The original creator specifically added those traits as twi is on the spectrum. However it's never mentioned in the show as they either don't have a term for Autism in that universe, she isn't diagnosised, or she keeps it a secret due to possible stigma. Other characters that I think are autistic/ head cannon is Big Mac, Apple Jack, Luna, and maybe Rarity. Big Mac as he is non-verbal 99% of the time and monotone when he does talk. Applejack as she is also very straight forward, blunt, and very honest. Lunas as she also possesses visible stiming, monotone voice, and lacks social "intelligence?", has a hard time understanding voice tone/ pitch. I picked Rarity as she is very hyperfixated on fashion and is very detail oriented when it comes to that topic specifically, she is also strict when it comes how objects/ dresses are handled when it comes to another pony touching or moving them. Rainbow Dash is also very ADHD, I'd say even to the same extent as Pinkie. The main 6 are all neurodivergent imo, it makes sense as neurodivergent people tend to get along better with other neurodivergent people than neurotypicals. Considering that Twi is basically canonicallly autistic, it's not too much of a reach. Edit: after looking a little deeper. I don't know if the twilight autistic thing is only a rumor I heard or is real and I've yet to see Lauren prove or debunk it. If you want to ask her, you can ask them on Twitter. Her @/Fyre_flye
The episode where Sweetie Belle cleans her room and Rarity flips out is so relatable to me. My parents always say how they don't understand why I'm so organized everywhere BUT my own bedroom which is always a mess. I always say "It's not about being organized and clean, it's about knowing where my stuff is. My room is a mess, but I know where things are. Like Rarity says, "It was organized chaos!" I describe it like this when I explain it to my parents because it makes sense to me. I'm also on the spectrum, just throwing that out there.
Autism is also genetic i believe-its extremly likely if one person in the family has autism then antoer person would would too So it makes sense both applejack & big mac would be autistic
Tbh I thought she might be neurodivergent cuz she seems to have a lot of the hyperfocus moments and clearly has a few special interests (learning about magic, reading,etc). when she’s really stressed she can hardly keep still (either hyperactivity or overstimulation), has perfectionist tendencies, and can have trouble understanding social cues.
How did you not go into more detail with pinkie!!! She stims, she hyperfixates, she has depressive episodes, she doesn’t know how to control her tone or read the room, and it’s pointed out multiple times in the show that she is very different from everypony; like how the others will go “That’s just Pinkie!” I see her as one of the most autistic characters I have ever seen and I thought you were gonna bring her up first which is why it’s so wild to me ahaifgbwnwqfah
She also very clearly has intense rejection sensitivity, as someone who also does, she perceived her friends abandoning her because they were busy for one day, I know how that feels. She feels rejected and useless when she tries to make someone happy and it doesn’t work, she doesn’t know how to make normal small gestures so she ends up going overboard because she doesn’t want to disappoint anypony because then they might reject her. Definitely rejection sensitivity
my personal mane 6 autism headcanon is applejack. she really likes consistency and routines, has strong values and opinions, and gets stressed and confused when something is unexpected or doesn't align with how she thinks things should be. she also has a hard time understanding other ponies' points of view or thought processes and generally tries to be as straightforward as possible, sometimes unknowingly insensitive. my headcanon is that she doesn't know she's autistic because she thinks she's just "normal", but tries to support her autistic friends.
I always thought Fluttershy just had generalized anxiety disorder, since she does freeze up and get really scared in social situations, BUT, anxiety does often go hand in hand with autism. And she DOES have at least one melt down that I can remember. Apple Jack reminds me of the flavor of Autism I have, in some ways, on the lower support needs side of the spectrum. Twilight is no DOUBT Autistic, she is to magic like I am to worldbuilding and OCs, and she ALSO very much has at least one meltdown that I can remember off the top of my head!
I have autism and an anxiety disorder, so I can definitely advocate Fluttershy having both. She was one of my favorite characters growing up, so her being neurodivergent like me would make me love her even more 💛🩷
@@starstorm1267same!!!!!!! I was obsessed with her when I was little because I related heavily to her. I’ve probably developed an anxiety disorder due to being told to suppress, hide, stop, and hate my autistic traits so I kinda hc her the same!!
Twi freaks out a LOT lol There's the whole Lesson Zero episode, the one where she goes back in time to tell herself not to worry, the Pinkie Sense fiasco (she literally goes full Rapidash!), her constant worst-case-scenario assumptions (Magic kindergarten) and so on. I love her, I'm just like her in that way. Everything has to make sense, everything needs to be routine, and if anything is amiss the worst of the worst possible things is going to happen.
that opening bit explaining ASD was a bit inaccurate/confusing - "aspergers, better known as autism" - that's not how the diagnostic change went. aspergers was merged along with a number of other diagnoses INTO autism spectrum disorder, which is ASD
@@OmiReal high functioning autism is just called high functioning autism. aspergers was named after hans asperger, and he did a lot of bad things, which is why aspergers isnt diagnosed anymore - and it's just asd.
Yep! Autism also has three levels, I think. 1/Mild [?], 2/Moderate, and 3/Severe. Off-topic but ADHD is similar in the sense that it has three distinct types of showing in a person as well! Predominantly Inattentive-ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-ADHD, and Combined-ADHD.
I’m someone with ADHD, and I have friends who are autistic. I connect with some of these topics, such as fixating or being awful at conversation though I tend to be hyperactive. Me and my autistic friends tend to find comfort in each other over these struggles, though we both understand we both have different symptoms and conditions. Some things overlap simply, and that’s all to it. I appreciate your representation and inclusion of many characters, your channel is underated in my eyes. I even do that thing about having to check for doors being locked or being pessimistic over day to day life. We all have different ranges of how we behave and are, and it feels inclusive in that manner. I will say, I find a lot of myself in Pinkie pie as well.
10:51 lgbtq is actually represented a lot throughout the entire mlp franchise. scootaloo’s aunts, Curly Winds & Wiz Kid, the actual scene of lyra and bonbon getting married, and there’s even a porcelain statue of two lesbian ponies getting married (and it’s from the 80s)
Hi, I just thought I'd let you know that Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis, and has not been since 2013. In the DSM-5, Asperger's and Autism were combined under the term "Autism Spectrum Disorder", or ASD. They have been considered the same disorder for over a decade, and we are categorized by people with higher support needs and by people with lower support needs (hence Autism "Spectrum"). The spectrum isn't just a horizontal line either: some people might need more support with social awareness but not need as much support with sensory issues, and another person might experience the opposite. You could also need a lot of support with both. There are many symptoms that make up this spectrum. "Asperger's" is also a problematic term for a disorder to begin with, as the name was coined by Hans Asperger, a Nazi. He studied autistic people and the ones he deemed "too autistic" to be fit for society were killed. Some autistic people still claim the term Asperger's (some because they don't know its been changed or about its history as a term, some because they don't want to be "roped in" with higher needs autistic people, some because they think they are "better" than higher needs autistic people) but it is no longer a diagnosis and has a rough and bloody history as a term.
@@hearmeout1767If you read the comment again you will notice they said "SOME ... think they are better ...", not all. Your comment makes no sense if you read op's comment properly 👍
@@Catsgirl32 it still makes sense. OP conveniently ignores any reasons someone might prefer Asperger's and just includes "doesn't know it's not diagnosed anymore" or "thinks they're superior to everyone else!" OP is emotionally manipulating you, good job taking the bait 👍
I'd go with Rainbow Dash having ADHD. But Pinkie Pie... Pinkie has unmedicated bipolar disorder. But then all the Pie sisters... Marble is cripplingly withdrawn and Limestone is pure anger management issues.
I think partially their mental issues may have to do with their upbringing. Manual and hard labor day in and day out, and it's hardly worth calling rewarding work. They also grew up isolated from other ponies, I doubt Igneous or Cloudy Quartz have even been to Ponyville but twice in their lives.
Pinkies clear rejection sensitivity and stimming put her more with adhd in my brain but I also have adhd so I might be biased, I do agree with rainbow tho. She gets distracted on things quickly and can turn into her being investing in a side quest to the extent of forgetting about her friends temporarily without a reminder or the quest ending. She can be very socially unaware with her gloating, very similar to how many people with adhd assume they’re being helpful by correcting something someone said or telling them how to do something better but or something good that you did without recognizing that they see it as cocky, I’ve gotten that a lot before
No? She doesn't? Pinkie does not have unexpected intense shifts in mood. She's never, say, woken up feeling low energy with flat hair for no reason in the show before. Her depressive episodes are EXTREMELY predictable and are typically directly caused by misunderstandings in social situations that lead to extreme rejection sensitivity and/or feeling isolated and left out from fun experiences with loved ones. Which is way more consistent with forms of anxiety associated with ADHD, btw.
what about her having borderline personality disorder? that's often mixed up with bipolar AND adhd, involves very strong rejection sensitivity, hyperfixations, etc (though auDHD would also make sense, or just adhd or like a combination because yayyyy comorbidities)
Autistic ppl are more likely to develop underlying mental health disorders bc of how much trauma and stigma we're put through, but also bc our brains are wired differently than everyone else. Not every Autistic person will have this, and not everyone with mental disorders is Autistic, but I'm just pointing this out.
for years, ive seen at as the Entire main six being autistic. from twilight literally needing step by step guides for how to socialize, to rarity having strict regimes in place that she cant cope with being changed, to applejack being unable to lie and being overly blunt, to fluttershys struggles with social interactions but comfort with animals, to rainbow dash hyperfixating on what she enjoys and being unable to focus on anything else unless it contains her special interest, to pinkies Everything. the mane six Are the autism spectrum. to me
Being one on the spectrum, i as a kid always related with fluttershy cause i always was "shy" or into "animals", i also related because social awkwardness and anxiety. Now that im older i actually relate to twi more, because she has fixations in books and can name any chapter. Kind of like how i remember everything about my special interests ironic even mlp. And actually on your talk of twi and ocd actually people on the spectrum like me have ocd tendencies like obsession and repeating behaviors, like ill ask someone many times if something is safe till the anxiety goes away. P.s This was a wonderful video! ive been waiting for someone to talk about it!
Honestly I am also into animals and I can be shy or the opposite of it. I also love with video games mostly Minecraft and roblox, drawing, dragons, Diamond art, reading about interests, and dinosaurs. I am also in the spectrum and can't keep eye contact, I only like to talk about interests, and get off topic. Before I get off topic this is all I am going to say.
This is exactly how I was, I related to Fluttershy the most as a kid but as I became an adult and actually got diagnosed with Autism that I began to relate to Twilight more and see a lot of myself in her.
something abt twilight too is that other ponies in the earlier seasons think she comes off as rude just bcos of how she communicates and its like shes not rude shes just AUTISTIC
Just so you know, (no hate here at all!) Aspergers is an outdated (and generally considered offensive) term to many people on the spectrum, A. because of the origins of the term and B. because of the harmful stereotype it enforces; the idea of being "high functioning" or "less autistic" than your ASD counterparts. These days the diagnostic criteria goes off of levels, and anyone along the spectrum is just under the term ASD :)
@@Cxcdhey think of it this way, still a cool video + now u have people teachin u new things ab the history of the terms and diagnostics u might not have found out otherwise! double win (if u ignore people who are AHs about correcting it that is)
@@mistylover7398 i mean its no longer in the DSM for one, just under the umbrella term ASD under high-functioning/lower support needs autism. but generally disability activists are calling for moving away from use of the term for several reasons, the biggest being that hans asperger, the person who the term is named for, was a nazi eugenicist who used its criteria to determine which autistic people were worth killing and which were "normal" enough to let live.
@@dougdimmadome3694 hans asperger (the guy the classification is named after) was a n@zi and used the distinction between severely disabled and less-disabled autistic people to decide which would be killed
@@dougdimmadome3694 i implore you to look at the Wikipedia page for hans asperger, who the disorder was named for, particularly under the section labeled "n@zi involvement"
You didnt watch any of the episode past the part where she rocks the chair back and forth while twilight is talking, right? Like watch the whole episode next time, maybe pause in the middle and take a break since you can't concentrate lone enough to understand the end of the episode
@Luna-Lux you mean the part where the only way she can take in and retain information is if she is multitasking? Like when rainbow dash and twighlight went for a fly and everyone helped her study by performing as they flew past and talked at the same time? Its a perfect example of rainbow dash's ADHD. people with ADHD will sometimes need extra stimulation in order to do something or focus as they lack dopamine in their brains which can make tasks like paying attention and studying difficult. also rainbow dash overcame her lack of focus as she learned that her brain works differently from her friends so the way she learns must be as unique as she is.
@@Luna-Lux Yet people with ADHD can relate to Rainbow. I personally do. She finds it hard to keep her focus on one specific thing and doesn't follow traditional learning methods, for example. She also finds it hard to sit or stand still, which one example is shown in the parasprite episode all the way back in season 1
Though she obviously has ADHD or something, I think that pinkie pie may also be autistic. This is because, while most people view autism as being socially awkward, autism is a spectrum and people with asd can exhibit wildly different symptoms. For example, not understanding social cues doesn’t necessarily mean someone has to be shy and awkward. Some people can present this by doing things such as not minding other’s personal space, missing obvious social cues, and being too loud at inappropriate times. Pinky pie shows this a lot throughout the show, one big example being with Cranky the donkey when she relentlessly tries to befriend him, not being able to tell he just wants peace and quiet. She even announces to the entire town that he needs a new wig, thinking she was helping him. Other things that are considered autism symptoms that she does includes being a complete sensory seeker, extremely talkative and having a hard time stopping (also maybe going partially non-verbal, for example in the episode where she goes crazy (possibly autistic meltdown) because she thinks her friends are ignoring her), (which then leads to) rejection sensitive, overusing facial expressions, taking empathy to the extreme (such as feeling extremely empathetic for inanimate objects) or having not much empathy at all, taking expressions too literally. Also, you could say that her pinkie sense could represent tics, a common occurrence in people with asd. Also, she’s freakishly good with numbers. She litteraly knows the birthday of every pony in ponyville (a talent that an autistic kid I babysit has), seemingly having an internal calander. She can also remember numbers really well, answering immediately with a crazy number when her friends ask a rhetorical question about an amount she has of something or something else like that. Anyways, yah. If you somehow read my entire comment, feel free to share your ideas on this please because I feel like it’s a less popular opinion.
I never viewed Fluttershy as socially awkward she appears to have socially anxiety. She literally go out of her way to avoid talking to new people and when she needed to sing for a concert she sung behind a curtain because she couldn't handle preforming or talking in front of ponies that aren't her friends.
my personal theory is that all the ponies are autistic, and that’s why they all have special intr- i mean talents, and have to learn about friendship! i also think the mane 6 represent different traits, twilight is the hunger for knowledge about her special interest, pinkie pie has trouble regulating her volume and emotions, fluttershy has trouble regulating her volume as well, but she also struggles with social interaction, applejack has a comfort item (her hat), rainbow dash is overly blunt, rarity has sensory issues (she hates getting dirty).
With Pinkie Pie being ADHD, I actually think Rainbow Dash is more ADHD, while Pinkie Pie is actually really good at paying attention to details. Pinkie is more, just hyperactive, and doesn't have an attention thing. Rainbow Dash, and Testing, Testing 123, is a perfect example for Rainbow Dash, where she isn't paying attention to Twilight and is moving around. Pinkie could move around, and make it seem like she's not listening, but every drop of information drops into her head, and sticks. Pinkie probably has a better memory than Twilight even.
I loved that episode so much as a kid, because of how utterly relatable everything Dash did was to me. so anyway I just recently got diagnosed with ADHD so I cling onto the ADHD Rainbow Dash headcanon with every fibre of my being LMAO
Rainbow Dash does pay attention, she just has a hard time paying attention unless she's occupied with multiple tasks at the same time (ADHD brains having a higher stimulation need than typical making it difficult to engage with tasks unless sufficiently challenged i.e. optimal arousal theory). That's what testing testing 123 was about. They're both hyperactive with a good memory for details, it just manifests differently between the two of them (probably because Pinkie doesn't have wings and even if she did, she wouldn't be a weatherpony).
Honestly I’ll say the main difference between autism and just being “smart” (GT, it’s actually it’s own category) is the disability part of it, aka being incapable of being good at communicating (from non verbal to just not reading social ques) to sensory processing skills. That’s what separates it and makes it a disability, I also believe that the nuero scan of autistic brain and neurotypical brains are actually different, similar to ADHD. In any case. Yeah, I could tell this dude was autistic, the fast talking and descriptive words gave it away. That and the affect when he talks. I would personally categorize Twilight as GT, aka she’s advanced in her academic abilities and her communication skills aren’t actually lacking she just doesn’t like to talk to people in the beginning, she could most likely have OCD or ADHD however.
as someone who has autism the statement "You don't look autistic." has always irked me. Like everyone who has autism is different since we're different people!
As someone with autism and anxiety, I always related to Twilight and Fluttershy the most. When I’m less anxious, it’s more Twilight - the inverse being true for how I relate to Fluttershy. No matter what though, I always communicate strangely no matter how much my anxiety is affecting me xD Great video !!
EXACTLY with me actually. I would be either twi or flutters lol. Or transformers prime ( Soundwave or bumblebee ) can sometimes feel so pure 😶🔇. Voiceless since such a cruel evil f up'd disorder or disability called AUTISM iz actually a thing to b stuck with till death to such a complex complicated syndrome. It's called a DIS ability for existing alone Dat we named it for a reason.
"who dreams about reading books?" my brother, if he could choose to regect internet and live in a huge ancient library he would. (me and my brother are both very autistic but VERY different ends of the spectrum)
I literally thought all of them.(aka the main six), is a sign of autism, ocd or adhd. Rarity for example, loves literally only fashion and her friends, its not just her cutie mark, its her bloody passion, adhd comes in if something dazzling enough or something like "a fashion disaster" that can distract her enough to take action, and in some cases, autism shows a type of energy for something you love, like rarity being absolutely creative in what she does, hense when the "princess dress" came out, she was at first extatic, yet when she had to make it over and over down to the very last detail and no tiny change was when it became a problem.
I would argue that by the nature of it, the whole MLPG4 universe is about neurodiverse adults since in order to teach social skills, you have to exaggerate things that are struggle points. This includes like eye contact, shyness, inflexibility, hyperfocus, black and white thinking, difficulty evaluating the action-consequence sequence of how people feel and picking up on social cues of how someone is feeling. Fluttershy is 100% me as a child and teen over the series, and Twilight is definitely late teen to adult me learning how to mask. Especially Twilight opening the School of Friendship to share the friendship rules she learned on the fly; I work in HR and the best thing about my job is that adult behaviour in the workplace is literally laid out one expectation at a time in HR policies so people behave around me exactly as expected.
hey! hi! Fellow autistic person here- aspergers is actually an outdated term. It doesn't exist, it's just autism. Thank you for trying your best to be respectful, and always willing to learn more. I just wanted to let you know. I'm also always learning new things abt autism.
I'd like to mention that autism is not the only invisible disability out there. I have Selective mutism(or SM) which makes taking almost impossible. I am able to talk to my family (but not my extended family) and a few close friends. Like Fluttershy. I personally think that Fluttershy more closely resembles SM. Although maybe this video was focused on autism in particular. Thank you anyway for the video.
So you and fluttershy az much az me too also, would be transformers prime ( bumblebee and Soundwave ) NEVER speak or impossible guz we're 😶🔇 voices are either f up'd in a special way or just inability to use. Guz can't talk correctly and stuttering.
I went back to the original My Little Pony show this week, and just happened to pick the "Autistic Character" episode. I was not expecting that kind of episode from an 80s kid cartoon, but MLP is beloved for a reason. Crunch the Rockdog Parts 1 & 2: Two of the ponies need to learn to stop being mean to Wind Whistler for being different from them. They do good showing that a 'logic over emotion' type character still has big emotions, and also that having people who are different than you can be an asset.
As an autistic person, I genuinely adore mlp, I have since I was a small kid! This show (in all it's generations) has made me feel seen, it's brought me joy on my darkest days. I remember my parents getting rid of all my ponies when I turned 9 because I was 'too old' for them. I forced myself away from what was probably my very first special interest and it killed me. But now that I'm an adult, I learned that I can indeed still find belonging, meaning and love in the MLP community, even if most people just see it as a silly kids horse cartoon
5:30 Or I'll have another word to sell, another story to tell, another time piece ringing the bell. Also, the first main example of autism in My Little Pony was Minty. The silly little sock lover was so autistic that the whole fandom just agreed on it being canon, and many autistic kids who grew up in the 2000s were happy to have a character that they could relate so much to, and it was especially nice because she wasn't a social recluse but rather a massive extrovert who just wasn't very good with social interaction which there still isn't much representation for nowadays so many autistic people like that still latch so much onto her.
I head Cannon zip as autistic coded, I know it may not seem intentional but she's like REALLY into her detective work even if it kind of pushes a few buttons, I've noticed that she doesn't really understand social cues either when it pertains to her investigations,Like sunny in chapter 5 has to constantly remind her to take it easy on Misty, and to redirect her special interest towards some pony else like elderflower in that one episode. She doesn't intentionally make ponys feel uncomfortable but , the fact that she doesn't realize she's Doing it makes me think that she's not socially aware of it, IDK it's just my head Cannon though, but it does make her character a bit more interesting in my eyes ❤️
hi just letting you know, we don’t use the word ‘wheelchair-bound’ anymore, people who use wheelchairs (such as people like my dad) prefer the term ‘wheelchair-user’ because then the term doesn’t bound THEM to the wheelchair
I think a lot of MLP characters are autism-coded, and my personal headcanons for autistic characters are Twilight, Sunburst, Celestia (she stims a lot in S9 episodes), Mudbriar, and Pinkie and her entire family. I think that Fluttershy just has an anxiety disorder.
I think that Princess Luna could be considered Autistic. She tends to be hyperfixated on her past, she's socially awkward, she had a dream where she was getting a good night's sleep, and she finds normal and mundane things fascinating. A lot of this could simply be the byproduct of being on the moon for 1000 years and her nature of being a dreamwalker. But it's something to think about. So ironically, Friendship is Witchcraft may have have gotten the right idea for Luna.
4:28 Actually baffled at the school counselor for not understanding that sometimes people just don't have extreme reactions and clap for you existing. ESPECIALLY an autistic person, being that we sometimes just have bland expressions even if we are really happy or interested.
your channel has completely made me rewatch mlp, youre honestly just so amazingly funny, a tally hall fan, and genuinely one of my favrouite youtubers, LOL
@@crispsncremey No, English is my first language, why did you assume it wasn't? Sorry for the late reply, by the way, I have TH-cam reply notifications off because people on TH-cam are... Something. What music projects or projects that are associated with music do you like?
Watched both your mlp disability and time videos and as an autistic person myself I could tell immediately that you were neurodivergent in some way /pos Your video essay thingies on mlp are frickin awesome btw!!! Hope you make more :D ALSO iirc (correct me if I'm wrong) twilight WAS supposed to be canonically autistic, not just autistic _coded_ , but hasbro didn't want to include that part of her character explicitly in the show cuz they were scared "kids wouldn't understand it" (which, btw, imo is the dumbest excuse ever and like. you know autistic kids Do exist and Do deserve to be heard and represented correctly in media right? But that's a whole other story)
I started mulling over potential neurodivergencies of the mane six after watching your last video and reading people's thoughts in the comments. My take is, Twilight and Fluttershy would be autistic, Rainbow would be ADHD, and Pinkie would be both. Fluttershy also would have anxiety, obviously haha. I could understand some arguments for the others but I'd have to rewatch to have more of an opinion on the other possibilities.
As a autistic person like me as well I'm so happy that my favorite childhood show haves autistic people in it and with other disabilities as well to make it diverse and include everyone so thank you very much 😊😊😊😢😢❤❤❤
i was recently diagnosed with autism and have loved mlp since i was a little kid, and now looking back on it it's impossible to not see it through an autistic lens. i honestly feel like all of the mane six can be interpreted as autistic (or at least neurodivergent) as well as an abundance of side characters. for a little girl growing up with undiagnosed autism, this honestly provided a lot of comfort for me without me even knowing about my own neurodivergence, and a lot of my other later-diagnosed friends have said the same thing. we all had at least one mlp character we really related to and helped us feel okay about ourselves. the message of the show being about the struggles of friendship - which often have to due with their individual differences - and how they are able to communicate with their friends about this as opposed to just isolating them was something super touching to me as it wasn't something i was super used to in my real life. the character of rairty in particular i always gravitated towards. she's one of those characters i don't see a lot of people head cannoning as such, but honestly i think she's a really good and relatable example of how autism can often times go unrecognized. trixie was another character i really related too and now 100% think is autistic. everything about her and her character arc has always really resonated with me.
My timetraveling friend who will probably never see this because of timeline shit, I'm autistic, even getting and ADHD evaluation in two days, and I do see autism as a disablity, and I'm glad your covered it.
i have ocd, and i head canon fluttershy as having it too. the best example of this is in scaremaster. the reasoning she gives for rejecting certain halloween activities is so me and so ocd. twilight having autism makes more sense to me, as her giant checklists and such seem more akin to an autistic person’s need for routine. it’s hard to explain, but her dedication to her schooling, magic, and reading all seems very special interest driven more than intrusive thought. it’s part of who she is, not so much a bug in her brain. (which is what ocd feels like)
Twilight is canonically on the spectrum (word of Faust). Maud was all but confirmed on the show. Pinkie is totally ADHD, as is Rainbow Dash. And Oliver is a handsome little guy.
2:31 most autistic people (and non autistic people) don't like the term “Asperger's” due to the fact that the guy who let's just say created the term was a N*zi and most psychiatrist don't put “Asperger's” when diagnosing autism and also because they're literally the same thing, but they think it's better to diagnose someone with Asperger rather than autism (people think that Asperger is a lower stage of autism, but there is no lower stage of autism different people just “experience” autism differently)
For g5 I think that Izzy Moonbow has Autism and ADHD. Maybe I’m just projecting because she’s my favorite lol but in the movie she is shown to be kind of oblivious to what’s going on when she first appears in MareTime Bay. She sees the ponies panicking and running away from her as them playing hide and seek. Not to mention she is socially isolated from the other unicorns and in the show has a few episodes where she is struggling with understanding how the other ponies feel
Thank you for pointing all that out about autism. I have it too, and I hate how everyone views it as just being 'dumb' as well as the fact that the whole spectrum is considered a disability even in a legal sense. Technically, I'm not disabled. I'm just mentally challenged, but too many people and apparently the law considers me that way. Plus, there's hardly anything or anyone online that talks about it as what it is rather than what it is widely considered, so thanks for actually doing just that. It means more to more people than you may ever know.
I believe pretty strongly that Rainbow dash represents ADHD! The episode where Twilight and the others are trying to figure out how to help Rainbow dash learn is pretty much textbook ADHD symptoms lol. (And since ADHD is on the autism spectrum, I'd think she'd fit in this list!) Pinkie pie def also fits the ADHD description, though probably in a slightly different way than Rainbow dash does.
I agree with you!! Rainbow Dash's behaviour in that episode fits myself to a T, except for the flying part, of course. It's so funny to me, realising all this stuff about myself since my diagnosis and being able to spot it in characters I used to just find "relatable". plot twist, she's relatable cuz ADHD! :D
2:26 I'm not offended, but Asperger's is an outdated diagnosis. I should know, I was diagnosed with it when I was 6. A better term is autism spectrum disorder
I personally think that fluttershys' interest in taking care of animals is more of a special interest rather than hyperfixation, cause while hyperfixations can come and go, special interests rarely will ever leave your mind, and fluttershy ever since she was a filly has been interested in taking care of animals
(Speaking as an autistic person myself) I can't believe they thought a guy who makes MLP video essays was neurotypical. Also, as a library science enjoyer and aspiring librarian (technically in training now since I'm going for a library & information science degree), Twilight could definitely be autistic.
im autistic and i relate a LOT to fluttershy (i mean to a point all my irls agree that im literally her), we’re not calling her autistic just because she has social anxiety, its because she acts neurodivergent.
@@pepprchuu Acute Social Anxiety isn't categorically ONLY a symptom of autism. It can be but that's a case-by-case connection that only doctors could accurately diagnose. It's illogical to attribute every case of unusual/odd behavior as being caused by autism or any other diagnosable mental condition for that matter. A rocket scientist isn't autistic and it'd be moronic to infer that he is one.
Not noticing a glaring lack of representation doesn’t make you not the target demographic. If anything, it’s an example of how this video might particularly serve you.
The tally hall name drop got me so excited dude I LOOOVE LOVE TALLY HALL SO MUCH I ALSO KNOW ALL THE LYRICS!!!! AND I LOVE MLP!!!!!!!!! I'm insane I'm crazy I love tally hall and my little pony so much
Durpy only has a lazy eye, and i also have one all my life, i had to wear glasses as a child to correct it and also in my 20s, and both my parents wear them as well. But i went to the optician's a few months ago. im 36 now and was told that my brain adapted to my lazy eye, no need for glasses or the eye patch. Yes, im ND and loved this show in my 20s, and i grew up on the MLP franchise. I even created OCs and based my art style on FIM also PPG so basically early cartoon network
From what I understand and the hours of research I put into diagnosing myself (caus my parents are ableist af and getting a formal diagnosis won't help me in my current situation), Asperger's is no longer a distinct diagnosis, and is now considered to be part of the autism spectrum. Asperger's is often considered a "milder form" of autism but being diagnosed with that often causes these people to not have the same accommodations as someone with autism. It's also the reason that ADD (attention deficit disorder, often seen as a "milder form" of ADHD) got categorized into ADHD as a whole to uniformize the disorder instead of separating groups of people that are more or less "normal". By merging ADD and Asperger's as part of the spectrum of their respective disorders instead of a completely other category allowed people to obtain the accommodations and help that could've otherwise be denied, or at least lessen the discrimination that might happen within the same disorder. A "milder form" of autism or ADHD doesn't exactly exist, it's more so the difference in which those neurodivergencies appear externally. Some people may "appear" less or more autistic, but that doesn't mean they are less or more autistic. They are still both autistic, what changes is their ability to mask those symptoms (which is also why low or high functioning is also seen as damaging terms). Asperger's was also named after the guy who did atrocious things and supported Nazi Germany and their "ethnic cleansing", and autistic children were victim of that as well. So by absorbing Asperger's syndrome into ASD as a whole, it also got rid of the negative connotations and the baggage that the former name brought with it. Asperger's syndrome, autism, and ASD are all technically the same thing, these terms were just used to describe and isolate spectrums of the same disorder. This is what I know at least and I could be wrong, so correct me if I am.
I’m autistic and relate so much to fluttershy but I don’t see her headcanoned as autistic much so this was great! I also think starlight glimmer may be autistic especially with how she felt about making friends in “no second prances”
My dad told me he wont let me get tested because he thinks i dont act autistic. Ive told him that autism differs between people but he doesnt understand that ig!!!
That sucks. There’s like a million times more systemic supports for autistic minors than autistic adults. He’s locking you out of resources that could help you thrive not only now, but well into the future. Lots of parents just don’t want to pay for the assessment, or don’t want to find out they’re wrong and their kid is disabled.
I think the Mane 6 Disorders are: Twilight has OCD, Fluttershy has anxiety, Rainbow Dash has ADHD, Pinkie is paranoid, AJ is a workaholic and Rarity.... is dramatic? Idk-
One of the reasons why to this day I speak so highly of this show and the character Fluttershy in particular is because this was the only show I watched as a kid that I felt connected to and made me feel less alone. I have selective mutism so it's really hard for me to talk to people and some people I just completely can't talk to so for this show to have a character who may not be selective mute but portrays those characteristics especially in a show for children makes me so happy. They did so well with portraying her anxiety as well and one of my favourite things about her character is that her social awkward shyness doesn't go away because that's just who she is and I've never understood the criticism for that because to me it sends such a good and important message and it's not like her character didn't change at all because she 100% became way more confident and assertive as the show went on.
I've been meaning to make a video that is a discussion on Borderline Personality Disorder and Moondancer. Starlight Glimmer absolutely fits the criteria too. Really enjoy videos like these!
The best autism representation always seems to come from characters that probably aren't purposefully meant to be seen as autistic.
Except Luz, who was confirmed to be neurodivergent (owl house)
@@lorettabes4553 i think she was confirmed to have adhd specifcially
like Butters!!!!
@@southshart Yes! Autistic Butters is my favorite headcanon ever!
@@Flower_Mom YESSS it’s canon to me. I also headcanon craig and stan as autistic
Personally as someone who’s neurodivergent I believe everyone in the mane 6 DEFINITELY has a sort of neurodivergence to them
There’s no way any of them are neurotypical at all ESPECIALLY twilight, fluttershy, pinkie etc etc.
I agree
Rarity has a breakdown if her newest project can’t be exactly perfect to how it is in her brain, girl risks life, limb and sanity just for her work. And she has a cat, if that’s not autism then idk what is 😭😭😭 I’m neurodivergent too. also for rainbow dash, I think things such as being socially unaware with her ‘boasting’, her hyperfixations impacting her to the point of forgetting her friends exist, pushing her body to the limits for it too
@@BlizzyBeezz agreed
I'm just gonna politely slide in here and add that Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 is just an entire episode of Rainbow Dash exhibiting ADHD behaviour.
I used to wonder why she was so fucking *relatable* until I got my diagnosis LMAO
youre so so right!!! ive always thought this too!!!
Fun fact, Twilight being autistic is cannon. The original creator specifically added those traits as twi is on the spectrum. However it's never mentioned in the show as they either don't have a term for Autism in that universe, she isn't diagnosised, or she keeps it a secret due to possible stigma.
Other characters that I think are autistic/ head cannon is Big Mac, Apple Jack, Luna, and maybe Rarity. Big Mac as he is non-verbal 99% of the time and monotone when he does talk. Applejack as she is also very straight forward, blunt, and very honest. Lunas as she also possesses visible stiming, monotone voice, and lacks social "intelligence?", has a hard time understanding voice tone/ pitch. I picked Rarity as she is very hyperfixated on fashion and is very detail oriented when it comes to that topic specifically, she is also strict when it comes how objects/ dresses are handled when it comes to another pony touching or moving them.
Rainbow Dash is also very ADHD, I'd say even to the same extent as Pinkie.
The main 6 are all neurodivergent imo, it makes sense as neurodivergent people tend to get along better with other neurodivergent people than neurotypicals. Considering that Twi is basically canonicallly autistic, it's not too much of a reach.
Edit: after looking a little deeper. I don't know if the twilight autistic thing is only a rumor I heard or is real and I've yet to see Lauren prove or debunk it. If you want to ask her, you can ask them on Twitter. Her @/Fyre_flye
The episode where Sweetie Belle cleans her room and Rarity flips out is so relatable to me.
My parents always say how they don't understand why I'm so organized everywhere BUT my own bedroom which is always a mess. I always say "It's not about being organized and clean, it's about knowing where my stuff is. My room is a mess, but I know where things are. Like Rarity says, "It was organized chaos!" I describe it like this when I explain it to my parents because it makes sense to me. I'm also on the spectrum, just throwing that out there.
I was looking for this comment ,and yes, I yotally agree
Duuude I love that theory!
Autism is also genetic i believe-its extremly likely if one person in the family has autism then antoer person would would too
So it makes sense both applejack & big mac would be autistic
Tbh I thought she might be neurodivergent cuz she seems to have a lot of the hyperfocus moments and clearly has a few special interests (learning about magic, reading,etc). when she’s really stressed she can hardly keep still (either hyperactivity or overstimulation), has perfectionist tendencies, and can have trouble understanding social cues.
How did you not go into more detail with pinkie!!! She stims, she hyperfixates, she has depressive episodes, she doesn’t know how to control her tone or read the room, and it’s pointed out multiple times in the show that she is very different from everypony; like how the others will go “That’s just Pinkie!” I see her as one of the most autistic characters I have ever seen and I thought you were gonna bring her up first which is why it’s so wild to me ahaifgbwnwqfah
Pinkie knows how to read a room.
@@mentallyillfingerThere are certain times she doesn't, like in Filli Vanilli for example
YESSSS!!!!!! She literally has a room dedicated to keeping meticulous records of what every pony likes!!!!
She also very clearly has intense rejection sensitivity, as someone who also does, she perceived her friends abandoning her because they were busy for one day, I know how that feels. She feels rejected and useless when she tries to make someone happy and it doesn’t work, she doesn’t know how to make normal small gestures so she ends up going overboard because she doesn’t want to disappoint anypony because then they might reject her. Definitely rejection sensitivity
@@BlizzyBeezz man no wonder she was always my favorite, that hits HARD
my personal mane 6 autism headcanon is applejack. she really likes consistency and routines, has strong values and opinions, and gets stressed and confused when something is unexpected or doesn't align with how she thinks things should be. she also has a hard time understanding other ponies' points of view or thought processes and generally tries to be as straightforward as possible, sometimes unknowingly insensitive. my headcanon is that she doesn't know she's autistic because she thinks she's just "normal", but tries to support her autistic friends.
Same I also headcanon Big Mac as autistic too
Yoooooo, I never thought of it that way!! That makes so much sense! :D
@@p-__ 🧏♂️🤫
A little forced, but very well redacted, good point of view
thats so real
I always thought Fluttershy just had generalized anxiety disorder, since she does freeze up and get really scared in social situations, BUT, anxiety does often go hand in hand with autism. And she DOES have at least one melt down that I can remember. Apple Jack reminds me of the flavor of Autism I have, in some ways, on the lower support needs side of the spectrum. Twilight is no DOUBT Autistic, she is to magic like I am to worldbuilding and OCs, and she ALSO very much has at least one meltdown that I can remember off the top of my head!
I would be either twi or flutters lol.
I have autism and an anxiety disorder, so I can definitely advocate Fluttershy having both. She was one of my favorite characters growing up, so her being neurodivergent like me would make me love her even more 💛🩷
@@starstorm1267same!!!!!!! I was obsessed with her when I was little because I related heavily to her. I’ve probably developed an anxiety disorder due to being told to suppress, hide, stop, and hate my autistic traits so I kinda hc her the same!!
Twi freaks out a LOT lol There's the whole Lesson Zero episode, the one where she goes back in time to tell herself not to worry, the Pinkie Sense fiasco (she literally goes full Rapidash!), her constant worst-case-scenario assumptions (Magic kindergarten) and so on. I love her, I'm just like her in that way. Everything has to make sense, everything needs to be routine, and if anything is amiss the worst of the worst possible things is going to happen.
@@CasualVFlowerEnjoyer twily iz pony me lol
Ah yes, mlp, where allistics are the minority
Autism world
Omg! That sounds so fascinating
Mhm
lol...
And when everyone is autistic... no one will be...
"The autistic ponies of My Little Pony"
You have no idea how little that narrows things down... 😂
that opening bit explaining ASD was a bit inaccurate/confusing - "aspergers, better known as autism" - that's not how the diagnostic change went. aspergers was merged along with a number of other diagnoses INTO autism spectrum disorder, which is ASD
i was about to write a comment about how aspergers isnt really diagnosed anymore, and its now just called asd/autism :)
And also hans Asperger was involved in the killing of disabled children by the Nazi regime
Maybe he was referring to high functioning autism
@@OmiReal high functioning autism is just called high functioning autism. aspergers was named after hans asperger, and he did a lot of bad things, which is why aspergers isnt diagnosed anymore - and it's just asd.
Yep! Autism also has three levels, I think. 1/Mild [?], 2/Moderate, and 3/Severe.
Off-topic but ADHD is similar in the sense that it has three distinct types of showing in a person as well! Predominantly Inattentive-ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-ADHD, and Combined-ADHD.
I’m someone with ADHD, and I have friends who are autistic. I connect with some of these topics, such as fixating or being awful at conversation though I tend to be hyperactive. Me and my autistic friends tend to find comfort in each other over these struggles, though we both understand we both have different symptoms and conditions. Some things overlap simply, and that’s all to it. I appreciate your representation and inclusion of many characters, your channel is underated in my eyes. I even do that thing about having to check for doors being locked or being pessimistic over day to day life. We all have different ranges of how we behave and are, and it feels inclusive in that manner. I will say, I find a lot of myself in Pinkie pie as well.
I also have ADHD, funny enough, I see myself more, in Fluttershy, but I do have pinkie pie moments!
Same I can agree with this comment 😊
Autism and adhd and fluttershy and pinkie are my favorite ^^
10:51 lgbtq is actually represented a lot throughout the entire mlp franchise. scootaloo’s aunts, Curly Winds & Wiz Kid, the actual scene of lyra and bonbon getting married, and there’s even a porcelain statue of two lesbian ponies getting married (and it’s from the 80s)
@@p-__fascinating. I actually need 2 confirm this 4 research. I will seek ur contacts.
isnt appledash cannon aswell?
@@lisamiarose3873 I’m pretty sure
I'm gonna admit, the only one of those I remember is Scootaloo's aunts. ^^; Where were the others from?
@@lisamiarose3873yeah! And Rarijack from EG too
TALLY HALL MENTIONED!! THE CROWD GOES WILD!! (i am also autistic)
I LOVE TALLY HALL
TALLY HALL
I LOEV TALLY HALL!!!
Of course tally hall is mentioned in the video about autism /JOKING
YEAA TALLY HALL!!!! I LOVE TALLY HALL SO MUCH!!!!!
Hi, I just thought I'd let you know that Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis, and has not been since 2013. In the DSM-5, Asperger's and Autism were combined under the term "Autism Spectrum Disorder", or ASD. They have been considered the same disorder for over a decade, and we are categorized by people with higher support needs and by people with lower support needs (hence Autism "Spectrum"). The spectrum isn't just a horizontal line either: some people might need more support with social awareness but not need as much support with sensory issues, and another person might experience the opposite. You could also need a lot of support with both. There are many symptoms that make up this spectrum.
"Asperger's" is also a problematic term for a disorder to begin with, as the name was coined by Hans Asperger, a Nazi. He studied autistic people and the ones he deemed "too autistic" to be fit for society were killed.
Some autistic people still claim the term Asperger's (some because they don't know its been changed or about its history as a term, some because they don't want to be "roped in" with higher needs autistic people, some because they think they are "better" than higher needs autistic people) but it is no longer a diagnosis and has a rough and bloody history as a term.
I made a similar comment but you worded it much better. thank you
Was looking for this comment, I wish I could boost it somehow so he sees this since it’s definitely important to know
Just because some people feel comfortable with their disorder being called Asperger's doesn't mean they think they're superior to everyone else. 🙄
@@hearmeout1767If you read the comment again you will notice they said "SOME ... think they are better ...", not all. Your comment makes no sense if you read op's comment properly 👍
@@Catsgirl32 it still makes sense. OP conveniently ignores any reasons someone might prefer Asperger's and just includes "doesn't know it's not diagnosed anymore" or "thinks they're superior to everyone else!"
OP is emotionally manipulating you, good job taking the bait 👍
I'd go with Rainbow Dash having ADHD. But Pinkie Pie... Pinkie has unmedicated bipolar disorder. But then all the Pie sisters... Marble is cripplingly withdrawn and Limestone is pure anger management issues.
I think partially their mental issues may have to do with their upbringing. Manual and hard labor day in and day out, and it's hardly worth calling rewarding work. They also grew up isolated from other ponies, I doubt Igneous or Cloudy Quartz have even been to Ponyville but twice in their lives.
Pinkies clear rejection sensitivity and stimming put her more with adhd in my brain but I also have adhd so I might be biased, I do agree with rainbow tho. She gets distracted on things quickly and can turn into her being investing in a side quest to the extent of forgetting about her friends temporarily without a reminder or the quest ending. She can be very socially unaware with her gloating, very similar to how many people with adhd assume they’re being helpful by correcting something someone said or telling them how to do something better but or something good that you did without recognizing that they see it as cocky, I’ve gotten that a lot before
No? She doesn't? Pinkie does not have unexpected intense shifts in mood. She's never, say, woken up feeling low energy with flat hair for no reason in the show before. Her depressive episodes are EXTREMELY predictable and are typically directly caused by misunderstandings in social situations that lead to extreme rejection sensitivity and/or feeling isolated and left out from fun experiences with loved ones. Which is way more consistent with forms of anxiety associated with ADHD, btw.
what about her having borderline personality disorder? that's often mixed up with bipolar AND adhd, involves very strong rejection sensitivity, hyperfixations, etc (though auDHD would also make sense, or just adhd or like a combination because yayyyy comorbidities)
Autistic ppl are more likely to develop underlying mental health disorders bc of how much trauma and stigma we're put through, but also bc our brains are wired differently than everyone else.
Not every Autistic person will have this, and not everyone with mental disorders is Autistic, but I'm just pointing this out.
"This entire show is just pony autism isn't it" lol pretty much
MLP is basically the definition of "Personality disorders in a nutshell, but with PONIES"
for years, ive seen at as the Entire main six being autistic. from twilight literally needing step by step guides for how to socialize, to rarity having strict regimes in place that she cant cope with being changed, to applejack being unable to lie and being overly blunt, to fluttershys struggles with social interactions but comfort with animals, to rainbow dash hyperfixating on what she enjoys and being unable to focus on anything else unless it contains her special interest, to pinkies Everything. the mane six Are the autism spectrum. to me
Being one on the spectrum, i as a kid always related with fluttershy cause i always was "shy" or into "animals", i also related because social awkwardness and anxiety. Now that im older i actually relate to twi more, because she has fixations in books and can name any chapter. Kind of like how i remember everything about my special interests ironic even mlp. And actually on your talk of twi and ocd actually people on the spectrum like me have ocd tendencies like obsession and repeating behaviors, like ill ask someone many times if something is safe till the anxiety goes away.
P.s This was a wonderful video! ive been waiting for someone to talk about it!
Honestly I am also into animals and I can be shy or the opposite of it. I also love with video games mostly Minecraft and roblox, drawing, dragons, Diamond art, reading about interests, and dinosaurs. I am also in the spectrum and can't keep eye contact, I only like to talk about interests, and get off topic. Before I get off topic this is all I am going to say.
Same. I would be either twi or flutters az a main.
This is exactly how I was, I related to Fluttershy the most as a kid but as I became an adult and actually got diagnosed with Autism that I began to relate to Twilight more and see a lot of myself in her.
@@caffeinatedpossum me to especially when I read the first and second ark of Wings of Fire
they all do actually because I said so
twilight and fluttershy r just like me tho for real
real
something abt twilight too is that other ponies in the earlier seasons think she comes off as rude just bcos of how she communicates and its like shes not rude shes just AUTISTIC
Just so you know, (no hate here at all!) Aspergers is an outdated (and generally considered offensive) term to many people on the spectrum, A. because of the origins of the term and B. because of the harmful stereotype it enforces; the idea of being "high functioning" or "less autistic" than your ASD counterparts. These days the diagnostic criteria goes off of levels, and anyone along the spectrum is just under the term ASD :)
Yeah, I messed up pretty bad with this video.
@@Cxcdhey think of it this way, still a cool video + now u have people teachin u new things ab the history of the terms and diagnostics u might not have found out otherwise! double win (if u ignore people who are AHs about correcting it that is)
@@Cxcd plzz don't say that i genuinely loved this video and found it really cool
For your information, we don't use the term Asperger's or Asperger's syndrome anymore:)
Or doo we 😱 DUN DUN DUN.
@@mistylover7398 i mean its no longer in the DSM for one, just under the umbrella term ASD under high-functioning/lower support needs autism. but generally disability activists are calling for moving away from use of the term for several reasons, the biggest being that hans asperger, the person who the term is named for, was a nazi eugenicist who used its criteria to determine which autistic people were worth killing and which were "normal" enough to let live.
Wait really? Cuz I have Asperger’s and I use the term all the time. Is that like not culturally appropriate anymore?
@@dougdimmadome3694 hans asperger (the guy the classification is named after) was a n@zi and used the distinction between severely disabled and less-disabled autistic people to decide which would be killed
@@dougdimmadome3694 i implore you to look at the Wikipedia page for hans asperger, who the disorder was named for, particularly under the section labeled "n@zi involvement"
Rainbow Dash and ADHD! The episode about studying for the wonderbolts exam was a prime example.
You didnt watch any of the episode past the part where she rocks the chair back and forth while twilight is talking, right? Like watch the whole episode next time, maybe pause in the middle and take a break since you can't concentrate lone enough to understand the end of the episode
@Luna-Lux you mean the part where the only way she can take in and retain information is if she is multitasking? Like when rainbow dash and twighlight went for a fly and everyone helped her study by performing as they flew past and talked at the same time? Its a perfect example of rainbow dash's ADHD. people with ADHD will sometimes need extra stimulation in order to do something or focus as they lack dopamine in their brains which can make tasks like paying attention and studying difficult. also rainbow dash overcame her lack of focus as she learned that her brain works differently from her friends so the way she learns must be as unique as she is.
@@chiannamarandola2495 that's not what ADHD is
Stop projecting your mental illness onto fictional characters
@@Luna-Lux Yet people with ADHD can relate to Rainbow. I personally do. She finds it hard to keep her focus on one specific thing and doesn't follow traditional learning methods, for example. She also finds it hard to sit or stand still, which one example is shown in the parasprite episode all the way back in season 1
thought the title said "the autistic power of My Little Pony" and i said "so true"
Though she obviously has ADHD or something, I think that pinkie pie may also be autistic. This is because, while most people view autism as being socially awkward, autism is a spectrum and people with asd can exhibit wildly different symptoms. For example, not understanding social cues doesn’t necessarily mean someone has to be shy and awkward. Some people can present this by doing things such as not minding other’s personal space, missing obvious social cues, and being too loud at inappropriate times. Pinky pie shows this a lot throughout the show, one big example being with Cranky the donkey when she relentlessly tries to befriend him, not being able to tell he just wants peace and quiet. She even announces to the entire town that he needs a new wig, thinking she was helping him. Other things that are considered autism symptoms that she does includes being a complete sensory seeker, extremely talkative and having a hard time stopping (also maybe going partially non-verbal, for example in the episode where she goes crazy (possibly autistic meltdown) because she thinks her friends are ignoring her), (which then leads to) rejection sensitive, overusing facial expressions, taking empathy to the extreme (such as feeling extremely empathetic for inanimate objects) or having not much empathy at all, taking expressions too literally. Also, you could say that her pinkie sense could represent tics, a common occurrence in people with asd. Also, she’s freakishly good with numbers. She litteraly knows the birthday of every pony in ponyville (a talent that an autistic kid I babysit has), seemingly having an internal calander. She can also remember numbers really well, answering immediately with a crazy number when her friends ask a rhetorical question about an amount she has of something or something else like that. Anyways, yah. If you somehow read my entire comment, feel free to share your ideas on this please because I feel like it’s a less popular opinion.
Your channel made me binge watch mlp again.
I kind of want to too now
I never viewed Fluttershy as socially awkward she appears to have socially anxiety. She literally go out of her way to avoid talking to new people and when she needed to sing for a concert she sung behind a curtain because she couldn't handle preforming or talking in front of ponies that aren't her friends.
my personal theory is that all the ponies are autistic, and that’s why they all have special intr- i mean talents, and have to learn about friendship! i also think the mane 6 represent different traits, twilight is the hunger for knowledge about her special interest, pinkie pie has trouble regulating her volume and emotions, fluttershy has trouble regulating her volume as well, but she also struggles with social interaction, applejack has a comfort item (her hat), rainbow dash is overly blunt, rarity has sensory issues (she hates getting dirty).
me when i finish the video and you said that already LMAO
With Pinkie Pie being ADHD, I actually think Rainbow Dash is more ADHD, while Pinkie Pie is actually really good at paying attention to details. Pinkie is more, just hyperactive, and doesn't have an attention thing. Rainbow Dash, and Testing, Testing 123, is a perfect example for Rainbow Dash, where she isn't paying attention to Twilight and is moving around. Pinkie could move around, and make it seem like she's not listening, but every drop of information drops into her head, and sticks. Pinkie probably has a better memory than Twilight even.
I loved that episode so much as a kid, because of how utterly relatable everything Dash did was to me.
so anyway I just recently got diagnosed with ADHD so I cling onto the ADHD Rainbow Dash headcanon with every fibre of my being LMAO
Rainbow Dash does pay attention, she just has a hard time paying attention unless she's occupied with multiple tasks at the same time (ADHD brains having a higher stimulation need than typical making it difficult to engage with tasks unless sufficiently challenged i.e. optimal arousal theory). That's what testing testing 123 was about. They're both hyperactive with a good memory for details, it just manifests differently between the two of them (probably because Pinkie doesn't have wings and even if she did, she wouldn't be a weatherpony).
actually they both are it was confirmed by lauren faust. adhd presents different in different people(ponies😭)
I'm audhd and there's so many ponies I headcanon as autistic
Honestly I’ll say the main difference between autism and just being “smart” (GT, it’s actually it’s own category) is the disability part of it, aka being incapable of being good at communicating (from non verbal to just not reading social ques) to sensory processing skills. That’s what separates it and makes it a disability, I also believe that the nuero scan of autistic brain and neurotypical brains are actually different, similar to ADHD.
In any case. Yeah, I could tell this dude was autistic, the fast talking and descriptive words gave it away. That and the affect when he talks.
I would personally categorize Twilight as GT, aka she’s advanced in her academic abilities and her communication skills aren’t actually lacking she just doesn’t like to talk to people in the beginning, she could most likely have OCD or ADHD however.
as someone who has autism the statement "You don't look autistic." has always irked me. Like everyone who has autism is different since we're different people!
As someone with autism and anxiety, I always related to Twilight and Fluttershy the most. When I’m less anxious, it’s more Twilight - the inverse being true for how I relate to Fluttershy. No matter what though, I always communicate strangely no matter how much my anxiety is affecting me xD
Great video !!
EXACTLY with me actually. I would be either twi or flutters lol. Or transformers prime ( Soundwave or bumblebee ) can sometimes feel so pure 😶🔇. Voiceless since such a cruel evil f up'd disorder or disability called AUTISM iz actually a thing to b stuck with till death to such a complex complicated syndrome. It's called a DIS ability for existing alone Dat we named it for a reason.
"who dreams about reading books?" my brother, if he could choose to regect internet and live in a huge ancient library he would.
(me and my brother are both very autistic but VERY different ends of the spectrum)
Faust confirmed on twitter that pinkie has ADHD
YES
I literally thought all of them.(aka the main six), is a sign of autism, ocd or adhd.
Rarity for example, loves literally only fashion and her friends, its not just her cutie mark, its her bloody passion, adhd comes in if something dazzling enough or something like "a fashion disaster" that can distract her enough to take action, and in some cases, autism shows a type of energy for something you love, like rarity being absolutely creative in what she does, hense when the "princess dress" came out, she was at first extatic, yet when she had to make it over and over down to the very last detail and no tiny change was when it became a problem.
I would argue that by the nature of it, the whole MLPG4 universe is about neurodiverse adults since in order to teach social skills, you have to exaggerate things that are struggle points. This includes like eye contact, shyness, inflexibility, hyperfocus, black and white thinking, difficulty evaluating the action-consequence sequence of how people feel and picking up on social cues of how someone is feeling. Fluttershy is 100% me as a child and teen over the series, and Twilight is definitely late teen to adult me learning how to mask. Especially Twilight opening the School of Friendship to share the friendship rules she learned on the fly; I work in HR and the best thing about my job is that adult behaviour in the workplace is literally laid out one expectation at a time in HR policies so people behave around me exactly as expected.
hey! hi! Fellow autistic person here- aspergers is actually an outdated term. It doesn't exist, it's just autism. Thank you for trying your best to be respectful, and always willing to learn more. I just wanted to let you know. I'm also always learning new things abt autism.
As a person with Autism, I appreciate this video (I’m definitely like Fluttershy, anti-social most of the time)
@@p-__ go away bot no one likes you
Just thought I'd mention it, hyperfixations are also a thing with ADHD
I'd like to mention that autism is not the only invisible disability out there. I have Selective mutism(or SM) which makes taking almost impossible. I am able to talk to my family (but not my extended family) and a few close friends. Like Fluttershy. I personally think that Fluttershy more closely resembles SM. Although maybe this video was focused on autism in particular. Thank you anyway for the video.
So you and fluttershy az much az me too also, would be transformers prime ( bumblebee and Soundwave ) NEVER speak or impossible guz we're 😶🔇 voices are either f up'd in a special way or just inability to use. Guz can't talk correctly and stuttering.
selective mutism can actually be a symptom of autism as well! that's how it was for me haha
Sorry I forgot about that. It's always refreshing when I meet someone else with SM. @@batz2323
@@batz2323 then how u talking??
@@mistylover7398 🤦
XD I am autistic, and i like the fact you revealed you were autistic. Not one has to look autistic to be autistic.
I too am autistic, so that's a bit of breath of fresh air.
me too and i also get told that i don’t look like i have autism but like girl i can name every country and flag in the world 😭
To be fair I assume most adults into MLP are autistic at this point lmao
( I am also an adult into MLP )
there is no look for autism
I went back to the original My Little Pony show this week, and just happened to pick the "Autistic Character" episode. I was not expecting that kind of episode from an 80s kid cartoon, but MLP is beloved for a reason. Crunch the Rockdog Parts 1 & 2: Two of the ponies need to learn to stop being mean to Wind Whistler for being different from them. They do good showing that a 'logic over emotion' type character still has big emotions, and also that having people who are different than you can be an asset.
As an autistic person, I genuinely adore mlp, I have since I was a small kid! This show (in all it's generations) has made me feel seen, it's brought me joy on my darkest days. I remember my parents getting rid of all my ponies when I turned 9 because I was 'too old' for them. I forced myself away from what was probably my very first special interest and it killed me. But now that I'm an adult, I learned that I can indeed still find belonging, meaning and love in the MLP community, even if most people just see it as a silly kids horse cartoon
5:30 Or I'll have another word to sell, another story to tell, another time piece ringing the bell.
Also, the first main example of autism in My Little Pony was Minty. The silly little sock lover was so autistic that the whole fandom just agreed on it being canon, and many autistic kids who grew up in the 2000s were happy to have a character that they could relate so much to, and it was especially nice because she wasn't a social recluse but rather a massive extrovert who just wasn't very good with social interaction which there still isn't much representation for nowadays so many autistic people like that still latch so much onto her.
I head Cannon zip as autistic coded, I know it may not seem intentional but she's like REALLY into her detective work even if it kind of pushes a few buttons, I've noticed that she doesn't really understand social cues either when it pertains to her investigations,Like sunny in chapter 5 has to constantly remind her to take it easy on Misty, and to redirect her special interest towards some pony else like elderflower in that one episode. She doesn't intentionally make ponys feel uncomfortable but , the fact that she doesn't realize she's Doing it makes me think that she's not socially aware of it, IDK it's just my head Cannon though, but it does make her character a bit more interesting in my eyes ❤️
hi just letting you know, we don’t use the word ‘wheelchair-bound’ anymore, people who use wheelchairs (such as people like my dad) prefer the term ‘wheelchair-user’ because then the term doesn’t bound THEM to the wheelchair
Thx :)
didnt know this! thanks for the information :D
I think a lot of MLP characters are autism-coded, and my personal headcanons for autistic characters are Twilight, Sunburst, Celestia (she stims a lot in S9 episodes), Mudbriar, and Pinkie and her entire family.
I think that Fluttershy just has an anxiety disorder.
I think that Princess Luna could be considered Autistic. She tends to be hyperfixated on her past, she's socially awkward, she had a dream where she was getting a good night's sleep, and she finds normal and mundane things fascinating. A lot of this could simply be the byproduct of being on the moon for 1000 years and her nature of being a dreamwalker. But it's something to think about. So ironically, Friendship is Witchcraft may have have gotten the right idea for Luna.
Luna is best princess
4:28 Actually baffled at the school counselor for not understanding that sometimes people just don't have extreme reactions and clap for you existing. ESPECIALLY an autistic person, being that we sometimes just have bland expressions even if we are really happy or interested.
time police?
*gravity falls fan increases*
I was mostly thinking about Super Jail.
@@Lony15 fair.
“ it was NOT a personal attack “
*proceeds to threaten us with a screwdriver* 😭✋
your channel has completely made me rewatch mlp, youre honestly just so amazingly funny, a tally hall fan, and genuinely one of my favrouite youtubers, LOL
OH ,Y GOD YOU HAVE A CAT.
HI OLIVER
Rui Kamishiro pfp, are you a music project fan too? I love Toki Shunichi(Rui's seiyuu)
@@ExceptionalOneStandAlone I am!! Toki Shunichi is a great voice actor!! :D (Im guessing english isnt your first language?)
@@crispsncremey
No, English is my first language, why did you assume it wasn't? Sorry for the late reply, by the way, I have TH-cam reply notifications off because people on TH-cam are... Something. What music projects or projects that are associated with music do you like?
Watched both your mlp disability and time videos and as an autistic person myself I could tell immediately that you were neurodivergent in some way /pos
Your video essay thingies on mlp are frickin awesome btw!!! Hope you make more :D
ALSO iirc (correct me if I'm wrong) twilight WAS supposed to be canonically autistic, not just autistic _coded_ , but hasbro didn't want to include that part of her character explicitly in the show cuz they were scared "kids wouldn't understand it" (which, btw, imo is the dumbest excuse ever and like. you know autistic kids Do exist and Do deserve to be heard and represented correctly in media right? But that's a whole other story)
As a fellow autistic I GET THE SAME REACTION!
YOU WANNA SEE AUTISM? I’LL RECITE EVERY SYMPTOM OF ASPD AND HOW IT WORKS IN THEIR BRAIN‼️‼️
wait do you mean antisocial personality disorder or autism spectrum disorder 😭
@@pepprchuu I mean i could do both but my fixation is mainly ASPD lmao @pepprchuu
As someone w/ OCD I can relate to twilight on a spiritual level
I'm Asperger diagnosed. I think Pinkie Pie is the autistic character par excellence.
I started mulling over potential neurodivergencies of the mane six after watching your last video and reading people's thoughts in the comments. My take is, Twilight and Fluttershy would be autistic, Rainbow would be ADHD, and Pinkie would be both. Fluttershy also would have anxiety, obviously haha. I could understand some arguments for the others but I'd have to rewatch to have more of an opinion on the other possibilities.
As a autistic person like me as well I'm so happy that my favorite childhood show haves autistic people in it and with other disabilities as well to make it diverse and include everyone so thank you very much 😊😊😊😢😢❤❤❤
I've heard that some people don't like the phrase wheelchair bound
i was recently diagnosed with autism and have loved mlp since i was a little kid, and now looking back on it it's impossible to not see it through an autistic lens. i honestly feel like all of the mane six can be interpreted as autistic (or at least neurodivergent) as well as an abundance of side characters. for a little girl growing up with undiagnosed autism, this honestly provided a lot of comfort for me without me even knowing about my own neurodivergence, and a lot of my other later-diagnosed friends have said the same thing. we all had at least one mlp character we really related to and helped us feel okay about ourselves. the message of the show being about the struggles of friendship - which often have to due with their individual differences - and how they are able to communicate with their friends about this as opposed to just isolating them was something super touching to me as it wasn't something i was super used to in my real life. the character of rairty in particular i always gravitated towards. she's one of those characters i don't see a lot of people head cannoning as such, but honestly i think she's a really good and relatable example of how autism can often times go unrecognized. trixie was another character i really related too and now 100% think is autistic. everything about her and her character arc has always really resonated with me.
My timetraveling friend who will probably never see this because of timeline shit, I'm autistic, even getting and ADHD evaluation in two days, and I do see autism as a disablity, and I'm glad your covered it.
ADHD can also be seen as a disability, so I think it woulda been nice to see it covered too.
I once had to explain MLP to an older male coworker of mine and really the best I could come up with was literally “brightly colored autism ponies” 😭
i think aspergers isn't actually a used medical term anymore and just got grand-fathered into autism (atleast as of a few years ago)
Yeah it’s a Nazi term
I'm convinced over half the characters in the show are neuro divergent, or at least have traits you'd normally see in a neuro divergent person
RAINBOW DASH LITERALLY HAS A FULL EPISODE OF HER HAVING ADHD.
i have ocd, and i head canon fluttershy as having it too. the best example of this is in scaremaster. the reasoning she gives for rejecting certain halloween activities is so me and so ocd. twilight having autism makes more sense to me, as her giant checklists and such seem more akin to an autistic person’s need for routine. it’s hard to explain, but her dedication to her schooling, magic, and reading all seems very special interest driven more than intrusive thought. it’s part of who she is, not so much a bug in her brain. (which is what ocd feels like)
Twilight is canonically on the spectrum (word of Faust). Maud was all but confirmed on the show. Pinkie is totally ADHD, as is Rainbow Dash. And Oliver is a handsome little guy.
I have epilepsy asthma cysts on the kidneys and a little bit of autism and high blood pressure and anxiety so I feel you
2:31 most autistic people (and non autistic people) don't like the term “Asperger's” due to the fact that the guy who let's just say created the term was a N*zi and most psychiatrist don't put “Asperger's” when diagnosing autism
and also because they're literally the same thing, but they think it's better to diagnose someone with Asperger rather than autism (people think that Asperger is a lower stage of autism, but there is no lower stage of autism different people just “experience” autism differently)
💯 Also, “the guy” was literally Hans Asperger. That diagnosis was not only developed by a Nazi, it is named after him.
For g5 I think that Izzy Moonbow has Autism and ADHD. Maybe I’m just projecting because she’s my favorite lol but in the movie she is shown to be kind of oblivious to what’s going on when she first appears in MareTime Bay. She sees the ponies panicking and running away from her as them playing hide and seek. Not to mention she is socially isolated from the other unicorns and in the show has a few episodes where she is struggling with understanding how the other ponies feel
Aspergers is no longer a diagnosis, it is all asd now.
Thank you for pointing all that out about autism. I have it too, and I hate how everyone views it as just being 'dumb' as well as the fact that the whole spectrum is considered a disability even in a legal sense. Technically, I'm not disabled. I'm just mentally challenged, but too many people and apparently the law considers me that way. Plus, there's hardly anything or anyone online that talks about it as what it is rather than what it is widely considered, so thanks for actually doing just that. It means more to more people than you may ever know.
I believe pretty strongly that Rainbow dash represents ADHD! The episode where Twilight and the others are trying to figure out how to help Rainbow dash learn is pretty much textbook ADHD symptoms lol. (And since ADHD is on the autism spectrum, I'd think she'd fit in this list!)
Pinkie pie def also fits the ADHD description, though probably in a slightly different way than Rainbow dash does.
I agree with you!! Rainbow Dash's behaviour in that episode fits myself to a T, except for the flying part, of course. It's so funny to me, realising all this stuff about myself since my diagnosis and being able to spot it in characters I used to just find "relatable". plot twist, she's relatable cuz ADHD! :D
Waving a random screwdriver around whilst you rant about something you’re interested in it insanely relatable
2:26 I'm not offended, but Asperger's is an outdated diagnosis. I should know, I was diagnosed with it when I was 6. A better term is autism spectrum disorder
I personally think that fluttershys' interest in taking care of animals is more of a special interest rather than hyperfixation, cause while hyperfixations can come and go, special interests rarely will ever leave your mind, and fluttershy ever since she was a filly has been interested in taking care of animals
pink ponk
I KNEW IT so happy to watch youtubers who also have autism too it's nice watching them and love your videos hope you get back to your timeline
Rainbow Dash seems like textboox ADHD to me
I found her so relatable as a kid, which, looking back, makes a LOT of sense.
As someone with both an Mlp and tally hall related Hyperfixations this is the realest shit in the world
I’m autistic and adhd, and I’m confident that rainbow dash has adhd and maud pie is autistic
(Speaking as an autistic person myself) I can't believe they thought a guy who makes MLP video essays was neurotypical.
Also, as a library science enjoyer and aspiring librarian (technically in training now since I'm going for a library & information science degree), Twilight could definitely be autistic.
Fluttershy having severe social anxiety doesn't mean she's autistic...
Probably right.
Or does it?? DUN DUN DUN!!!!!! 😱
im autistic and i relate a LOT to fluttershy (i mean to a point all my irls agree that im literally her), we’re not calling her autistic just because she has social anxiety, its because she acts neurodivergent.
@@pepprchuu Acute Social Anxiety isn't categorically ONLY a symptom of autism. It can be but that's a case-by-case connection that only doctors could accurately diagnose. It's illogical to attribute every case of unusual/odd behavior as being caused by autism or any other diagnosable mental condition for that matter. A rocket scientist isn't autistic and it'd be moronic to infer that he is one.
Sweetie belle is a cutie pie 😊
I'm autistic and never noticed these ponies as autistic. My favorite is Twilight, and my least favorite is Applejack.
I found absolutely nothing wrong with the Disabled Ponies video, so I have no idea if I'm the targeted demographic or not.
Not noticing a glaring lack of representation doesn’t make you not the target demographic. If anything, it’s an example of how this video might particularly serve you.
The tally hall name drop got me so excited dude I LOOOVE LOVE TALLY HALL SO MUCH I ALSO KNOW ALL THE LYRICS!!!! AND I LOVE MLP!!!!!!!!! I'm insane I'm crazy I love tally hall and my little pony so much
As an autistic person youre dead on. Like the mane 6? More like the autism 6
Oh, by the way, Lauren Faust herself actually confirmed that she intended for Twilight to be Autustic, but Hasbro shot that down.
hell yeah another cxcd upload!!!!!
2:51 TALLY HALL MENTIONED
LESSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! AWESOME VID :3
Durpy only has a lazy eye, and i also have one all my life, i had to wear glasses as a child to correct it and also in my 20s, and both my parents wear them as well. But i went to the optician's a few months ago. im 36 now and was told that my brain adapted to my lazy eye, no need for glasses or the eye patch. Yes, im ND and loved this show in my 20s, and i grew up on the MLP franchise. I even created OCs and based my art style on FIM also PPG so basically early cartoon network
From what I understand and the hours of research I put into diagnosing myself (caus my parents are ableist af and getting a formal diagnosis won't help me in my current situation), Asperger's is no longer a distinct diagnosis, and is now considered to be part of the autism spectrum. Asperger's is often considered a "milder form" of autism but being diagnosed with that often causes these people to not have the same accommodations as someone with autism. It's also the reason that ADD (attention deficit disorder, often seen as a "milder form" of ADHD) got categorized into ADHD as a whole to uniformize the disorder instead of separating groups of people that are more or less "normal". By merging ADD and Asperger's as part of the spectrum of their respective disorders instead of a completely other category allowed people to obtain the accommodations and help that could've otherwise be denied, or at least lessen the discrimination that might happen within the same disorder.
A "milder form" of autism or ADHD doesn't exactly exist, it's more so the difference in which those neurodivergencies appear externally. Some people may "appear" less or more autistic, but that doesn't mean they are less or more autistic. They are still both autistic, what changes is their ability to mask those symptoms (which is also why low or high functioning is also seen as damaging terms). Asperger's was also named after the guy who did atrocious things and supported Nazi Germany and their "ethnic cleansing", and autistic children were victim of that as well. So by absorbing Asperger's syndrome into ASD as a whole, it also got rid of the negative connotations and the baggage that the former name brought with it. Asperger's syndrome, autism, and ASD are all technically the same thing, these terms were just used to describe and isolate spectrums of the same disorder.
This is what I know at least and I could be wrong, so correct me if I am.
I’m autistic and relate so much to fluttershy but I don’t see her headcanoned as autistic much so this was great! I also think starlight glimmer may be autistic especially with how she felt about making friends in “no second prances”
My dad told me he wont let me get tested because he thinks i dont act autistic. Ive told him that autism differs between people but he doesnt understand that ig!!!
if you dont act autistic then you dont need a diagnosis for it. you should be happy.
That sucks. There’s like a million times more systemic supports for autistic minors than autistic adults. He’s locking you out of resources that could help you thrive not only now, but well into the future. Lots of parents just don’t want to pay for the assessment, or don’t want to find out they’re wrong and their kid is disabled.
I think the Mane 6 Disorders are: Twilight has OCD, Fluttershy has anxiety, Rainbow Dash has ADHD, Pinkie is paranoid, AJ is a workaholic and Rarity.... is dramatic? Idk-
great video !!!
One of the reasons why to this day I speak so highly of this show and the character Fluttershy in particular is because this was the only show I watched as a kid that I felt connected to and made me feel less alone. I have selective mutism so it's really hard for me to talk to people and some people I just completely can't talk to so for this show to have a character who may not be selective mute but portrays those characteristics especially in a show for children makes me so happy. They did so well with portraying her anxiety as well and one of my favourite things about her character is that her social awkward shyness doesn't go away because that's just who she is and I've never understood the criticism for that because to me it sends such a good and important message and it's not like her character didn't change at all because she 100% became way more confident and assertive as the show went on.
Hey I'm autistic myself
Same
I've been meaning to make a video that is a discussion on Borderline Personality Disorder and Moondancer. Starlight Glimmer absolutely fits the criteria too. Really enjoy videos like these!