#bob belcher is autistic. u understand | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

br1ghtestlight · 7 months

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bob belcher is autistic and here's why!!

social difficulties. this one is pretty obvious bcuz one of bob's most important traits is how introverted and antisocial he is and how he doesn't like being around people (outside of family) or being forced to make conversation. he spends holidays cooking in the kitchen as an excuse to not have to talk to his in-laws and he's generally very socially awkward because its hard for him to read other people and he gets stressed out easily. when he DOES have people he wants to interact with socially he's anxious that he's doing something wrong and that he'll say something to make them hate them such as phone calls or when he's texting his dad friends ("just try not to be... how you are." "i always try to do that") and seems to have a hard time reading what other people think about him especially through text or knowing when he's being rude or hurtful (like that burger convention episode where he thought he made friends but everybody hated him and was talking behind his back bcuz he misread social signals) he also seems to have a hard time reading other people's body languages and emotions. he also HATES large gatherings and parties as stated in multiple episodes. he seems to calm down and decompress by being alone and focusing on doing his own thing

lack of emotional expression. very similar to tina bob has a monotone voice and lack of facial expression compared to his family members and other characters on the show. while he CAN express his emotions through voice he mostly says what he means or how he's feeling and expects other people to do the same. very rarely genuinely smiles etc (not because he isn't happy!!! it doesn't seem to come naturally to him most of the time)

hyperfixations on specific topics and interests. while obviously bob's main interest is cooking and anything related to the production and growing of food as seen in countless episodes (thanksgiving episodes especially and any episode where he's gardening or growing plants) he does have other hyperfixations too. big examples are CAKE in that one episode and how linda says that bob gets obsessed with "boring things" too like soap carving or that episode where he hyperfixated on the internet cucumber. when this happens he focuses all his energy on the topic and doesn't seem to care about much else as seen in the episode where he gets a juicer for christmas and throughout the episode he's either excited about different juicing combinations or complaining about how he can't use his juicier ("in my head i'm at home juicing right now") while forcing his family to drink his combinations. also that History Of Pepper book that he got super into. enjoys explaining this interests to other people whether or not they seem interested in what he's saying (like in that goddamn cucumber episode)

hyper empathy for and attachment to inanimate objects. this is a HUGE thing for bob as he's always seen talking to inanimate objects around him like food as he prepares it or his kitchen utensils. he uses this to express his feelings and talk through uncertain situations but he also seems to have real empathy and emotions towards them as seen in the episode where he gets into a fight with the turkey banister or when lance the turkey gets shot. he also gets very emotional when he has to work in a different kitchen and apologizes to his stove several times

sticking to routine and resistance to change. bob clearly values his routine at the restaurant with his burger of the day etc and his family seems to have a fairly consistent daily routine with dinner and watching tv afterwards every night. in the seaplane episode linda is upset because she thinks bob's dates are boring because he always wants to go back to the same boring/reliable places that he already knows that he likes vs wanting to try something new that he possibly won't enjoy which is VERY autistic tbh

taking things literally or having trouble with sarcasm. doesn't come up very often BUT in the pigeon episode when linda tells bob to give the pigeon a bath and so he takes a bath with it and she was like NO BOBBY IN THE SINK!!! and he's like i wouldn't fit in the sink? :( thats autism baby

burnout. bob tends to hyperfixate on his job and his love of cooking but if he does this for too long without taking a break it can lead to burnout where he's seen having trouble with running the restaurant and more sensitive/annoyed by other people talking to him so he needs to take a break even if he resists this at first. very autistic experience to Hyperfixate so hard you forget your basic needs and have trouble remembering to take care of yourself

struggles with motor control and following directions. this is a smaller symptom but bob is shown having trouble with tying even basic knots and has an inability to follow maps or written instructions which can be a symptom of autism/developmental disorders. also he has a stutter which similarly is often comorbid with developmental disabilities/speech disorders

occasionally struggles with eye contact (during parent-teacher interviews)

strong sense of justice. bob very clearly has strong emotional responses and a strong sense of justice in situations that he sees as unfair and can react strongly without thinking it through. problems w/ impulse control and high emotion

bob isn't shown stimming very often but similarly to tina i think he mostly has his vocal stims that he uses in stressful situations ("oh my god. oh my god") in the movie he can also be seen groaning for hours at a time and going almost completely nonverbal in a stressful situation much like tina does which means it is likely a trait that she inherited from bob. he also paces around and seems to be predisposed to having shutdowns in stressful situations or when he's very anxious

not directly related but bob seems to think that he's MUCH better at masking than he actually is and i think that's very funny. he's like nobody knows im autistic :) <- everybody knows that he is autistic

#not all these traits are exclusive to autism and not every autistic person has all of them (or even most of them) and there's ones #im not adding because they don't really apply to bob but yknow #bob belcher is autistic. u understand #txt #bob's burgers #bob belcher

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