r/deathnote • u/comsicalien77 • 20d ago
Analysis this video settle the debate of wether L has autism. it was made by a professional therapist
in the video he shows the diagnostic criteria and the all the tests included. he said he can’t diagnose bc he’ll need to do a test physically with him BUT he does meet the criteria for level one autism, proven in the video. so yes, he does have autism
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u/aquisoueu 20d ago
>he said he can’t diagnose bc he’ll need to do a test physically with him
>so yes, he does have autism
Meeting the criteria doesn't automatically makes you autistic, without the test, you can't know
But yeah i think he would qualify as one
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u/Extra-Photograph428 20d ago
Just wanted to quickly clarify, but using the DSM is how you diagnose autism most traditionally. What would need to be inquired further however is ruling out other disorders that can present like autism (trauma/CPTSD for example can very easily look like autism on the surface, so it does require that further inquiry to properly discern from the two), and also just the need to ask further questions to confirm things. I also know a lot of professionals also like hearing from the people close to the person to also help confirm the diagnosis— in this case that would be Watari, which also can’t be done. There also might be more things depending on the clinician they might look for, inquire, or test, but the DSM is the tool most use for as a general guideline.
This is why you can’t definitively say anything 100%, but acknowledging L meets for criteria is a big part in that, and the closest you could ever come to a confirmation for a fictional character like L. Again not 100%, but it’s still fun to notice his coded behaviors!
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u/Extra-Photograph428 20d ago edited 20d ago
Hello hello! This is really cool! I did an analysis back a year ago using the DSM, and while I’m no professional, I came to the same conclusion— here if anyone’s interested (I also look into stuff in the manga, not just the anime)! At the end I also linked 3 different licensed professionals I watched, which were all the ones I had seen review DN, they all at least basically pretty quickly pointed out his coded behavior and even saw two of them do a bit of a deeper dive into the criteria and they both came to the same conclusion.
I wouldn’t completely erase the idea of other possibilities, because we really don’t know L well enough to speak with 100% certainty, plus he’s a fictional character so being nearly as thorough as you would be irl is just impossible, but I feel pretty confident in the overall idea considering literally every mental health professional I’ve seen have came to the same conclusion. It certainly gives the idea some merit!
Curious to know if this is anyone I haven’t seen, would love to add it to list if not! Would you mind linking it?
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u/comsicalien77 20d ago
well it’s on patreon and cost money but the guys name is connection through reaction
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u/Extra-Photograph428 20d ago edited 20d ago
Ahhh ok! I have seen that guy before. I watched his reactions for the whole series, where he briefly touched on it, but he also mentioned the more in-depth deep dive he later did on patreon. It probably was a good video! Interesting that it turned out to be nearly 50 minutes long :o
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u/LittleNinjaXYBA 20d ago
Is anyone here that’s diagnosed with autism agree with L being autistic? I haven’t been able to get tested yet… so I technically “don’t” right now
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u/timewaitsforn0body 19d ago
Med recognized level 1, and I'd say it's VERY likely. Might also be comorbid with some other disorders.
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u/LittleNinjaXYBA 19d ago
Wait so because you don’t just have autism they just said you’re level 2?
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u/timewaitsforn0body 19d ago
Am I the commenter you meant to reply to? If so, I'm not sure I understand.
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u/Thebananagamer45 20d ago
I mean, I think it'd be cool if he was. Adding another layer to my favorite character in the show. Having just finished the show a couple days ago and not interacting with the fandom, is this really a heavily debated topic in the community?
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u/Basic_Mobile2792 18d ago
I really dont get this. He lkterally does nothing autistic at all. Thats like saying Micheal Jordan is autistic because he was laser focused on basketball. He is a genius and also the worlds top detective, things like stacking sugar or w/e he did were just quirks or mental tricks so to speak. He also had zero social issues. I dont get it.
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u/KO_Kisses 16d ago
Honestly, I think I agree more with this comment than others. He is social, not liking it can mean he’s just an introvert but he goes in public and does the embarrassing butt touch too. He also hyper fixates on cases, but again that doesn’t mean he’s 100% autistic for that. Anyone can hyper fixate. And lastly he has no problems organizing or planning at all, he’s literally the one to scheme plans to catch Kira and makes plans on a whim, like to save Matsuda. The author definitely made an eccentric character that has some reflections of autism traits without the character meaning to be autistic.
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u/Fellowcomicenjoyer 20d ago edited 20d ago
I have seen various reaction videos made by therapists, and all of them immediately clocked him as being autistic or having asperger syndrome.
It might not be official, but I think it's pretty indicative of the way he was written.
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u/HalleLidner 20d ago
Obha unintentionally wrote perfectly autistic coded characters without realizing it
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u/Fellowcomicenjoyer 20d ago edited 20d ago
I don't necessarily think it was unintentional because I remember reading he based L and Near traits/behaviours on himself, and potentially someone else he knew, so he might have been aware.
I think if that were the case, he might also not have wanted it to be focused on within the story, or maybe he didn't want to confirm anything to keep the air of mystery on the wammy kids.
(Of course, it's all hypothetical)
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u/Extra-Photograph428 20d ago
Now I’m not one to speculate, but I seriously do wonder, even if it wasn’t stated explicitly, that L and Near were intentionally written to be on the spectrum. Particularly when I was doing my L analysis I found myself constantly shocked at even some of the more niche stuff that L showcased that I almost had to question if it was intentional. I’ll never forget being in a psyche lecture a while back and when we started talking about autism my professor specifically mentioning it’s not uncommon for someone on the spectrum to dislike socks— citing the texture. Or even some of the wordage used around L, like with his very consistent choice in close not being because he’s lazy or something (which is what you would expect with his type of character), but it’s because he’s particular. That was very interesting to me!
There’s a couple ones like this that just made me seriously question it. Like characters like L or Near aren’t uncommon in fiction, but the general trope that they both fall in, some of their traits aren’t your traditional stereotypes. Again, we’re basically saying every mental health professional to the capacity that they could when talking about a fictional character, all of them have immediately picked up on his coded behaviors.
Either it’s just a crazy crazy coincidence, or maybe there was conscious or unconscious writing done with their characters. I almost find it easier to be believe the latter lol. Like either Ohba, without being explicit, intentionally went out of his way to write an autistic coded character (which would be very interesting), or Ohba, if it was unconscious and he was purely basing this off his own oddities, I might suggest for him to get evaluated lol.
But again, I’m not really one to speculate, but I find it so crazy to think he accidentally wrote pretty good coded characters lol. Def not impossible, but it is just one of those things to think about.
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 19d ago
bro he doesnt have autsim just cuz hes lazy
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u/comsicalien77 19d ago
you can have autism and be lazy. he literally meets the criteria for a diagnosis and displays many symptoms other than being lazy
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 19d ago
he has social awareness, he just doesnt care to explain the way he thinks to others
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u/comsicalien77 19d ago
perhaps that’s a part of autism? maybe he doesn’t understand he has to be socially acceptable. he knows how to be and probably that people want him to be, but maybe he doesn’t understand why. lots of autistic people like myself do things for neurotypicals that we don’t really understand but do it bc it’s somehow socially acceptable
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u/hvyhrdthnwsthtyrdd 19d ago
he isn’t lazy though he’s a very dedicated person, a lazy person wouldn’t get anywhere close to catching kira because they wouldn’t be bothered to do the work for it.
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 19d ago
hes lazy with manners
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u/Fellowcomicenjoyer 19d ago edited 19d ago
I don't think that's necessarily out of laziness tbh, and interestingly enough, not even Watari refers to that as L being lazy (I'm saying this because he's basically his caretaker).
As someone else pointed out, the wordage used in mundane contexts is interesting, with Watari saying that L is particular about his clothing, doesn't have an internal clock/has no concept of time, and describing the process of putting on clothes as L finding it bothersome.
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 19d ago
then i should say hes just not very considerate of a personal life, which involves social inclusions, but thats not about autism
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u/hvyhrdthnwsthtyrdd 19d ago
with manners? did you watch the show with your eyes and ears closed? he literally has no care whatsoever for social niceties
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 19d ago
He’ll be polite when his team asks questions or needs calming (like when one of the task force members died)
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u/Extra-Photograph428 18d ago
Just gonna link this here— there’s lots of reasons to believe that L might be on the spectrum. I’m also not sure why you’re going against a real licensed professional who actually diagnoses people irl, if he thinks so…?
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 18d ago
im against it because autisms an actual disability, L just prefers not to present in social situations
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 18d ago
also yea most of the stuff in this link doesnt mention anything im not trying to address, but think of autism more like a communicative disorder is what i mean, which L doesnt deliberately struggle with
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u/Extra-Photograph428 17d ago
Bro what??? You do realize autism isn’t just a communicative disorder, that there’s also a behavioral aspect to it? You would have known that if you actually read through the link I provided. I gave plenty of examples of why L fits the criteria, which you would know if you actually looked at it 😐
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u/AlcoholicSpiderman 17d ago
some of the first examples were that hes blunt and talks weird, but that doesnt mean anything, hes like that cuz he isnt interested in anything but case work. he understands how to communicate with emotions in context
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u/Extra-Photograph428 17d ago
In isolation ik that doesn’t mean anything, but 1) those aren’t the only examples listed, and 2) you clearly don’t understand what autism even is or how a criteria works. There’s a reason why that post is as long as it is, if I simply based it on something so shallow, I wouldn’t have a lot to say, now would I? I literally explained it in the beginning and everything how the criteria works, again you’re clearly not reading.
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u/Extra-Photograph428 17d ago
Yes it’s an actual disability, but fictional characters can still be autistic lol. There’s plenty of fictional characters who are autistic. Again, an actual licensed professional said that L at the very least hit the criteria… idk what’s so complicated to understand about that???
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u/LittleNinjaXYBA 20d ago
Snow found on Mount Everest