autistic sirius black: the essay

sirius is shown to be often inconsiderate or unaware of others feelings or situations, eg. “I’m bored, wish it was the full moon” it’s an autistic trait to not be sensitive to others emotions especially when there’s something else they’re thinking about. sirius didn’t want remus to be in pain because of the transformation but his brain went I’m bored > what’s fun? > being padfoot and running around > when can I be padfoot and run around? > on the full moons without necessarily thinking about the implications of it. this is all also an example of thinking before speaking which is another autistic trait.

sirius is also shown to be a rebel and very in firm in his rejection of his family’s beliefs even though it would be easier and benefit him more to comply. the way he physically cannot make himself be quiet and go along with his family to his own detriment, the way he can’t just ‘hold his tongue’, is a commonly autistic thing.

sirius is an academic genius despite not studying often, things like photographic/eidetic memory or just being able to quickly absorb material is common in autistic people.

in canon and in fanon sirius is often written to get very obsessed with things; becoming an animagus, pranks, music, even escaping azkaban. not being able to do things by half measures, becoming easily obsessed with certain goals, and putting his all into tasks aka special interests and hyper fixations is, guess what? an autistic trait.

sirius is often rude/mean/insensitive to others and struggles to care and empathize about people that aren’t his close friends, and those that are his close friends he cares deeply about and becomes incredibly attached to. autism.

sirius’ non conformity and gender-queereness (in fanon) is also common among autistic people. not understanding why people do certain things or why he’s expected to be and act one way because of his gender or why he should follow the rules 'just because’ or 'because I say so’ leads to him rebelling, misbehaving and being disrespectful without even intending to.

sirius is often portrayed as very talkative and rambling a lot very loudly and quickly. which is typical amongst autistic people, especially repetitive talking and phrases not being able to tell when to stop speaking.

sirius having mental breakdowns, panic attacks and lashing out are all different ways autistic meltdowns or shutdowns and sensory overload can manifest.

special mention to sirius’ affinity with animals; moony and the marauders’ animiagi, crookshanks, buckbeak and (in fanon) his love for dogs. and also special mention to a caonon example of sirius’ sensory issues; james playing with the snitch and stopping because it was bothering sirius and annoying him.

and now why people might think autistic sirius is ooc; autistic people are infantilised to the point of not being viewed as an adult with sexuality/a sex life, and sirius is often characterized as being promiscuous and sleeping around, because of this (inaccurate) assumption and other stereotypes about autistic people it leads people to often assume certain individuals that do not fit their definition of autistic could not possibly be autistic.