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I am an Autistic person,not a person with autism. I am also not Aspergers. The diagnosis isn't even in the DSM anymore, and yes, I agree with the consolidation of all autistic spectrum stuff under one umbrella. I have other issues with the DSM.

I don't like Autism Speaks. I'm Disabled, not differently abled, and I am an Autistic activist. Self-advocate is true, but incomplete.

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Daine... #Neurodivergence of a Supernatural Sort?

Trigger Warning: Attempted murder for being "crazy"

Still working on the Neurodiversity in Tamora Pierce Works thing...

SPOILERS FOR WILD MAGIC BY TAMORA PIERCE
 
I just read the first book from Daine's quartet, and I'm not sure if I should consider the forgetting she is human and not an animal from her wild magic and self bleeding into each other a portrayal of a magical neurodivergence. Wild magic is different from the Gift in that it can sometimes do things outside the control of the person who has it, and it feels like something that caused her to be considered crazy by her village would belong...
So these are the notes I have on that bit.

Daine went mad for some period of time prior to meeting Ouna. This was apparently intentionally caused by some sort of divine figure to teach a lesson. (23.)

“Surely listening wouldn't bring on the madness. She wasn't trying to be an animal, she just wanted to hear them” (30.)

Daine's horse, Cloud, tells her that she's of the “People,” or the animal term for themselves, rather than being fully human (62.)

Daine notices that she in Tortall, she can get away with a lot more than she ever could in Galla, that women do wear pants and fight, but she is sure that they'd still care if they knew she went mad once (80.)

Listening to a wolf-pack, Daine nearly forgot she was human and not an animal (107.)

Daine also almost gets lost in a horse herd, Cloud pulls her out of it and orders her not to run with the People until she knows how to hold onto herself (130.)

“He makes it sound easy, but it's not. There's something wrong with me, she decided. It's the madness, just waiting for me to drop my guard so it can take me again. That's how he can protect himself- he never forgets what he really is. And I can't remember” (133.)

After Daine ran with the wolf-pack, some people from her old village tried to kill her, saying that she was crazy and had to be put down quickly for her own good (154.)

Numair puts up a magical wall between her wild magic and her inner self, so she does not forget who she is again. She still has and can use her magic; she just won't forget that she's actually human anymore. (158-9.)


I also notice that the voices of gods do not hurt Daine's ears in this book. They do hurt Alanna's ears, even that of her patron goddess when being gentle/whispering. If I remember correctly, Numair doesn't have any problems with god-voices either, nor does Alianne, Alanna's daughter. Since "voices of the gods" is a kind of supernatural thing, I wouldn't have counted it as a likely sensory issue for Alanna if it weren't for the whole "everyone else is fine" thing that we need some of the other books to see. But if other people, including other Gifted mortals (Daine's a demi-goddess, but Numair and Alianne are mortal) are fine and Alanna needs all her willpower not to cover her ears... that's a bit odd.
Tris from the other universe has some noise sensitivities too, but hers aren't supernatural noises.

2 comments:

  1. could the whole not hurting the ears thing be a personal choice of the gods? perhaps with Numair, because he is more powerful than Alanna, it didn't hurt him? or because when he spoke with gods, they were demigods, not the Great gods? as for Aly, perhaps the gods chose not to hurt her ears? but then i don't know why the Great Mother Goddess would choose to hurt Alanna's ears. this is a confusing and probably unhelpful comment. sorry...

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  2. It could. In context of the stories (I've read all 20+ Tamora Pierce novels multiple times each,) it would be weird for a goddess to chose pain for her favored even when pleased but not for someone else when upset but not yet with them. So I don't think it's what's going on, but it's possible?

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