u/laadyb1rdx

This might be a touchy subject but after growing up in a neurodiverse family, the Heck’s have all the traits (yes im aware they’re fictional blah blah)

Axel: classic male adhd with perhaps dyslexia and dyscalculia, avoids school work but feels accomplished when he actually remembers something he learned (like when he was studying with Brick so he had something to talk to Cassidy about), constantly “bored”, energy could only be ran off playing sports, didn’t consider consequences and made rash decisions.

Sue: sweet sweet sue so misunderstood like so many autistic girls. often went unnoticed and seemed forgettable to the people she spent years with at school. struggled making friends and couldn’t completely understand social queues although she spent a lot of the time masking. hyper-fixations (trying out for new things, buying all the gear). making lists to gain some control over her thoughts when decisions were overwhelming. truly and wholeheartedly saw the good in everyone even if they wronged her or let her down multiple times

brick: would’ve been stereotypical male autism if he didn’t make eye contact. dont think i need to delve into this one much since it’s blatantly obvious and if his ticks weren’t mentioned as tourette’s then they were a coping strategy for his lack of support.

mike: literally just a mix of axel and brick, audhd in a middle aged man (this is actually my own dad so i’ve seen it with my own two eyes) was probably put into sports when he was younger to burn off energy but the autistic symptoms also shine bright and clear like the plain lack of emotion ie that episode where frankie literally had to teach him to smile while brick had to socialise during the garden party. he’s unaffectionate towards his own wife, rarely ever saw him give her a hug or even just show a basic understanding of her emotional needs. kept to himself the majority of the time and failed to mention details of his life to his family that he deemed unimportant even though they would’ve cared (caring for a cat at the quarry for years but never brought it up once until frankie thought he was having an affair)

Frankie: chaotic disorganised adhd, blamed her scattered life and lack of energy on having three children yet never questioned how nancy donahue or any of the other mom friends she had seemed to manage just fine with the same amount of kids. her forgetfulness was extreme to the point where she frequently forgot her own childrens birthdays yet somehow expected these same children to remember mothers day.

none of these points are an attack on any of the characters or their traits. i was diagnosed with adhd and autism when i was seventeen and both of my parents have since been diagnosed too. we watched the middle and related so hard to the heck family. not even joking, the episode where they try to clear the house from junk and end up moving everything from room to room, outside, back inside and it still ending up the way it was originally ACTUALLY happened to my family too we laughed so hard watching it.

I really love reading but find myself bouncing from book to book where i’m only read the first few chapters of so many. The Summer I Turned Pretty series had me hooked three of years ago and i’ve re-read them every year since, I’ve read Jenny Hans other books too but really loved the vibe of tsitp. I need something easy-going and a cheesy romance but not overly cheap. I have a lot of uni work atm so reading will be a sort of “down time” thing and dont want anything thats too intellectual or even remotely makes me think lol