#WTFock a break down of kato's behavior and why we believe she has ASD (a thread)~

note: i am by no means an expert on the subject!! this is purely based on my own research (references are cited at the end of the thread)

first, what is ASD? the National Institute of Mental Health defines it as the following:

according to a guide used to diagnose mental disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association, people with ASD have:

most people have said kato has high functioning autism, which is defined as the following:

these are some common social communication/interaction behaviors

little or inconsistent eye contact: we have noticed how kato misses to make eye contact several times, even when people are directly speaking to her.

not looking/listening to people: we've also noticed how kato easily drifts our of the conversation.

being slow in responding to verbal attempts toget one's attention.
(all videos are from @wtfockenglish)

having difficulties with the back and forth of conversation: we can notice this on kato quite frequently. when having a conversation, she does not seem to correctly engage w the other person and changes subject out of nowhere. (vc: wtfockenglish)

talking on length about an interest w/o realizing the others are not interested: we notice this a lot when she speaks about the dance competition (she keeps bringing up the subject w moyo, talks extensively about it)
vc: wtfockenglish

body movements/facial expressions do not match what is being said: this!!! there's lots of comments about how kato's body language seems "off" and does not look honest/real

i'd also like to point out her reaction to things others would find interesting or amusing; for example, the rooftop for the dance battle. the moment they go up, she doesn't show any sort of emotion towards the view, etc.

unusual tone of voice: lots of comments are about kato's monotonous voice, her almost robotic and too flat tone (which is another reason her words seem "off")

having trouble understanding how others may react or their actions: we keep seeing this, the most visible example on the way she didn't quite understand how amber would react to the sponsored package. we also see it when she does not get jens' flirting (vc: @wtfockenglish)

being very interested in people or their actions but not knowing how to engage with them. we kept seeing this on kato before she actually got in a relationship with moyo. (vc: wtfockenglish)

now, these are some restrictive/repetitive behaviors

this is one of the main things this season: repetitiveness. we keep seeing the same routine, same behaviors from kato, etc. is this a way the #WTFock team is pulling us into kato's world and how she experiences it?

kato also has a deep, solid interest for dance. you can see how focused she is on it and how her behavior grows confident once she's doing it.

being upset by changes in routine + irritability!! both things we've seen on kato. when there are changes in schedule or the plan drifts off from the original one, she's upset (vc: wtfockenglish)

tw // anxiety, self-harm

constant anxiety is frequent in kids & adults with autism. triggers can be noisy environments and the difficulty of social interactions. it can lead to self harm. kato wears the rubber bands on her wrist as a coping mechanism for anxiety.

being more sensitive towards sensory input, noise. this is harder to notice, but it is also there. notice the way kato reacts to amber's touch

it's important to point out that autism in girls, and sometimes it overlaps diagnoses such as obsessive compulsive disorder

here's an article on the differences between ASD on girls and boys https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/autism-it-s-different-in-girls/

and my references:
- https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml
- https://www.theneurotypical.com/conversation-with-an-adult-with-hfa.html

- https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/anxiety

- https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/treatment/wrist-band

i hope this helped you understand a bit more of kato! i am by no means defending some of her attitudes and comments, but i thought it'd be interesting to share these. we still haven't gotten this confirmed by wtfock, but it does make sense with the evidence!

end of thread!!