Why I headcanon Rina Tennoji as Autistic!
A thread:

Before I get started, here’s a few disclaimers
1) This is a headcanon, and it’s not something I say is 100% a fact. I’ve just wanted to do this for a while and felt like doing it rn!
2) I’m diagnosed with autism myself so it’s a topic really close to me

Alright let’s get started!
I think the first thing most people notice about Rina is her Rina-Chan board
She uses the board because she doesn’t think she expresses her emotions properly. Many people with autism have difficulties understanding and expressing emotions

Since Rina can’t seem to express her emotions “right”, she uses her board to cope with expressing her feelings.
She doesn’t seem to get the emotions herself and others express, and finds difficulties looking people in their eyes, another common trait of autism

She also struggled with loneliness and making friends in the past.
Autistic individuals may tend to feel isolated and lonely from other people because they may feel that nobody understands them, or even if they were understood, they would feel ridiculed.

For this reason, she uses her board to help communicate with others and connect with them, while also using it to hide her insecurities about her facial expressions

Rina has echolalia, which causes her to repeat a certain phrase in her speech.
She talks in a robotic voice as well.
Both are symptoms of autism

She has a habit of hiding her hands in her sleeves, which can be stimming behavior. Stimming is used to cause stimulation from the environment or even cope with the environment so sensory overload doesn’t occur

Rina can “shut down” when processing emotions, either good or bad.

Rina has a special interest with technology!
It was also mentioned in one of her bond stories that she tended to post pictures of socks everyday as a sort of routine. Her interest may seem weird or strange to others, but it makes her unique!

Ending this part off with lyrics from her songs that I find are very autism-coded!

So why do I headcanon her as autistic?
I found that Rina had a lot of special traits that were similar to ones I had, so I am very attached to her because of this

I find it extremely empowering to see a character I find myself in. It makes me more comfortable with being myself and expressing myself!

I hope other people accept this head canon too! It would mean a lot to me!

Thank you for reading this! I hope everyone has a great day!

Just wanna come back and say that I am blown away by all the support this thread is getting. I only expected a few followers to see it, and it really means a lot to me that so many people saw this thread, maybe people who want to find comfort in Rina like me

I’m glad that people are starting to see this headcanon as well, it’s a headcanon very close to my heart and it means the world to me to see representation like this in my favorite media.
Once again, I hope everyone stays safe and happy. You are important and I support you all!