Misha's disabillity?

[ShadeHaven]

Yes, please come here and take your prize.

Ticket that allows you to have a threesome with any Katawa-Shoujo related characters.

Have a nice evening. xD

Sweet! Misha and Shizune here I come. Hurr hurr, that was such a bad joke.

[Pyramid Head]

Yes, please come here and take your prize.

Ticket that allows you to have a threesome with any Katawa-Shoujo related characters.

Have a nice evening. xD

Sweet! Misha and Shizune here I come. Hurr hurr, that was such a bad joke.

...yeah, i'm going to post something funny to let people recover from that one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limc_mfDZJU

[ShadeHaven]

...yeah, i'm going to post something funny to let people recover from that one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limc_mfDZJU

Was expecting to get rick rolled.

I don't think she has a disability.

She more than likely doesn't, although that inner ear/balance thing mentioned earlier does seem pretty plausible.

[Pyramid Head]

I think it's also pretty plausible Misha attended Yamaku because she lived fairly close to the city and liked that it wasn't quite as uptight on standards, something that would come in handy for someone who is as dumb as a box of rocks, and began learning sign language as an elective after taking an interest in Shizune. They do make it clear being disabled isn't absolutely required to attend Yamaku, it just has special facilities for people who are disabled. Jah knows the relaxed dress code and smoking hot purple haired burn victims would make me want to attend.
Y'know, if i didn't already have a diploma.

Oh quick edit, i utterly loathe pop music and would never Rick Roll anyone. Like the sniper said, professionals have standards, and i'm a professional asshole.

[WorldlyWiseman]

I think it's also pretty plausible Misha attended Yamaku because she lived fairly close to the city and liked that it wasn't quite as uptight on standards, something that would come in handy for someone who is as dumb as a box of rocks, and began learning sign language as an elective after taking an interest in Shizune. They do make it clear being disabled isn't absolutely required to attend Yamaku, it just has special facilities for people who are disabled. Jah knows the relaxed dress code and smoking hot purple haired burn victims would make me want to attend.
Y'know, if i didn't already have a diploma.

Oh quick edit, i utterly loathe pop music and would never Rick Roll anyone. Like the sniper said, professionals have standards, and i'm a professional asshole.

Preemptive apology: I'm going to be a professional pedant real quick. Misha did in fact, was studying sign language before she met Shizune. She was just really, really bad at it. It's implied that she decided to go to Yamaku because she was expecting a less judgmental environment (because she likes the vagina, you see), and she got in on a sign-language scholarship. She was still depressed and wasn't studying very hard until Shizune made a point of trying to socialize with her.

Moving on to pure speculation, I think Yamaku has every reason to accept students who don't have any disabilities. These students would be paying tuition that the school would need, but wouldn't require much of the specialized equipment that the school has to maintain for those who need it. It's pretty possible that Yamaku offers fast-track programs for students who want to become interpreters or caretakers or doctors. There would be plenty of demand for these kinds of graduates, and having them go to a school where their peers are much like their future clients/patients would give them all sorts of practical experience. Meanwhile, the school is using scholarships from the government and the tuition of these low-maintenance students to subsidize the students whose needs are more expensive.

[AlligatorGuitar]

Misha is not Aspergers.

Rin is Aspergers.

I throw my lot in with the mild hearing disability for Misha.

[Pyramid Head]

Misha is not Aspergers.

Rin is Aspergers.

I throw my lot in with the mild hearing disability for Misha.

Actually the fact that she's emotionally subdued, a horrible speaker, and actually likely to go with something she doesn't like doesn't strike me as Asperger's. The truth is you can make a stronger argument for Hanako having that disorder than Rin because that disorder is defined more by social problems and perpetual emotional immaturity than by just random behavior. Some have also suggested it be defined by obsession since the patient that lead to the definition of the disorder was first observed by Dr. Asperger due to his train obsession, but i'm a little dubious about that one.

I stick my my claim and also suggest you check WorldlyWiseman's post since it's not implausible either, Misha was there voluntarily possibly seeking looser social or education standards and doesn't have a real physical disability aside from one parfait too many and the whole hair thing.

[AlligatorGuitar]

Actually the fact that she's emotionally subdued, a horrible speaker, and actually likely to go with something she doesn't like doesn't strike me as Asperger's. The truth is you can make a stronger argument for Hanako having that disorder than Rin because that disorder is defined more by social problems and perpetual emotional immaturity than by just random behavior. Some have also suggested it be defined by obsession since the patient that lead to the definition of the disorder was first observed by Dr. Asperger due to his train obsession, but i'm a little dubious about that one.

Aspergers is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. This, despite what ideas and associations most people make immediately, is an incredibly broad definition. Broad enough to contain both Hanako and Rin. Misha, however, does not fit that description at all. I'm a little wary about applying it to Hanako, because she doesn't have an obsession like Rin has in painting. Perhaps reading could qualify, but Hisao reads just as much, and he's surely not Aspergers.


Another possible character to consider for this affliction is Yuuko. General clumsiness is also an occurring symptom.

Rin is, to me, a shining example of Aspergers, because she fits all three requirements. She is terrible at communicating emotions and ideas. She has an obsession in which she excels, and she has ZERO hand/eye coordination.

[ProfAllister]

On the subject of Aspergers, don't. Just don't. It is a real thing, and people do have it, and they display certain symptoms. But it's gotten to the point in popular culture where any character with any sort of quirky personality is diagnosed with Aspergers. I'd say this is because I know someone with a severe case of Aspergers (legally incompetent), but it really applies to most mental disorders. I may just be overly sensitive, but I really feel it's less than constructive.

Anyway, it seems like there really hasn't been a systematic overview of the question, so here we go:

Yamaku is a school for students with disabilities.
Misha appears to have physiological issues at times.
Misha's physiological issues are informed rather than seen (other than sleepiness, and she works hard enough to justify that without any disability).
Many physiological issues can be explained without a physical disability (e.g. sensitive teeth and feeling sick potentially imply bulimia).
Misha lies about nearly everything about her prior to her breakdown.
Misha's confession includes the statement that she originally didn't want to come to Yamaku.
Disabilities can be low-visibility (Like, I don't know, Hisao's?).
It's explicitly stated that Yamaku allows students who don't have disabilities (also, severe burn scarring isn't a disability. Hanako's flown under the radar on this point for some reason).
Mental issues are not catered to by Yamaku.
Misha's family could not normally afford tuition at Yamaku.
A scholarship for becoming a sign language teacher allows them to afford tuition.
Misha initially knew a little sign language, but wasn't very good at it.
Misha doesn't miss her friends from her old school.
Misha figured Yamaku would be acceptable because she'd be ignored rather than hated.
Misha has an extreme fear of rejection.
The devs have implied in interviews that Misha does in fact have a disability, but they're not telling.
The devs have explicitly said that Word of God means nothing. If it's not in the official materials, it's not canon. Except for the typo about Lily and Shizune's fathers being brothers.
(Feel free to add more if I missed anything)

Based on these data points, here's my conclusion:

Misha has a disability that can usually be hidden. At her old school, her disability manifested itself in a highly visible way. This terrified the students, and her old friends abandoned her, possibly even bullied her. She found herself hated and abandoned by the very people who used to be her close friends. This outburst was likely the first discovery of her disability, and she likely learned about Yamaku around that time, but they couldn't afford it. The disability wasn't enough to keep her from returning to school, and that's when she became rejected and hated. Wanting to escape, she learned about Yamaku's Sign Language teaching scholarship. She knew (or started learning) a little sign language, and decided that she could escape the torment of her old school, even if it meant going to Cripple Central.

Also, not buying the "went to Yamaku because she was an outcast for being a lesbian." Why would someone commit to a career to pay for tuition at a school for the disabled because people don't like lesbians? Any why would Yamaku be at all preferable to transferring to some other school for a clean slate? Why would cripples tolerate lesbians more than other people?

[dwarduk]

On the subject of Aspergers, don't. Just don't. It is a real thing, and people do have it, and they display certain symptoms. But it's gotten to the point in popular culture where any character with any sort of quirky personality is diagnosed with Aspergers. I'd say this is because I know someone with a severe case of Aspergers (legally incompetent), but it really applies to most mental disorders. I may just be overly sensitive, but I really feel it's less than constructive.

There are plenty of people with Asperger's on these boards, from what little I've seen. It's not just, "oh, there's someone who knows this guy who has it real bad"; we're actually here. But then I see it in the less severe cases, myself included, to be more of a personality descriptor than a mental disorder, and I have it bad enough to have a Statement of Need (not as severe as legally incompetent, but requiring extra provision and assistance). I agree with ProfAllister, that it would be good to not have that word brandished at will, but I just tune it out mostly, in the same way I no longer notice the word "fag" on 4chan.

As for Misha's disability, I'm in the camp of people who don't think she has one. Inner-ear problems are also feasible, I suppose, but it just doesn't quite sit right and I don't know why.

[AlligatorGuitar]

On the subject of Aspergers, don't. Just don't. It is a real thing, and people do have it, and they display certain symptoms. But it's gotten to the point in popular culture where any character with any sort of quirky personality is diagnosed with Aspergers. I'd say this is because I know someone with a severe case of Aspergers (legally incompetent), but it really applies to most mental disorders. I may just be overly sensitive, but I really feel it's less than constructive.

I was diagnosed in 5th grade, in 2005, after having migraines. I agree that the public perception of Aspergers is quite different than real symptoms, due to characters such as Sheldon Cooper playing it for laughs. It is used much more than it needs to be, undoubtedly. The difference seems to be the people who use it as an excuse to be rude, and the people who are serious about discussing it.

But discussing it maturely, with thought, as we have done above, is not "less than constructive." The entire point of this game was to state that people with disabilities, are still people, and as, characters, should be open to discussion and interpretation. I have already benefited from this discussion, as before Pyramid Head brought it up, I never would have even thought of Hanako as HFA. The point is, if we aren't going to discuss it, then we just let is sit in the corner, and that seems to counter the very idea this game was founded upon.

And as for Misha, I'm supporting inner-ear because of the "stairs make me dizzy" line.

[Helbereth]

...yeah, i'm going to post something funny to let people recover from that one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limc_mfDZJU

I just nearly choked on my pills listening to that.

I don't blame you, though, I blame George Carlin - RIP.

[Hongu]

Simple. Misha's disability is that she's chubbier than the rest of the girls.

[Pyramid Head]

Simple. Misha's disability is that she's chubbier than the rest of the girls.

Are you sure that's really a disability? It's possible she was intentionally going for the "Overweight but not unattractive low self esteem" build because she thought it would attract Shizune. Or maybe she realized that before she dyed her hair she looked like a character from Tenjou Tenge and decided to go out of her way to undo that.

[Hongu]

Simple. Misha's disability is that she's chubbier than the rest of the girls.

Are you sure that's really a disability? It's possible she was intentionally going for the "Overweight but not unattractive low self esteem" build because she thought it would attract Shizune. Or maybe she realized that before she dyed her hair she looked like a character from Tenjou Tenge and decided to go out of her way to undo that.

Maybe you're right. Shizune was always a chubby chaser after all.