OK the thought of an autistic Japanese dinosaur-obsessed girl “going feral” made me giggle for a few seconds. Prowling the woods attacking people and stealing their cereal…
Decepticon357
Dina is autistic?
Just Here
It’s a general consensus here that Dina is some sort of autistic, possibly Asprger’s.
Coco Pommel
DISAGREE
Agemegos
Dina’s autism-spectrum diagnosis.
I’m a bit of a dissenter on this one. I thought that she seemed to be developing poise and social skills so rapidly in here relationship with Becky that she couldn’t have any serious difficulties with any neurological basis, that she must just have lacked previous opportunities to learn.
Needfuldoer
She’s entirely clueless about nonverbal social cues, and she’s obsessed with one particular subject (dinosaurs), but her intelligence and cognition appear as good as anyone else’s. She’s got to be somewhere on the Autism spectrum.
That Damn Rat
OR NEedfuldoer, there’s a another kind of person who is obsessive about things, they’re called Geeks. I suspect Din isn’t really Autistic, having worked with someone actual Aspergers she’s far too coherent and eloquent. I think she’s just been poorly socialised, depending on when her family imigrated to the USA, possibly early language barriers, or simply the inherent cruelty of children left her an outsider, and thus socially underdeveloped. And as can be seen, given the opportunity to develop her social skills has vastly improved at pace that would be impossible for a genuine autistic.
Koschei
I’m not suggesting Dina us definitely Austistic or not, but suggestions she’s too coherent, eloquent or is picking stuff up too fast etc. need to be tempered byremembering/understanding that there is a huge range or experience and expression amongst people on the spectrum. Myself and my whole family are (officially diagnosed) Autistic and we’re all at least as ‘high functioning’ as Dina, and many of us can ‘pass’ as neurotypical. I picked up certain social skills and cues very fast when things ‘clicked’. I suggest everyone
exercise caution before deciding this or that thing disqualifies her from being Autistic without a look at the wider picture. After all, that is the reason we call it a spectrum now, because of the understanding that there is a huge range of individual variation.
Mindlink
That Damn Rat:
“having worked with someone actual Aspergers she’s far too coherent and eloquent.”
I got to stop you there, while SOME people with Asperger CAN have trouble being coherent and eloquent, MOST people I’ve met with severe Asperger diagnosis have actually been the most eloquent and coherent people I’ve ever met!
See, it’s not that uncommon for one of the subjects that they focus on to be language, so it’s natural that many become authors or Great Speakers.
It’s interpersonal communication that’s the main problem usually.
Back to Dina,
I would find it very likely that she scores high on the autism spectre (and, yes, EVERYONE scores on the autism spectre. Neurotypicals generally score between 5 to 40, Asperger starts at around 70 and goes up to about 160.
I myself usually score 145, but I have some sort of “unspecified” autism, according to my shrink, so I don’t have Asperger.
There are many, many, many types of autism, and everyone is somewhere on that sliding scale, but Dina reminds me so much of my own experiences trying to interact with humanity, so I’m pretty sure she’s higher than normal on the spectre.
TheNinthShader
Showing results for condition where you don’t understand social code
Search instead for condition where you dont understand social code
Search Results
Asperger syndrome – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DinaWho
A large segment of the fanbase considers her on the spectrum. After the Joyce’s Party sequence, Willis said on tumblr that Dina was likely on the spectrum, but undiagnosed.
TamiDOA
1. We’re ALL somewhere on the Autism spectrum. No human’s ever existed that was capable of perfectly understanding and reacting in every social situation.
2. There’s a special section of the spectrum just for those who socially interact mainly through comment sections of web comics. 🙂
WolfLann
Labels again…
Yes maybe she is or is not autistic but does it really matter?
She proved again and again she is a very intelligent woman.
She also learn more and more everyday how to interact with her friends.
Don’t let labels define you.
As soon as a label is applied to someone we can’t seem to see past it. (Trying really hard to. Years of brainwashing on labels and stereotypes)
TheNinthShader
@tami, I can perfectly understand and react to every situation, not appropriatly, but I can react, all you have to do is scream “I dont give a damn” if anyone tries to talk to you, works every time.
Fish
What Koschei said.
Thank you, Koschei. You rock.
Leorale
Usually, people explain the autism spectrum something like this: Neurotypical people -> AD/HD:inattentive & AD/HD:hyperactive -> Asperger’s -> Autism.
Within each of those sections, there are ‘high functioning’ and ‘low functioning’, which usually means how well they’re able to pass for neurotypical and/or get along in society. There are very low-functioning folks who will probably never live independently, and high-functioning people where you really wouldn’t know that their brains are different unless they told you all the strategies that they’d painstakingly invented to appear normative. And everyone between, and people who are high-functioning in some subjects/situations but not others.
When you’re working with people on the spectrum, the idea is generally to help them learn skills/strategies that allow them to be as high-functioning as is possible for that person. (It would be much better if society met them halfway, kinda like how Becky is considerate of Dina! but this is the society we’ve got.) Much like a person who is physically atypical, people who are mentally atypical develop tons of strategies and workarounds that work best for them. Dina hiding under a coat at the party, for example, was a successful strategy to deal with her sensory overstimulation. (It looked kinda weird, but it didn’t harm anyone, and it let her have a fun time even as she was adjusting.)
Autism spectrum = more to deal with, but =/= slow to learn. So, the fact that Dina learns quickly means that she’s a really fast learner (a clever girl!), not that she’s necessarily neurotypical.
Eric
Autistim Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Being a spectrum it means that it covers a pretty wide area from mild to extreme, and different particulars. Dina would fall somewhere towards the mild end, probably in the Asperger Disorder range.
We have a manager where I work who we feel is a high function Asperger, Dina is a little more obvious, but still pretty high function.
Leorale
And yes, indeed, what Koschei said!
Asperger’s and Autism don’t imply incoherent, inarticulate, slow learning, etc. Plenty of folks on the spectrum are quite the opposite.
Also, I just looked it up, and I got high-functioning vs. low-functioning wrong: high-functioning is used colloquially how I used it, but it’s incorrect — as an official term, high functioning actually means that you haven’t got the language or cognitive delays that some ASD folks have.
The More You Know!
So, it sounds like That Damn Rat must’ve worked with somebody with low-functioning Asperger’s. Dina isn’t that, but neither are all Aspies.
TamiDOA
@TheNinthShader. I think you proved my point. Without the clarity of math notation, my “perfect understanding and reacting”, intended as: perfect(understanding + reacting) = (perfect understanding + perfect reacting), failed to be socially communicated.
And to quote myself from years ago: “I understand humans very well, but I still don’t know how to be one.”
Edupoet81
It’s been said that if you’ve met one person with autism , you’ve met one person with autism. I would have to agree with that. The fact that Dina presents as higher functioning than some other people on the spectrum doesn’t mean she can’t be on the spectrum as well.
Okay, it’s been a very long, hard day for me, and I don’t know how coherent that last sentence was. My brain is really not working. My point is, I think that Dina is most likely neurologically atypical. She’s also very intelligent, and functioning at a high level.
I myself baffled many professionals over the years with my vast skill scatter. By skill scatter I mean, I tested as functioning well above average in some things, well below average in others. They couldn’t even calculate my IQ because there was such a ginormous gap between my verbal and performance IQ. I have significant symptoms indicating Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyspraxia, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, ADHD – inattentive type, with some mental health disorders added into the mix for a little extra spice. Nobody could ever figure out what to make of me, or how to help me. At thirty-four years of age, I still struggle immensely with all kinds of things. I’ve caused problems for a lot of people without meaning to due to my inability to function like a normal human being.
So, maybe I’m a little biased in wanting my neurologically atypical representation, but Dina does definitely show significant signs of Asperger’s Syndrome. The neurologically atypical population is quite a diverse group.
Okay, I had a point initially, and I pretty much completely lost track of said point. Like I said, it’s been a rough day.
Kai
The ideas that everyone is on the autism spectrum, that there’s a progression from neurotypical to adhd to autism, and that the autism spectrum is a linear progression from low-functioning to high-functioning are all incorrect and outdated. The autism spectrum is a spectrum because people have different autistic traits with varying intensity, but those don’t necessarily correlate with each other. Functioning labels are based on a few of those traits society deems more important, and imply general competence/performance correlate to those labels when they really don’t.
Lots of autistic people (myself included) are quite eloquent and have high verbal test scores, read at an early age, had a large vocabulary early on, have a good grasp of grammar and/or spelling, etc. This is actually a main factor in the false distinction between asperger’s and autism, so saying Dina can’t be autistic because she talks well is completely false.
Jenny Islander
@Mindlink: Yes! I can word fine. Peopling, not so much.
random832
I feel like it’s ambiguous and all this insistence is a bit like the people who wanted her to be asexual, though I do think it’s better for her to be one than both due to stereotyping issues.
Muattles
@Wolflann
Lots of comments to reply to above, but there seem to be a lot of people who already covered the important points. This one hasn’t been covered. Labels are important. It’s easy to say “Why do people need labels, just live” and think you are being more inclusive, but often you are doing the opposite. You are telling people who are Autistic to get over being different and just be like everyone else, which is really the core of the problem. You are telling them that it doesn’t matter if they are different, we accept them, but they know that they think differently and act differently than us. My fiance is autistic and we have conversations about this a lot. The first 18 years of her life were a difficult time for her because she couldn’t understand why everyone around her acted so differently than her. They wanted to touch others, they wanted hugs, they wanted to make eye contact. When she was 18 she was told she was Autistic and she had that label. Suddenly everything made sense and she found a community where she belonged, where she didn’t feel like the outcast among a crowd. Labels are important, and can be a very positive thing depending on how they are used.
WolfLann
@Muattles
I know i’m a couple days late but you have a good point.
I meant it more in a way that when people put a labels on someone they expect that person to act exactly a certain way and if they deviate they are told they are doing it wrong.
Like some comments in the past that have already being mentioned about Dina who shouldn’t be acting the way she is because she is autistic.
So what I really meant is don’t let other people tell you what you can or can’t do because of a label except maybe if its something dangerous 😛
We are all weird in our own way.
Life would be boring if we were all the same anyway.
extremist343
I’m finding this conversation amusing. As someone who has high functioning Autism aka Asperger’s Syndrome and has actually researched my own condition, I can vouch for Dina showing very clear signs of having Autism, particularly Asperger’s syndrome. High intelligence is actually part of the condition, the very thing that gives us such high intelligence is exactly what makes it hard to understand normal social cues and behaviours. Neurotypicals often rely on subtleties that we simply are incapable of grasping. We tend to prefer being straight-forward and honest about things, lies and implications do not come naturally to us.
Very Happy Ending.
1. No one died (though some of the bloodthirsty fans are sad toedad survived, I’m not… he actually does love his daughter. He’s just stupid and insane and should be locked up until this changes! ie maybe forever)
2. Becky’s mum is not around, dad is in jail and not getting custody even when released, so Becky has a fairly good chance of getting to do what she wants with her life… or so I hope anyways. I’m not sure how the law there will treat her independance or granting custody etc.
3. Sal saved Amazing Girl’s life. This of course hurts AG’s pride like nothing else could, BUT, at the same time, Sal is right about a lot of stuff. I think costumed vigilantes are supercool, but Sal is right, AG overdoes it and acts irrationally sometimes. As Sal insinuates, Sal has grown since then. AG should too.
4. AG didn’t die. I hope she’s not too badly hurt. Also, she didn’t actually kill anyone.
5. Joyce is a heroine! I hope to see this help to overcome her trauma over that bad party! … Heck, her origin is now similiar to Amber now! She could be the 2nd superheroine, Amazing Grace, lol. … oh wait, that might actually happen. … … …
6. Sal will probably gain some RESPECT for Joyce. Heck she probably already does, I wouldn’t leave counterbalancing my bike in that catch to someone I didn’t trust. … heck I wouldn’t have brought her with me if I didn’t think she was somewhat capable.
7. I know a lot of you want Toedad dead, but having come from a broken family myself, I can tell you that if there is hope in stuff being fixed, that’d be sorta nice. It didn’t work out for me, but if.. IF… *IF* toedad can be counselled and talked to and eventually becomes rational, I hope for reconcilliation. … and if so, PLEASE, David Willis, don’t invoke the “haha I was faking it” trope… rehabilliation of the mentally ill is really tough as it is. Lingering distrust of those who complete their therapy is a real life issue.
woot! That’s a long post! Great times, as always man!
I think the best we can hope for is never seeing Toedad again. Even if it were possible for him to learn to love the Becky that exists rather than the Becky he thinks he’s owed, between the shotgun on campus, the kidnapping, the threats heard over the 911 call, and the accident, he should be looking at a serious list of felonies. It is likely that he’s going to be spending the next few in-comic years in jail. In a comic that’s been running for five years but hasn’t finished a single semester of college. (Actually, have they even hit midterms yet? No one’s mentioned Halloween at all.) Simply put, unless Ross breaks out of prison or there’s an on-panel trial, we’re not going to see him again until roughly 2050, real time.
I think it’s safe to say Sal has some respect for Joyce. When she was just the ridiculously cheerful sheltered fundy who followed Sal around like a puppy, Joyce was annoying. Now she’s interesting.
random832
It’s been five weeks.
My guess is, it’ll be Halloween next October, Thanksgiving in November 2017, and Christmas in December 2018.
Ah, but toedad probably helped Joyce out there.
I think people sort of turn a blind eye when you have friends stay overnight in your dorm. AFAIK anyway.
It’s another matter when it comes to sheltering runaways.
Then again, it’s a whole other ballpark when it comes to sheltering a runaway from a mentally unstable violent and abusive parent.
So Joyce will probably get away with a slap on the wrist.
…
Oh dear. If Becky’s dad didn’t have any guardianship or custody or whatever, does that classify this crime as kidnapping? What’s the penalty for kidnappers in the USA?
“runaway” is another side of the “custody” coin. If it’s established (and the consensus is it has been) that Becky has reached legal age, she’s not a runaway, just for the nonce rootless.
Well, in fairness, Becky and Joyce are probably a bit fried at this point. A person can only panic for so long before they end up in kind of a stoic exhaustion. That’s actually largely how I interpret Joyce’s expression here.
Becky’s ability to retain at least momentary sparks of enthusiasm remain boundless, though 🙂
Until you remember that Becky is afraid that not being “fun” will cause people to reject her. Her boundless enthusiasm can have a different feel when you think about that.
433 thoughts on “Hospital”
Ana Chronistic
“Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea! Are your ears on fire?! Did they wash out your mouth with soap??? OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG”
Ana Chronistic
hmm, I have that wrist guard actually (yay too much cut&paste)
Inkblot
The chosen panel has come and gone. Not sure if there’s much more to worry about (with such a degree of seriousness, that is.)
Disloyal Subject
Still no Dina.
Thor
She went completely feral and continues to haunt the woods.
Opus the Poet
OK the thought of an autistic Japanese dinosaur-obsessed girl “going feral” made me giggle for a few seconds. Prowling the woods attacking people and stealing their cereal…
Decepticon357
Dina is autistic?
Just Here
It’s a general consensus here that Dina is some sort of autistic, possibly Asprger’s.
Coco Pommel
DISAGREE
Agemegos
Dina’s autism-spectrum diagnosis.
I’m a bit of a dissenter on this one. I thought that she seemed to be developing poise and social skills so rapidly in here relationship with Becky that she couldn’t have any serious difficulties with any neurological basis, that she must just have lacked previous opportunities to learn.
Needfuldoer
She’s entirely clueless about nonverbal social cues, and she’s obsessed with one particular subject (dinosaurs), but her intelligence and cognition appear as good as anyone else’s. She’s got to be somewhere on the Autism spectrum.
That Damn Rat
OR NEedfuldoer, there’s a another kind of person who is obsessive about things, they’re called Geeks. I suspect Din isn’t really Autistic, having worked with someone actual Aspergers she’s far too coherent and eloquent. I think she’s just been poorly socialised, depending on when her family imigrated to the USA, possibly early language barriers, or simply the inherent cruelty of children left her an outsider, and thus socially underdeveloped. And as can be seen, given the opportunity to develop her social skills has vastly improved at pace that would be impossible for a genuine autistic.
Koschei
I’m not suggesting Dina us definitely Austistic or not, but suggestions she’s too coherent, eloquent or is picking stuff up too fast etc. need to be tempered byremembering/understanding that there is a huge range or experience and expression amongst people on the spectrum. Myself and my whole family are (officially diagnosed) Autistic and we’re all at least as ‘high functioning’ as Dina, and many of us can ‘pass’ as neurotypical. I picked up certain social skills and cues very fast when things ‘clicked’. I suggest everyone
exercise caution before deciding this or that thing disqualifies her from being Autistic without a look at the wider picture. After all, that is the reason we call it a spectrum now, because of the understanding that there is a huge range of individual variation.
Mindlink
That Damn Rat:
“having worked with someone actual Aspergers she’s far too coherent and eloquent.”
I got to stop you there, while SOME people with Asperger CAN have trouble being coherent and eloquent, MOST people I’ve met with severe Asperger diagnosis have actually been the most eloquent and coherent people I’ve ever met!
See, it’s not that uncommon for one of the subjects that they focus on to be language, so it’s natural that many become authors or Great Speakers.
It’s interpersonal communication that’s the main problem usually.
Back to Dina,
I would find it very likely that she scores high on the autism spectre (and, yes, EVERYONE scores on the autism spectre. Neurotypicals generally score between 5 to 40, Asperger starts at around 70 and goes up to about 160.
I myself usually score 145, but I have some sort of “unspecified” autism, according to my shrink, so I don’t have Asperger.
There are many, many, many types of autism, and everyone is somewhere on that sliding scale, but Dina reminds me so much of my own experiences trying to interact with humanity, so I’m pretty sure she’s higher than normal on the spectre.
TheNinthShader
Showing results for condition where you don’t understand social code
Search instead for condition where you dont understand social code
Search Results
Asperger syndrome – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DinaWho
A large segment of the fanbase considers her on the spectrum. After the Joyce’s Party sequence, Willis said on tumblr that Dina was likely on the spectrum, but undiagnosed.
TamiDOA
1. We’re ALL somewhere on the Autism spectrum. No human’s ever existed that was capable of perfectly understanding and reacting in every social situation.
2. There’s a special section of the spectrum just for those who socially interact mainly through comment sections of web comics. 🙂
WolfLann
Labels again…
Yes maybe she is or is not autistic but does it really matter?
She proved again and again she is a very intelligent woman.
She also learn more and more everyday how to interact with her friends.
Don’t let labels define you.
As soon as a label is applied to someone we can’t seem to see past it. (Trying really hard to. Years of brainwashing on labels and stereotypes)
TheNinthShader
@tami, I can perfectly understand and react to every situation, not appropriatly, but I can react, all you have to do is scream “I dont give a damn” if anyone tries to talk to you, works every time.
Fish
What Koschei said.
Thank you, Koschei. You rock.
Leorale
Usually, people explain the autism spectrum something like this: Neurotypical people -> AD/HD:inattentive & AD/HD:hyperactive -> Asperger’s -> Autism.
Within each of those sections, there are ‘high functioning’ and ‘low functioning’, which usually means how well they’re able to pass for neurotypical and/or get along in society. There are very low-functioning folks who will probably never live independently, and high-functioning people where you really wouldn’t know that their brains are different unless they told you all the strategies that they’d painstakingly invented to appear normative. And everyone between, and people who are high-functioning in some subjects/situations but not others.
When you’re working with people on the spectrum, the idea is generally to help them learn skills/strategies that allow them to be as high-functioning as is possible for that person. (It would be much better if society met them halfway, kinda like how Becky is considerate of Dina! but this is the society we’ve got.) Much like a person who is physically atypical, people who are mentally atypical develop tons of strategies and workarounds that work best for them. Dina hiding under a coat at the party, for example, was a successful strategy to deal with her sensory overstimulation. (It looked kinda weird, but it didn’t harm anyone, and it let her have a fun time even as she was adjusting.)
Autism spectrum = more to deal with, but =/= slow to learn. So, the fact that Dina learns quickly means that she’s a really fast learner (a clever girl!), not that she’s necessarily neurotypical.
Eric
Autistim Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Being a spectrum it means that it covers a pretty wide area from mild to extreme, and different particulars. Dina would fall somewhere towards the mild end, probably in the Asperger Disorder range.
We have a manager where I work who we feel is a high function Asperger, Dina is a little more obvious, but still pretty high function.
Leorale
And yes, indeed, what Koschei said!
Asperger’s and Autism don’t imply incoherent, inarticulate, slow learning, etc. Plenty of folks on the spectrum are quite the opposite.
Also, I just looked it up, and I got high-functioning vs. low-functioning wrong: high-functioning is used colloquially how I used it, but it’s incorrect — as an official term, high functioning actually means that you haven’t got the language or cognitive delays that some ASD folks have.
The More You Know!
So, it sounds like That Damn Rat must’ve worked with somebody with low-functioning Asperger’s. Dina isn’t that, but neither are all Aspies.
TamiDOA
@TheNinthShader. I think you proved my point. Without the clarity of math notation, my “perfect understanding and reacting”, intended as: perfect(understanding + reacting) = (perfect understanding + perfect reacting), failed to be socially communicated.
And to quote myself from years ago: “I understand humans very well, but I still don’t know how to be one.”
Edupoet81
It’s been said that if you’ve met one person with autism , you’ve met one person with autism. I would have to agree with that. The fact that Dina presents as higher functioning than some other people on the spectrum doesn’t mean she can’t be on the spectrum as well.
Okay, it’s been a very long, hard day for me, and I don’t know how coherent that last sentence was. My brain is really not working. My point is, I think that Dina is most likely neurologically atypical. She’s also very intelligent, and functioning at a high level.
I myself baffled many professionals over the years with my vast skill scatter. By skill scatter I mean, I tested as functioning well above average in some things, well below average in others. They couldn’t even calculate my IQ because there was such a ginormous gap between my verbal and performance IQ. I have significant symptoms indicating Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyspraxia, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, ADHD – inattentive type, with some mental health disorders added into the mix for a little extra spice. Nobody could ever figure out what to make of me, or how to help me. At thirty-four years of age, I still struggle immensely with all kinds of things. I’ve caused problems for a lot of people without meaning to due to my inability to function like a normal human being.
So, maybe I’m a little biased in wanting my neurologically atypical representation, but Dina does definitely show significant signs of Asperger’s Syndrome. The neurologically atypical population is quite a diverse group.
Okay, I had a point initially, and I pretty much completely lost track of said point. Like I said, it’s been a rough day.
Kai
The ideas that everyone is on the autism spectrum, that there’s a progression from neurotypical to adhd to autism, and that the autism spectrum is a linear progression from low-functioning to high-functioning are all incorrect and outdated. The autism spectrum is a spectrum because people have different autistic traits with varying intensity, but those don’t necessarily correlate with each other. Functioning labels are based on a few of those traits society deems more important, and imply general competence/performance correlate to those labels when they really don’t.
Lots of autistic people (myself included) are quite eloquent and have high verbal test scores, read at an early age, had a large vocabulary early on, have a good grasp of grammar and/or spelling, etc. This is actually a main factor in the false distinction between asperger’s and autism, so saying Dina can’t be autistic because she talks well is completely false.
Jenny Islander
@Mindlink: Yes! I can word fine. Peopling, not so much.
random832
I feel like it’s ambiguous and all this insistence is a bit like the people who wanted her to be asexual, though I do think it’s better for her to be one than both due to stereotyping issues.
Muattles
@Wolflann
Lots of comments to reply to above, but there seem to be a lot of people who already covered the important points. This one hasn’t been covered. Labels are important. It’s easy to say “Why do people need labels, just live” and think you are being more inclusive, but often you are doing the opposite. You are telling people who are Autistic to get over being different and just be like everyone else, which is really the core of the problem. You are telling them that it doesn’t matter if they are different, we accept them, but they know that they think differently and act differently than us. My fiance is autistic and we have conversations about this a lot. The first 18 years of her life were a difficult time for her because she couldn’t understand why everyone around her acted so differently than her. They wanted to touch others, they wanted hugs, they wanted to make eye contact. When she was 18 she was told she was Autistic and she had that label. Suddenly everything made sense and she found a community where she belonged, where she didn’t feel like the outcast among a crowd. Labels are important, and can be a very positive thing depending on how they are used.
WolfLann
@Muattles
I know i’m a couple days late but you have a good point.
I meant it more in a way that when people put a labels on someone they expect that person to act exactly a certain way and if they deviate they are told they are doing it wrong.
Like some comments in the past that have already being mentioned about Dina who shouldn’t be acting the way she is because she is autistic.
So what I really meant is don’t let other people tell you what you can or can’t do because of a label except maybe if its something dangerous 😛
We are all weird in our own way.
Life would be boring if we were all the same anyway.
extremist343
I’m finding this conversation amusing. As someone who has high functioning Autism aka Asperger’s Syndrome and has actually researched my own condition, I can vouch for Dina showing very clear signs of having Autism, particularly Asperger’s syndrome. High intelligence is actually part of the condition, the very thing that gives us such high intelligence is exactly what makes it hard to understand normal social cues and behaviours. Neurotypicals often rely on subtleties that we simply are incapable of grasping. We tend to prefer being straight-forward and honest about things, lies and implications do not come naturally to us.
Judas Peckerwood
For reals.
Resident SnipeFish
Yeah, all told this has gone well.
Kryss LaBryn
“That’s it, young lady; you go get me a switch!” Sheesh, such language, Joyce! 😀
Valis_kr3
Happy ending?
gkheyf
happy ending, one nickel!
Silvester Crow
The happy ending goes by the name “Your Mom”.
LordMelvin
… Your mom gave me a happy ending for a nickel?
Twinkle Toes the Berserker
So Mike is going to fuck it somehow?
Aeron
He’s upstairs, pointing at toedad and laughing.
gkheyf
That sounds terrifying
Tenn
No no no… Bart O’Ryan is pointing at Toedad and laughing. Mike is dropkicking him.
John
Willis ought to quit with this drawing Dumbing of Age nonsense and get back to clearly his best webcomic, LAWsome.
When are we going to get a LAWsome Slipshine is what I want to know.
TheNinthShader
IN THE FAAAAAAACEE
Freezer
Not until we see Becky/Dina snuggles.
Jason
Very Happy Ending.
1. No one died (though some of the bloodthirsty fans are sad toedad survived, I’m not… he actually does love his daughter. He’s just stupid and insane and should be locked up until this changes! ie maybe forever)
2. Becky’s mum is not around, dad is in jail and not getting custody even when released, so Becky has a fairly good chance of getting to do what she wants with her life… or so I hope anyways. I’m not sure how the law there will treat her independance or granting custody etc.
3. Sal saved Amazing Girl’s life. This of course hurts AG’s pride like nothing else could, BUT, at the same time, Sal is right about a lot of stuff. I think costumed vigilantes are supercool, but Sal is right, AG overdoes it and acts irrationally sometimes. As Sal insinuates, Sal has grown since then. AG should too.
4. AG didn’t die. I hope she’s not too badly hurt. Also, she didn’t actually kill anyone.
5. Joyce is a heroine! I hope to see this help to overcome her trauma over that bad party! … Heck, her origin is now similiar to Amber now! She could be the 2nd superheroine, Amazing Grace, lol. … oh wait, that might actually happen. … … …
6. Sal will probably gain some RESPECT for Joyce. Heck she probably already does, I wouldn’t leave counterbalancing my bike in that catch to someone I didn’t trust. … heck I wouldn’t have brought her with me if I didn’t think she was somewhat capable.
7. I know a lot of you want Toedad dead, but having come from a broken family myself, I can tell you that if there is hope in stuff being fixed, that’d be sorta nice. It didn’t work out for me, but if.. IF… *IF* toedad can be counselled and talked to and eventually becomes rational, I hope for reconcilliation. … and if so, PLEASE, David Willis, don’t invoke the “haha I was faking it” trope… rehabilliation of the mentally ill is really tough as it is. Lingering distrust of those who complete their therapy is a real life issue.
woot! That’s a long post! Great times, as always man!
saki
Becky’s 18, so I don’t think there’s any custody to be granted to anyone?
JQuire
Yeah, definitely too old for someone to get custody.
But hey, she has excellent grounds for a Protective Order against Toedad!
NotPiffany
I think the best we can hope for is never seeing Toedad again. Even if it were possible for him to learn to love the Becky that exists rather than the Becky he thinks he’s owed, between the shotgun on campus, the kidnapping, the threats heard over the 911 call, and the accident, he should be looking at a serious list of felonies. It is likely that he’s going to be spending the next few in-comic years in jail. In a comic that’s been running for five years but hasn’t finished a single semester of college. (Actually, have they even hit midterms yet? No one’s mentioned Halloween at all.) Simply put, unless Ross breaks out of prison or there’s an on-panel trial, we’re not going to see him again until roughly 2050, real time.
I think it’s safe to say Sal has some respect for Joyce. When she was just the ridiculously cheerful sheltered fundy who followed Sal around like a puppy, Joyce was annoying. Now she’s interesting.
random832
It’s been five weeks.
My guess is, it’ll be Halloween next October, Thanksgiving in November 2017, and Christmas in December 2018.
Cephalo the Pod
Hell, once everyone’s healed up (both physically and mentally), things are better than ever.
Becky doesn’t have to hide from her dad anymore. She can work more freely on building a new life for herself.
And as Jason pointed out above, Joyce stayed strong and asserted herself, and it worked out in her favour. She’s got to feel good about that.
The only two things that worry me are Becky’s exposure and Amazi-Girl’s condition.
I’m afraid that the school will punish Joyce for keeping Becky in her dorm.
And we don’t know yet if Amazi-Girl’s willing to seek medical help.
Jason
Ah, but toedad probably helped Joyce out there.
I think people sort of turn a blind eye when you have friends stay overnight in your dorm. AFAIK anyway.
It’s another matter when it comes to sheltering runaways.
Then again, it’s a whole other ballpark when it comes to sheltering a runaway from a mentally unstable violent and abusive parent.
So Joyce will probably get away with a slap on the wrist.
…
Oh dear. If Becky’s dad didn’t have any guardianship or custody or whatever, does that classify this crime as kidnapping? What’s the penalty for kidnappers in the USA?
DSL
“runaway” is another side of the “custody” coin. If it’s established (and the consensus is it has been) that Becky has reached legal age, she’s not a runaway, just for the nonce rootless.
MatthewTheLucky
Oh thank goodness.
Confuzor
Best reaction!
Mr. Mendo
Dorothy’s taking this way worse than they are. I knew I liked her! ^_^
Eric
Dorothy only knows Amazo’s services were required, and that Toedad was back. Also, probably every siren in Bloomington going off at once.
DinaWho
She also probably knows about the gun, given that there was a lockdown.
Annie
And with the way information can fly on a college campus, she might have known that Becky was kidnapped and that Joyce went after her.
Doctor_Who
I wish she had made the JoyceFace (you know the one) in response. Would have been appropriate.
Mr. Mendo
“Great Scott!”
“I know, it’s heavy, isn’t it?”
AgentKeen
I’ve never wished I could art more than I do this moment.
TheNinthShader
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/gasp/
TheNinthShader
and http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/item/
chiscii
Let’s imagine she did
Jason
Pretty good, pretty good!
Mr. Mendo
I was fooled! 🙂
Benwhoski
Well, in fairness, Becky and Joyce are probably a bit fried at this point. A person can only panic for so long before they end up in kind of a stoic exhaustion. That’s actually largely how I interpret Joyce’s expression here.
Becky’s ability to retain at least momentary sparks of enthusiasm remain boundless, though 🙂
showler
Until you remember that Becky is afraid that not being “fun” will cause people to reject her. Her boundless enthusiasm can have a different feel when you think about that.
Mr. Mendo
Fear of rejection? Indomitable spirit? Two sides of the same dime? Discuss!
Idon'tcarenomore
And here is the hospital scene at last.
inqntrol
Soon we will see Dina.
timemonkey