Misha's disabillity?

[hatori1181]

Dollywitch

Take a look at William's syndrome I mentioned earlier. It's like a reverse Aspergers Syndrome. I really think it might hit the mark on most of her issues.

[G3n0c1de]

I think they only said the thing about the stairs so it would force Hisao into doing that task. It is manual labor, and they show up later anyway.

The same could be said of the balls. They make Hisao play, so he's the one winning the prize, and subsequently, he'd give it to one of them.

[neumanproductions]

I think they only said the thing about the stairs so it would force Hisao into doing that task. It is manual labor, and they show up later anyway.
The same could be said of the balls. They make Hisao play, so he's the one winning the prize, and subsequently, he'd give it to one of them.

Which once again begs us to think that Misha's disability could be in no way related to those as if they were symptoms. That leaves us down to her trouble when dialing the phone when they order out as one of a few remaining concepts if we dump the eyes, say that her loudness is just her normal voice/personality and not a disability related issue, and her knowing of sign was just a coincidence.

So I guess that just leaves Misha as being lazy and having trouble when pressing buttons.

[Dollywitch]

Also, it's already been established that the school isn't just for physical disabilities

Wrong. The only disabilities the school handles are physical ones as have been stated by the Devs time and time again. Normal students are also able to attend the school if their parents can afford the tuition, but it is NOT for mental disabilities.

Sigh. I wish there was a way of stickying things within threads.

To explain how Yamaku works, every student is admitted on a case-by-case basis and the guidelines are somewhat vague. There are completely healthy students, physically disabled students and mildly mentally disabled students in the school. Many students do have psychological problems of one kind or another (it's not easy to be a teenaged cripple, or find out you are one), but the board generally does not admit anyone who is really mental. This is because the students need to be able to attend class, and interact with teachers (who are not medical professionals) and other students (deafness/muteness doesn't count here). Anyway, the school is primarily geared for kids with physical disabilities that still permit a semblance of normal life (there are no quadriplegic students, for example), and that's what a clear majority of the students are.

It's not that Yanmaku isn't for mental disabilities, it's just that it's not equipped for dealing with more extreme mental disabilities that would impede every day communication & life.

I suggested that tinnitus might be a symptom of her disability and you claim that it would impede her ability to translate for Shizune which is also inaccurate as I've recently met a couple people who suffer from it as part of inner-ear issues and they have difficulty discerning how loud they're being at times but are perfectly able to understand regular conversation as their brain tunes out the ringing after suffering from it for a while. They have some difficulty with extremely low volumes, but you're assuming that Misha is unable to ask someone to speak up if she's having difficulty hearing them.

1 - She goes up on the roof for the fireworks display and has no problems with that. She only mentions dizziness on stairs which is more representative of vertigo or inner-ear issues.

We don't see her having problems with it. Also, she disappears pretty quickly.

2 - Never has to catch a ball in act 1. She has difficulty with aiming while throwing. Again, more suggestive of inner-ear issues.

Or sensory issues with aspergers. Catching and throwing a ball require largely the same feats of coordination, you know.

3 - Never gets startled while approached in act 1. Read the scene with Emi running into Hisao again as that would be the #1 spot for that to show up if it's going to. It didn't.

We don't see her getting startled, but either way, it doesn't mean she doesn't

4 - There are times when she prefers to try to give her hands a rest when she's able to take a break from signing. There are no signs of compulsive movement in scenes without translation such as the stall-building scene.

Because she's done sign language as part of occupational territory? She seems to compulsively sign everything around her too. The way the sprite is animated too, she does compulsive point her finger up quickly, then drop it.

5 - She only seems to have problems with unfamiliar words. There's nothing overt to suggest this as I know multiple people with different forms of Aspergers. My friend's younger brother who has it has difficulty with simple words and complex words alike. A different friend who has a less intensive case only has problems with particular sounds and it's more like a speech impediment. Misha shows neither of these signs.

It was just from the list, something to look out for. She hasn't displayed it yet, but may go on to do if this is the Dev's intention.

6 - That never shows up in act 1. She only has difficulty with a couple difficult words. That seems to be more of a vocabulary issue.

Discerning certain sounds could also explain her loudness and constant signing of everything around her., i.e. sometimes she has difficulty distinguishing between different voices, too.

7 - Never happens.
8 - Um... again, this never once comes up in act 1.
9 - Never comes up in act 1.

See 5.

I know people with Aspergers in a couple different forms, including the brother of one friend who is rather outgoing, but not in a Misha-like way. Misha doesn't resemble them at all.

How many of them are girls? Girls with AS can be very different.

[Totz the Plaid]

Dollywitch, I am facepalming so hard right now that I'm going to have red marks on my forehead for a week.

Aspergers is not a minor mental disability, even people with only mild cases of it and are more outgoing than the norm, such as my female friend (who is NOTHING like Misha, by the way) have, at times, extreme difficulty connecting with others. They usually require special attention for teaching purposes and have difficulty in group settings.

If Misha were afraid of heights, like you suggest, she wouldn't agree to go up on the roof. She doesn't "disappear" either, she just ends up falling asleep and seems extremely comfortable with the whole scenario before doing so.

As for the game, Misha says:

I don't have the aim to knock the dolls off their pedestals in that one game... and Shicchan refuses to throw things.

Not enough to go on with your claim, especially since, as others have pointed out, she might just want Hisao to win her something. Admittedly that's not good for my tinnitus idea either, but...

The finger thing is most likely just her signalling "hold on one second" in conversation. It's a very common thing, and I know many people who do it. It could also be the limited-sprite animation for her signing. ...or she could just 'talk with her hands' along with her signing. Again, it's too small of a thing to matter.

And as for her being startled when people approach, NEVER does that come up in act 1. It never happens at the festival, or when Emi runs into Hisao, or when Rin steps out of the art room, or at any other point in time whatsoever. At all. It's a pretty big thing to be missing.

All that aside, there is one more HUGE issue with your Aspergers theory: Misha recognizes on her own that Hisao is really bothered by their constant attempts to get him to join the Student Council. None of the people I know with Aspergers would pick up on that without someone else explaining it to them, and Shizune is the only one who would be in a position to. You're really going to bet that Shizune told Misha that? Really? Misha also shows numerous other small moments of concern without any prompting from others. That is not normal behavior for anyone with even an extremely mild case of Aspergers.

[Dollywitch]

You have a really extreme view of aspergers. Speaking from personal experience as a female with aspergers, I identify with Misha's behaviour quite a lot. It is not true that people with aspergers are completely unable to read moods, just they have difficulty in doing so, which is consistent with Misha's behaviour. When I was young too, I was often afraid of stairs but was fine having climbed them.

I recognise I have a serious condition and I did try to argue for that by pointing out the sensory difficulties that come with aspergers. I don't like it being made out however that I'm a social cripple. With enough practice and effort many AS can pass for almost neurotypical.

[Totz the Plaid]

I don't like it being made out however that I'm a social cripple.

I am only speaking from my own extensive personal experience. I never called you a "social cripple", I just said that:

Aspergers is not a minor mental disability, even people with only mild cases of it and are more outgoing than the norm, such as my female friend (who is NOTHING like Misha, by the way) have, at times, extreme difficulty connecting with others. They usually require special attention for teaching purposes and have difficulty in group settings.

New emphasis added.

I cannot count the number of times where my female friend with Aspergers has gone on about a point that I've already explicitly said "I'm tired of discussing this can we please talk about something else now", or even more explicitly "I'm done talking about this", or "you're making me very [explitive deleted] frustrated, and I don't want to get pissed, so for the love of God can we please just talk about something else?!" and she still doesn't get that I'm tired of it. Her case is exceptionally mild. This doesn't happen all the time, only when she gets focused on something and really cares about the topic, much like Misha would be about getting Hisao on the Student Council, so the fact that Misha talks to Hisao one-on-one and expresses the fact that she realizes he's sick and tired of it does not match my experience with people with Aspergers either male or female, either extreme or mild cases.

To further clarify: I'm sorry if you read something offensive into my post that I did not intentionally insert into it, but I am speaking from my own rather extensive personal experience and Misha does not match any of that at all.

[neumanproductions]

Hard to believe there are people who are actually taking Misha's disability more seriously than me.
I give props to both of you for keeping at it though, yet in the words of Highlander.
"There can only be one!"

[Mirage_GSM]

Or in the words of Conan:
"There is only one truth, and we'll learn it when KS is released."
...or something similar.

[Dollywitch]

Semi related, I have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction(due to mysterious and apparently incurable since they can't find what's causing it Chronic Sinusitis), the kind where it's hard to open them. If you have the kind where they get stuck open, it can be really weird, everything sounds kind of hollow. I don't know how my inner ear is infected by the Sinusitis, but I do get dizzy fairly often.

[Grand Haberdasher]

You watch. It's going to turn out that her disability is something completely unforeshadowed by Act 1.

[G3n0c1de]

You watch. It's going to turn out that her disability is something completely unforeshadowed by Act 1.

This could just as easily be dev trolling, but they stated that the hints are in Act 1, and they find it hilarious how we are missing them.

[neumanproductions]

You watch. It's going to turn out that her disability is something completely unforeshadowed by Act 1.

This could just as easily be dev trolling, but they stated that the hints are in Act 1, and they find it hilarious how we are missing them.

Well, if it was that obvious I guess that simple means that Misha's disability is that she is a girl.

But seriously, yes I remember them saying that and it has bugged me ever since who I can't see it as that simple. That's it, another full playthrough in a couple more weeks. Right now I got finals and of course Wanko to Kurasou to be my excuse for not studying.

[sabre98]

Reading this thread is like watching scene with differential diagnosis in House M.D. So many possibilities...

I´ve seen many speculations in this and other threads regarding Misha´s possible demise due to unknown illness or transfer to another school and while I generally agree about these options I don´t see a reason for it. Why would she have to die anyway? She is not a dragon that must be slain before you reach a princess. She could simply suffer a bad fracture to her hand after falling from stairs making her unable to sign at least for some time and forcing Shizune to rely more on Hisao since he´s probably her only friend. Or Shizune might start spending more time with Hisao when he learns sign language thus making Misha´s presence not neccesary since she can now comunicate with world with Hisao´s help (this might also help solve her issues with Lilly). I think these possibilities are better than just killing her off. But I´m just adding my two cents like everybody else here

[Yukimi]

Personally what struck me more from Act 1 was when she was doubting how to write the words... not that I consider the loud voice very normal but it fits her personality... I'll put my money on that being relateed to her discapacity and hope it's close The other clues you guys recollected make for a very interesting read

PS: In the topic of high intelligence autism, has any of you watched the japanese drama Kimi ga Oshietekureta Koto, also known as: Things You Taught Me / From the Heart? I found it very sweet and moving but I admit yoiu should inject yourself some insuline before watching it /jk and that it's fairly typical. I like how the protagonist portrays the illness, not extreme autism but not a mild case either and Kamikawa Takaya is also one of my fav japanese actors. Give it a try if you like doramas but beware because as there is another dorama by a very similar name and not being very new I only find a TV recording with english subs from Kiku TV (Hawai)