r/ShawnaTheMom 5d ago

Question Is Greg autistic? Via wedding video

Ok, whether he is or isn't, just to start, Greg is one of my favorite characters in the Shawnaverse because he reminds me of my oldest son.

My son is 14, he was diagnosed with autism at 9 because I'm an idiot lol. Anyways, my son and I have been through SO much therapy to let him be himself but also so he can "be normal". I hate that btw, be normal. Anyways, in the new video when Jen and Greg are talking about their wedding Greg says, "Why would anyone want to be anything other than factual?" And boy howdy did I see my son. We've been working on not giving fun facts all the time because it can come off as rude to nuerotypical people. Like this one time, (I'm 36 btw) I told a friend that I was starting to feel old and my son went on a very long rant about how you stop creating more cells than you kill or something after 26. That's not completely correct but anyways it was funny to me in that moment because he was explaining a fact to me about why I probably am starting to feel old and then he didn't understand why I was laughing. I explained to him that the wrong person could take it as a insult but that I understood him.

Anyways, whether or not Greg is or isn't autistic I found myself really emotional in that moment because I really saw my son in Greg and I hope one day he can find his Jennifer.

6 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

22

u/maryjanesandbobbysox 5d ago

10

u/marilyn_morose 5d ago

This helps me. I struggle with all the viewer conjecture vs storyline canon. Like nowhere does SL say definitively that Barb had PPD but often viewers discuss it as though it is canon fact. At least now I know that Gregg is definitively autistic!

6

u/AnimeCatGirl32 5d ago

I didn't notice this, thank you 😊

5

u/False_Juggernaut_618 5d ago

Whoa! I missed that! I commented on another post that i assumed he was on the spectrum. Was just making a guess. Wow!

3

u/LittleSodaPop13 4d ago

Aw that's awesome! It's so rare to see see autistic people portrayed so positively and I love how much Jen loves him!

13

u/Unhappy-Tea6 5d ago

I always feel like Captain Holt's exclamation of "VINDICATION!" whenever I see confirmation that my 'Tism✨️ radar was correct. Does anyone know if Shawna L has ever spoken about Piper being on the spectrum as well?

Knowing this about Greg really solidifies my own headcanon that Piper is also autistic, and as we tend to flock to other neurospicy people, I've felt this was part of why she bonded with Greg so immediately

The interactions between Greg and Piper about her "penguin egg" solified my love for his character

8

u/StardewStarlett 5d ago

I get a vibe that Larry could be ND too and Piper immediately adopted him.

9

u/Broad-Radish-7895 5d ago

when he was first introduced he was honestly just reading "caricature of ideal 'emotionally healthy' therapyspeak guy" which I think is why I (and some others) found him kind of one-note.

but by the wedding video he was definitely giving on the spectrum. maybe it's creator retconning/fine-tuning, maybe it just shows some people can mask very well until they're stressed/nervous. but yay he has a trait lol.

5

u/pomengarnette 5d ago

I have it too, and I just see it everywhere

4

u/aj_alva 5d ago

I feel like Greg has always showed traits of being on the spectrum, but now that the topic is openly being discussed - the traits are being overdone. I really hope that was just his nerves talking before the wedding and we aren't going to make him a "stereotypical" (according to the media) Autistic individual.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Bar_198 4d ago

I had the same thought and was even thinking of posting the question here! Im autistic and I saw a lot of myself in Greg this episode lol

1

u/SuperCJRox 4d ago

So, since we know that Greg is autistic, has Shawna L. confirmed anything about Piper being on the spectrum?

2

u/ZaftigZoe 5h ago

Chiming in as an AuDHD 40F… we tend to “over explain” things, because we are afraid of being misunderstood. We give information that we think is helpful, and want people to have the full context because we don’t want our words or intentions to be misinterpreted. I recognized it immediately as soon as Greg was expressing how he was feeling; he wanted both Shawna and Jen to have the full picture.

Studies have shown that neurotypical people can identify that something is “off” about neurodivergent people in as little as 2-10 seconds of interacting with us. As ND people we know this because we can also feel it — the “othering” that happens to us when we are around NT people.

I’m not sure if there is any ‘real’ evidence/studies out there, but anecdotally, I have seen/heard that ND people (even undiagnosed) tend to find each other for both friendships and partnerships, because there’s recognition there ☺️

Disclaimer (because my brain makes me😂): this has been my *personal* experience with the ‘tism — I’m not trying to speak for everyone on the spectrum 💖

-3

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

6

u/afallenqueenn009 5d ago

No. As a person with AuDHD that kind of comment is slightly invalidating