Unspoken (In the story) but 'confirmed' disorders in a story?

[Naruzeldamaster]

There's not many of my stories that I would like to do this in. Where like, there's characters that are "ADHD Coded" but like, it's never confirmed one way or the other that they are. One of my favorite games has some characters like this. It's never stated what disorder they have nor how deeply they have it. But it's very clear to those who know said disorders that they are at minimum on the spectrum. There's like 3 or 4 characters like this in game. And they're beautifully written. (And treated well as people besides)

I would like to write a couple characters like this, but I have no idea how.
The character being 'coded' like they have x thing, but it's a high fantasy setting so it's a more or less unknown condition is what I want to achieve.

 

[Mad Swede]

You do like to make your own writing life difficult don't you?

In a high fantasy setting where diagnoses of these sorts don't exist (as would be the case for my dyslexia) the character concerned may not know what is causing their problems. Neither does anyone else. That leads to a very different character from one who knows why they aren't the same (eg a soldier who got a terrible head injury in battle and has had problems ever since).

Acceptance will be an issue, and it will vary. By acceptance I mean how society looks at those who differ in some way or, put more politely, how society sees eccentricities. This is an issue in real life, and it varies between countries and cultures. If you as an author are going to include characters who are intended to be neurodivergent then your world building needs to take a fairly deep dive into societal attitudes, since this will have a significant impact on the character and their interactions with others in that setting. As an example, in a society where most people can't read and write someone with dyslexia won't stand out and so will be accepted as relatively normal. A military veteran injured in battle will probably be accepted in a way that someone with an undiagnosed condition might not be. So you need to think about how your characters would develop in the setting you have created. Here it might be good to seek out older people diagnosed late in life, because their experiences will be quite different to young people who were diagnosed early and got support

Not using terms and having a setting where the condition isn't known makes for a very big writing challenge. As the author you have to convey the characters many nuances and differences without making the character unsympathetic, at the same time as making it possible for neurodivergent readers to identify with the character. Thats a fine balance which is very difficult to pull off.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

You do like to make your own writing life difficult don't you?

In a high fantasy setting where diagnoses of these sorts don't exist (as would be the case for my dyslexia) the character concerned may not know what is causing their problems. Neither does anyone else. That leads to a very different character from one who knows why they aren't the same (eg a soldier who got a terrible head injury in battle and has had problems ever since).

Acceptance will be an issue, and it will vary. By acceptance I mean how society looks at those who differ in some way or, put more politely, how society sees eccentricities. This is an issue in real life, and it varies between countries and cultures. If you as an author are going to include characters who are intended to be neurodivergent then your world building needs to take a fairly deep dive into societal attitudes, since this will have a significant impact on the character and their interactions with others in that setting. As an example, in a society where most people can't read and write someone with dyslexia won't stand out and so will be accepted as relatively normal. A military veteran injured in battle will probably be accepted in a way that someone with an undiagnosed condition might not be. So you need to think about how your characters would develop in the setting you have created. Here it might be good to seek out older people diagnosed late in life, because their experiences will be quite different to young people who were diagnosed early and got support

Not using terms and having a setting where the condition isn't known makes for a very big writing challenge. As the author you have to convey the characters many nuances and differences without making the character unsympathetic, at the same time as making it possible for neurodivergent readers to identify with the character. Thats a fine balance which is very difficult to pull off.

I like a challenge from time to time yes. But as you say this particular one is a bit muddy/difficult to mess with. Which is why I'm debating doing it at all.
I mean part of me WANTS to, but I know it will require a lot of research. And a lot of careful planning even for minor characters.

I have a mute character and a blind character already, and those will probably be easy enough. If I decide to include a Neurodivergent under the hood. I'll have to look into those particular conditions. And I'll have to be very careful at how I portray them and how their cultures treat them. It's not set in stone yet if I'll do it or not. But it's Tempting.