alright, let's talk about donnie | analyzing rise of the tmnt's autistic coding 

The coding of donnie in rise feels realistic and complex which is huge. Rather than being “the autistic” or the butt of the joke, he’s a genuine character with autism. An accurate representation of what it COULD look like while being a character with real personality and individualism. It’s refreshing and exciting! Donnie is among my favorites from rise (next to mikey!) so I think he’s written amazingly well

As an autistic/ADHD person, the way Donnie was portrayed is SO important to me. It's the little things, like how Donnie goes on his phone in almost every scene he isn't directly speaking in, or how his family doesn't alienate him. How he speaks in a monotone/formal way or uses his battle shell to accommodate him. The writers never make him seem odd or any weirder than the rest of his weird family. He's the type of character I would've loved to have to related to as a kid, and would've made me feel a lot less different than others. Representation like his matters, and it's so unfortunate that rise was discontinued (at the time of writing this). Tbh I just think the rise writers REALLY know how to write nd characters because they did I really good job with Mikey too (Sorry for rambling in your comments lmao) I love this video so much, great job!!

OK WAIT BUT MYSTICS BEING TIED TO EMOTIONS MAKES. SO MUCH SENSE. Mikey is the most emotionally inclined, hence why his weapon was the first to activate, Raph's strong feelings of protective-ness and urgency to save Leo during the rooftop scene with Draxum are what allowed him to activate his complete aura ability, Leo struggles with his portals because of his struggle with his self-worth, and all the stuff you mentioned for Donnie makes sense for him. It all makes so much sense now! I love this so, so much.

Finally, a Donatello that isn't just "does machines" and "smart"

But we just gotta admit he is the top Donnie out of all of the Donnies ✨🐢

Donnie's relationship with his family is the best, I love that they always punch up and not down with him. They rib him but it never feels mean or malicious and it's just the best. Bar none my fav interaction is the scene where Donnie says Basketball wrong and Raph is just like, "I know what your doing, you PoS. STOP."

one thing i really love about rise's depiction of donnie's autistic traits is in how his family/the people around him respond. or rather, the fact that donnie is never shown to be the butt of the joke because of his autistic traits (obviously he is often the butt of the joke, they are brothers after all). More specifically, he is not treated as being in the wrong for his low empathy, or touch aversion. In fact, the characters often go out of their way to accomodate for him, without it being made a big deal of . Raph's "this is not a hug! its a rescue" and mikey knowing that donnie's worst nightmare would be touching the awful goo are just two examples of this, as well as all the brothers happily accepting the affection of donnie's robo-arms, without shaming him for not being able to provide "more". I find that this kind of reaction is very rare in media, as often the autistic character is shown to "grow" by suddenly being able to be empathetic, and touchy when the NT characters prove that its the "better" way to be. That never happens in rise, donnie's allowed to be touch averse, and show little empathy, and he is never told he's wrong for doing or feeling those things. :) amazing video i cant wait for more !

As a Donnie fan something else that I noticed and have take great admiration for is that even though Donnie doesn’t like to initiate touch and has a slight aversion to it he seems to be comfortable when it comes to Mikey. I’ve rewatched scenes of Donnie and Mikey together and lot of the time they are both physically affectionate towards the other. Like when Donnie let Mikey hold his arm, or in the movie where pulls Mikey to him in a one arm hug when he sees how scared Mikey is after they fail to save Raph. I don’t know if it’s due to just Donnie being a protective older brother but I find it rather wholesome that he’s the most comfortable around the youngest of the family.

Whenever I see an analysis of Donnies Autism Coding I get so unbelievably happy because it’s portrayed so well and he’s so unabashedly him. We barely see autism characters treated as “normal” or something other than their “function” in their group or show. With how complex Donnie is and being the (self claimed) funniest brother, we get a character that’s both Autistic and Human (turtle??) when so many autism character are stripped of it. Treated as an asset more so than a member. The use of family dynamics is amazing too and gah great video!!

Whenever I see attempts at autistic representation as an autistic person it feels like it’s supposed to teach the allistic people about autism. In that situation that autistic person is a lesson, not a person. I’ve always struggled with not seeing characters like me being portrayed. They’re always logical and are portrayed with having no emotions. I am a logical and emotional person so I’m glad to see that Donnie isn’t just a stereotype he is so much more than what he contributes to the team. he has just as much depth as any other character in the team and it’s lovely! I can relate to the fact that he talks very formally and grammatically correct. I’ve been told I speak like a writer, grammatically correct and riddled with expressive words.

By far one of my favorite parts about rise is the way donnie's family handles him. They treat him like a complete person while also managing to meet him half-way with things he clearly struggles with (EX: leo complimenting the bikes and clarifying hes not being sarcastic; raph making it vocal that he isn't hugging donnie when saving him). They don't tend to get their feelings hurt from his low empathy bc they know that's just how he is, and that there's no negative intent behind it. They love him exactly as he is, and express no interest in him needing to change.

Thank you so much this video was so cathartic. To me Donnie is the perfect representation of autism. I don't feel he's stereotypical. He is definitely my favorite character in rise he is so relatively. To see a character on screen like him just makes me happy.

One of the episodes that was cut actually explored another interest of Donnie’s: gardening. Also, this video is so well-done, thank you for making this

I love that you mentioned about people with autism that also have high empathy. I am autistic and have high empathy, which many people don’t understand. I am also extremely extroverted with also makes people confused as well. Even with this, I am still autistic and there is no one way of being autistic.

your analysis of donnie's staff weapon actually made me tear up. I like dance and I like martial arts because it helps me to train the parts of myself that I am not naturally proficient in and helps me to feel more connected to my body and strengthen my personal shortcomings.

I actually cried while watching this. My school put me down as autistic from a young age, but when I finally went to get it diagnosed at 18 I was told I didn't qualify. I've been trying to 'fix' my autistic traits ever since. Hearing all my traits called out with examples - as something positive no less - was really vindicating for me. While I'm still unsure if I'm autistic or not, it means the world knowing whatever traits I do have aren't negative. Thank you so much.

A personal thing I love about Donnies autistic coding is how his autistic traits aren't made fun of. Yeah they've been the joke (the feet tappy dance, "Ohmigosh dreams do come true!", ect-) it's only funny given the context that they're put in. It's not "look at this autistic trait, that's funny isn't it?" And it's "these autistic traits are treated in the same way anyone else's character traits would be used and that's the comedy, not the traits themselves" Leo being cocky bastard is funny, but it's a character trait. Raphs anger is funny, but it's still a character trait. Mikeys high empathy is funny, and still a character trait. Same goes with donnies autism. And the show has always gone out of his way to treat all those traits SERIOUSLY and not make caricatures of them. Leo's cockiness is acknowledged as a serious thing he needs to work on, or the fact it's hiding away his deep rooted insecurities and fear of vulnerability. Raphs anger is acknowledged and justified given the fact he's scared for the safety of his family. A thing he believes he's solely responsible for. Mikeys high empathy is shown to boost Mikeys emotional intelligence and he shares what he knows with the rest of his family. Him also being outwardly upset has been treated seriously before. And with Donnie it's no different, his outbursts, genuine happiness and sensory issues have been treated with the seriousness they deserve. I'm glad the writers didn't shy away from making the autistic character funny WITH his autistic traits. It's such a hard line to walk, considering it borders on "making fun of autism" or "it can't take the autistic traits lightheartedly and it always treats it as this BIG THING", BUT THEY DID SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB WITH UT. I'm not autistic, but a lot of the people closest to me are, and so seeing the lighthearted yet serious and non malicious take on Donnie is something I actually treasure a lot.

Honestly, as an autistic person? Donnie’s behavior is..super similar to mine. The part of analyzing his behaviors, the choice of weapon (a weapon I myself was trained to use when I was younger), and on top of all of that the ‘nice’ way of discussing the attributes without attacking Donnie or his writing? It..actually made me tear up a little. I guess I felt seen. Thank you for making this video :3

Your intro was such a breath of fresh air- the amount of people I hear spouting shit like "everyone has a little autism" is aggravating. This video is amazing by the way- I learned way more in this video then even what my therapist has told me.

I relate to Donnie in a lot of ways. One of the biggest ways was how he goes about physical affection and touch. It makes him uncomfortable and he often would rather have it avoided unless he’s the one initiating it. I relate to this and my family used to think that I felt “too cool” to hug them or as if I hated them because of this when in reality it just makes me uncomfortable. (sensory issues) My body physically recoils from hugs 😭 I just rather people not show their love for me like that and the way his brothers acknowledge how he doesn’t like to be touched in a way that isn’t demonized made me very happy. Great video, I am a new subscriber 😈 (a few other things he does/has that i relate to: stimming, big vocabulary bc i love my silly words, mispronouncing words for fun [bAs-kAy-bAll] and his love for dance :))

I am not autistic, but I always try to learn more and more about autism and other disorders so I can understand my neurodivergent friends better and recognize their needs. Representation is really really important and it needs to be made with care and accuracy. Thank you for this video! I really like analysis videos about donnie's autistic representation because while I learn and understand more about autism and autistic people's experiences, I also understand more my favorite character of rottmnt!

Okay something I don’t see brought up because it’s REALLLLY tiny but very telling is in “Breaking Purple” (which I’m just realizing it a Breaking Bad reference). There’s a scene where Mikey asks him about emotions he lists “Hot, cold, sleepy, and hungry” These are feelings yeah, but not in the same way “happy” or “sad” are- being very physical and objective feelings, that are comparatively easier to name and express giving reason for someone with low empathy like Donnie to think of them first.

You definitely need more subscribers, this is great Rottmnt has a special place in my heart, my dad once came into the room while i was telling my brothers about this stuff and he didnt really understand, he was like “low empathy just means your a dick with no feelings” and i got pretty ticked off at that, wish some people would actually do research on things and think before they speak In all Im glad donnie was written this well, its a good that more things are getting out there like alot of lgbtq representations and just some mental disabilities Even if theyre not 100% conformed, it helps alot of people understand those types of things and topics

This is such an incredible video essay. I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent, and you perfectly explained all my jumbled feelings on why I resonated so much with the way Rise!Donnie was written. Your point about him feeling like "a character that just so happens to be autistic" instead of "the autistic character" encapsulates it perfectly. Both queerness and neurodivergence feel so inherent to the show and its characters. The representation may not be explicitly mentioned, but everything from the writing to the art style seems intentional. Maybe it wasn't, but like you said, it's a hell of a coincidence if it's not!

As a High Functioning Autistic person myself, Donnie became my favorite character instantly. I also have trouble with socializing, I have my own personal stims, and I still have some motor function issues. But like this show, my family doesn't alienate me because of this. They acknowledge that I have it and still love me for it.

I actually really enjoy it when characters with autistic/ADHD traits are inhuman in some physical way too like being an alien or mutant. It does create a “normal vs not normal” visual metaphor, but it oddly makes it seem more “for us”, like out there somewhere there is a society that finds autistic/ADHD traits entirely normal and acceptable without having to justify it to anyone. And I just enjoy inhuman character designs more, but that’s just me. This is a fantastic video and was very informative, thank you! The portrayal of Donnie and even Raph in Rise helped me realize and accept a lot about myself, and I’m glad others have found that in this show too!

Donnie in my opinion is the best character in a show I’ve ever watch (I’m being fr). When I first watched the show I didn’t really understand what autism was like and how it shows (symptoms) and for some reason I didn’t realize him as ‘different’ or anything. When I think of Donnie and how he thinks it reminds me of myself and ig it didn’t even phase me that he was autistic. I’m not autistic (I believe) but I really connect with him and idek why. Maybe his sarcasm or empathy or something but I always feel comforted and safe when watching the show especially when he’s on screen 💜(anyone else? Or is it just me?)

i love donnie so much and am happy as someone with an autisic brother and friends that there are repersatation like rise donnie. now something about this is I've now come to realize I may too be autistic, I relate to donnie a lot. but the thing is that it could just be my ADHD cause I'm diagnosed with ADHD but then again it could be a misdiagnose or maybe I have both! I've seen many MANY things and they all point to me being autistic. idk if I do have it though, its confusing me! yes i do have times being over stimulated by noise and then keep focusing on it making it worse or when i cant understand something. i would ask my parents to get a diagnoses for me but they said that its just my ADHD

I would like to point out Donnie being very relatable on the fact that he has these little quirks that some of us also do have, as someone in the autism spectrum I literally see Donnie as another me sometimes when I watch him. Even his color, purple, even plays a role into his character with purple being a very compassionate color among other meanings. Donnie exhibits personality quirks most commonly found in the spectrum, of course like you said it's not the same for everyone but in some cases it's incredibly similar. Donnie being written this way may very well have been some weird accident like Luz from the owl house, the creators saw this and decided to wing it which... I think happens a lot if I think hard enough on it. When writing a quirky character like this it's often a very good idea to actually pace it out to where it's not overdone and well in this case it is. It works brilliantly

I saw the first video essay, loved it, immediately subscribed and turned on notifications, and I'm SO GLAD I DID!!! I watched this with my sibling (We're both on the autistic spectrum) and we both were super happy! Such a great video! My sibling especially really loved it. They see so much of themselves in Donnie and a huge part of that is because of their Neurodivergence, and to see this character that they connect with so much analyzed through the lens of his autism makes them, really happy! I personally see more of myself in Mikey, but I'd be lying if I said that the representation Donnie gives is unappreciated. Also PLEASE make a Mikey video essay, he is my favorite and I relate to him an unhealthy amount! He needs all the love!!!

As someone who’s going to be evaluated for audhd soon, the Donnie and Mikey solidarity is everything to me. They feel like such good adhd autism rep, and I love their bond. Sidenote, 2012 Donnie and Mikey kinda feel like autism-adhd solidarity as well, though of course less fleshed out. Both versions have been my favorite characters in the franchise. Great video essay!

I absolutely love Donnie. His representation is amazing, and his family is so understanding. I related to him from the first episode. I'm so glad I came across this video, your analysis is so well done! I wish my family was as understanding as Donnies family.

OMG YESSS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO POST AND ALSO AMAZING VIDEO WHOOO!! Honestly Donnie is such an incredible representation for the autistic community, my sister is autistic and I see her in Donnie when it comes to stimulation and stimming. Also I love being surrounded by people with Donnie’s personality they are such talented, funny, creative, interesting and intelligent people THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY BADASSES!! Also it’s so cool that you find comfort in Donnie’s character we need more representation like him!! I’m sure your all the traits I listed as well!! (You seem really interesting and intelligent- I find people that make and create videos, art and scripts for analysis really smart!)

one of the BEST Donnie analysis videos I've seen, and I don't say that lightly. Amazing script, editing, and music choice, keep up the good work ^-^

Being autistic myself I can relate to all Donnie's actions can say that it's pretty accurate to how I acted before course my dad still getting used to it but that's okay we then got me officially confirmed about me having autism until last year so yeah I can relate with Donnie here

I don't really like to bring up my place on the spectrum very often, given that I have a multitude of disabilities as it is (ADHD, high-functioning autism, aspberger's, even vertigo). But I have to admit this series got me into TMNT and I immediately resonated with Donnie as I watched the show. It's important to remember that as humans, we all have our stuff. Basically everyone has some form of "disability", wether it be physical, emotional, mental, whatever. Donnie feels like a person BECAUSE he's flawed, but also brilliant and creative in his own individual way. Funny how this is all coming from the haha funny turtle show, but I really gotta hand it to the creators for their writing of the characters in general, but especially Donatello.

Idk if I’m autistic or if it’s mainly stemming from how I was raised, and it’s been bothering me for a while cause I don’t wanna be one of those people who are just eager to fit into a particular category. As of now, I’m trying to tell myself that autistic or not, this is who I am and just try to navigate the world as best I can

best donnie

I think analyzing Donnie's character in regards to being "the savant" is so interesting because, like you mentioned in this video, there definitely are SOME parts of Donnie that could make him labeled as "the savant autistic who's autism is 'acceptable' cause he contributes"; what's amazing tho is that Rise manages to tackle that by addressing Donnie's insecurities with serving a purpose or having a "use" on the team. For one, Donnie vs. Witch Town is all about Donnie feeling like his special interest with tech is his only redeeming factor and how he gets over that (his whole monalogue had me in my feels). Secondly, despite his insecurities, his family never ONCE reduces him to "the tech guy" or just what he contributes to the team. This complexity in Donnies character+autism is what makes me love him and Rise so much, and your video really highlighted that. Keep up the great work!

I should also point out that while Donnie is clearly very intelligent and talented/skilled, he's not the typical savant stereotype. His tech can and has backfired enough times to where his brothers and april kinda just expect any new invention to turn evil (The bed short, albearto, shelldon, donnie vs witchtown). That plus his insecurities towards his place on the team make it clear that he's not a savant, It's more of a mix of a special interest + the anxiety of "If I cannot provide material worth then no one will love me" which that last part is honestly so fucking relatable.

You were able to articulate so many things that are so hard for me and many other autistic people to put to words, ESPECIALLY with the beginning of the video. And I never actually realized that he tends to like consistently outwardly take more stressful situations worse than the others. I'm really glad you really broke down all of those episodes for an in-depth analysis on his traits and specifically to tie them into how they contribute to his personality because I think that's one thing a lot of allistic people get wrong. They kind of tend to write the symptoms, but not the personality (and the rottmnt writers get that RIGHT they put it into his personality) This video just did a really amazing job explaining and describing what it is about Donnie that makes him such a good example of an autistic character. He's just like me fr. AND THAT ENDING BIT. AGH THAT HIT ME IN MY FEELINGS.

I love how he isn’t super generalized. Donnie is clearly a unique character with strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Usually with autistic rep it’ll either be heavily stereotyped or incredibly broad, with only a few traits displayed. The way Donnie is in the show just makes him feel more realistic and not one-dimensional. I absolutely love that, and this point is proved by me, an autistic, being able to relate to some parts of his character but not others. Autism is a spectrum and that is definitely shown in Rise.

He’s a really well written character and I really want rise back season 3! Personally, Leo’s my favorite but Donnie is a close second!

I have been diagnosed with ADHD and autism since I was very young. In older years my autism has become more apparent and as I never got any information about either of my diagnosis, but especiallymy autism, this has become a bit of a problem. But this video somehow helped me better understand some things about my autism that I wasn't aware of before. Like the whole thing with not handling change, I've always thought this was just me being, well, me, and while my autism is indeed a part of me, knowing why I have trouble with changes somehow helps. When I first started watching rise, I didn't pay too much attention to Donnie, but after hearing it mentioned about him being autistic, I payed more attention to him and ended up loving him as a character. I relate to some parts of him and I see other things about relating to my best friend who's also autistic. And while we gave autistic traits that overlap, a lot of traits are different for each of us. Thank you for making this video, it really helped me.

there’s just so much to rise, it’s really clear that they put so much effort into writing these new turtles. i think they’re really really neat

ooo that ending scene was so good + definitely looking forward to the Mikey analysis when u have time ♥️

9:05 is where it pans back to Donnie.

As a neurodivergent kiddo, I really love seeing things like sensory stuff such as sensitivities and stimming, emotional disregulation and all the other fun brain stuff being portrayed in a fully fleshed out character as a person who deserves respect like anyone else. I'm not the most eloquent person but basically Donnie made me feel happy and seen. Great analysis, I could listen to your commentary all day :D

Very nice vid! ^v^ I'd also like to add that both I and my best friend firmly headcanon Raph as autistic as well. Given so many little moments and traits he has, he just strongly has that autistic vibe to me. One moment that always sticks out to me is his anger about his "just kidding" quotes getting completely misunderstood in the ep 'The Mutant Menace'. Another bit comes from 'Snow Day' - we see him happy stim as Mikey's explaining the rules of the snowball fight, and then later on he mentions how he gets 'stuck' in a pirate accent after watching that one Jupiter Jim movie which, yeah that's happened to me before, haha. I could also see the "I wasn't sure if they knew what a week was" bit in 'Pizza Pit' as him feeling like he needs to overexplain so that there isn't any miscommunication, which could also be considered an autistic trait. Similar to Mikey, he can be highly empathetic (becoming incredibly attached to people like Frankenfoot and objects like Laceface the football), and Raph also shows signs of having anxiety ESPECIALLY when things change rapidly - like when he suddenly loses his brothers in 'Man VS Sewer'. He also has his own special interests - specifically wrestling and (possibly) bears, given his teddy collection and love of Ghostbear specifically. And speaking of THAT, we see him get overwhelmed either by his own emotions as well as by noise, as seen in episodes like "Mascot Melee" and "Shell in a Cell". And really, just the way Raph says certain things or phrases also just comes off as autistic to me - like Don, he just has a very particular way of speaking and, idk. Like I said, it's just a really strong inkling that both me (someone who only recently realized was very likely autistic) and my bff (someone who was lucky enough to get a diagnosis as a child) have.

Beautifully done! Thank you! The positive talk surrounding Donnie as a good representation of autism is actually what got me into Rise, and has also lifted the stigma and fear I felt toward autism to a degree that I can finally start looking into my own lifelong struggles with the symptoms, so… I’m kind of all about this right now. 😂 Will be watching for that Mikey analysis! 👀

I like what they did with Donnie's mystic powers and find it very fitting for him. They strike me as similar to Green Lantern's powers; Hard Light constructions which are made from the thoughts of the user. The more you understand what you are trying to create, the stronger it is and the closer to its physical counterpart it becomes. Because of how much he understands his tech, it's no surprise that it is just as powerful as the physical items. It honestly probably makes his powers the strongest out of everyone's ironically.

Also, love the highlight of him and his weapon. I heard that the turtles' weapons actually have a lot of meaning, but it's so SO true about how interesting it is that he learns to use the bo staff as an extension of himself, but can't do most other sporty things until we see him in Lair Games. Arguably another special interest that doesn't transfer, which I think is great and not just a joke of him being bad at sports because tech and sports don't mix.

I love Donnie so much, and I love hearing people talk about him so much😭😭💕 Amazing video!!

im not diagnosed as autistic or ADHD but donnie's character means a lot to me, i relate to him so much. And seeing the little things that he does that i do makes me feel seen. Not only that seeing him be loved and cared for by his family makes me want to breakdown and sob :')

Buwan, once again you knocked this out of the fucking park. Amazing lead in, knowledgeable, and entertaining of a video!! Even helped me realize I....do some of those things myself, so haha learning more about my own mind every day 😂 Thank you, truly, for taking the time and care to talk about stuff like this. You're truly a treasure 😭🙏💜💜💜 ...also remember to eat. Love you 😘

the way donnie describes feelings as "hot cold hungry..." is the example I usually use-

Only an hour after I finish your first rotmnt video, you post a Donnie video. Good timing

One thing that upsets me the most is communication. It can naturally become upsetting that I can't explain things, "normally", in this sense, usually my Mom only understands what I'm saying. I often wave my hands around to show what I'm saying when I talk, my words often not sounding English to others is hard. She's taken the the time to understand me even though I'm different. Most of the times I don't understand what people are feeling and lack to help them, or have meltdowns that don't make sense until people actually ask me. Autism is hard handling once you say, "You've got Autism but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you." It just means some things are harder or easier than others. For example, I'm decent at art, but when I was younger I'd ask why people draw the way they do. You see how that sounds mean- I was just curious because I didn't recognize art differently for everyone. I made a lot of enemies just because I couldn't understand why others would have a different art style. They thought I was saying their art looked bad but that wasn't on my mind at all.

I love your work! Your knowledge mixed with your perspective has a really satisfying effect

Another amazing video!!! 2 for 2- and if that little hint at a Mikey analysis is anything to go by, 3 for 3 in the future? 👀I totally agree with your assessment of Donnie as a representation of an autistic person, and although I am autistic but do not behave in any way similar to Donnie (I'm much more similar to Mikey and will be an autistic Mikey truther until the day I die) I, like many others, adored how autism was portrayed in Rise through Donnie's character. Just seeing a character who stims in ways that I do that isn't put down or treated as weird for it is so incredible and I'm so happy that the creators and writers put so much care into Donnie's character and how his friends and family didn't treat him any differently for his behaviours.

As someone who is wondering if I'm on the spectrum, the amount I relate to Donnie really hits home for me. The sensory traits, stimming, meltdowns/shutdowns, and range of fixations vs just the one as usually seen in media especially. I also didn't actually realise that high empathy was a trait of autism and thought it was low empathy only so never related in that aspect. I'm a highly empathetic person, to the point of crying out of caring so much, even about little things (I cried at this when it got to the point of Donnie being insecure like heck no my baby), and even if it wasn't the focus of the video, it gave me a lil 'huh...' moment. I don't know if I want to/should get a diagnosis but I just want to thank you for making a video about an amazing character that helped me realise a bit more about myself too 🐢💜

I honestly love Donnie. The show really does a great job on portraying the way he experiences life as an autistic person as positive character traits. Most of the time, shows with ASD coded or canonical ASD characters tend to make their traits something that needs changing or negative in nature. Donnie goes through character growth without changing things that are a huge aspect of who he is as an autistic coded character. He is loved, supported, and allowed to exist amongst family members. It's everything I could ask for and more :')

Y e s, another video analyzing Donnie~ 💜☺️ As a person with ADHD, I'm still coming to terms with things that I always thought were normal to do (happy dancing, talking with my hands, trying REALLY hard to repress my emotions and expressions of such emotions due to being told it was "weird"), and I'm learning new terms for things that I've done all my life (masking, stimming) and while it IS a bit of an identity crisis, I'm glad I found this show! If I didn't watch that one vid of "Donnie being canonically autistic for 10 minutes", I would've never gotten into the fandom, and I probably would've never seen such an accurate amalgam of how I used to be as a child (sarcastic, blunt, "know-it-all") and how I am today in the one character package that Donnie is. I feel so seen! It's overwhelming in a good way to see him do ANYTHING honestly cuz he's such a relatable and funny character, and I can't help but wish there was more rep like him when I was younger. It would also explain why I love characters like Spencer Reid and Young Woo- Spencer was relatable too, but Donnie?? He's on another level, and while hyperfixating on ROTTMNT has given me so much serotonin, I can't help but think I need to get a proper diagnosis of whether I have just ADHD or Autism to some extent (I hear the two have overlapping symptoms, so I just wanna be sure, ya know?). You've made such a beautiful video! 💜💖🌈☺️🌈☺️

14:19 - on that note, I like to think that he takes a lot of pride in the fact that the aforementioned extension of himself is a missed-launching selfie-taking high-tech staff that he designed himself. Like having a robot arm without having to go through the motions of LOSING an arm to make room for a robot one, if that makes sense? Also, since I don't trust doctors for the life of me, I find a lot of comfort in this video when going through an in-depth self-diagnosis of my supposed autism. Thank you, and amazing video in general, man ✨✨✨

i absolutely love donnie as a character. i have issues with touch-aversion, and it’s always stood out to me how well his is handled. the little moment where he hesitates before hugging sheldon always comes to mind, and the moment in the movie where raph assures him that he’s rescuing him and it’s not a hug genuinely made me tear up a little the first time i saw it. i still wish this show had been given more of a chance.

I've really enjoyed the videos you have put so far. Like everyone else in the comments, I love Donnie and listening to more videos focused on how to write about autism has helped me understand a bit better the autistic experience and how to be a supportive friend for my autistic friends. I also just really like the way you write your videos, I think they're very nuanced and have lots of potential! Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing your upcoming works!

i love this video so so much! this means so much to me as a autistic person :) donnie is definitely my favorite autistic character and i’m so grateful for him representation wise

Donnie, my man 😌👆

Donnie was the first character I've ever seen where I just clicked with him. Often when I see low empathy characters, they're shown as almost cruel and unfeeling. But he isn't. He's loving, even it he doesn't display it the way most people would. I'm sure there are stereotypes that some people don't like, but for me, Donnie was like watching myself on screen.

Progressive autism representation to me is when it isn’t used as a lesson for neurotypical viewers. When there’s an educational segment crammed in like “oh they’re autistic, this is what autism is…” “we need to try and accept them for who they are!” “I’m sorry we treated you poorly” etc etc, a neurotype becomes a narrative device and it just separates the autistic character from the rest of the cast. What I love about Rise is there’s an unspoken understanding among all the characters. When Donnie speaks or acts differently it’s just a regular Tuesday. He’s not “the autistic one”, he’s just Donnie! That is the kind of acceptance I crave in real life, for the people that I love to just be used to me, used to how I am. Donnie encapsulates that perfectly. His brothers just genuinely love him, all of him, and he never feels out of place because the show never alienates him

The way Donnie's ASD is displayed is so nice because its the first one ive seen that's not portrayed through an Allistic and ableist lense.

notice how his uniform has built in headphone thingies, clocking those as noise buffers/ tism music :)

Long af ramble, because I'm getting emotional. I'm happy to see how TMNT is reaching out to people, in a way I didn't realize when I was younger. In the older TMNT (2003, 2007, 2012) I often felt a connection to Leo and at times Mikey. It hasn't been until now, going through therapy for depression and getting into an assessment for ADHD, that I realized how much I actually related to those turtles. At this pretty stressful time in my life, I've gotten back to my old TMNT comfort characters, and is pretty surprised to find how much I have in common with some of the characters. The pressure Leo often would feel as a leader, and how de didn't see it as just him getting hurt, but straight as a failure and a let don't to him, his family and all the people he would try to protect, and how these "failures" would send him into depressive periods. It wasn't until I started getting checked for ADHD, that I realized how much of Mikeys way of being matched up with how I was feeling and thinking, and how he displays his emotions. Seeing TMNT adapting with time and becoming more inclusive is touching to me. It makes me happy to know that TMNT will be a supportive factor in other people's lives, like they were to clueless little kindergarten me, who did not know the words ADHD or depression, but just knew that a bunch of Ninja Turtles was cool af. I had a way easier time relating to four mutant turtles, than I ever had with Disney Princesses, or the other kids in kindergarten for that matter. No idea how to finish this or were I'm going. My emotions have taken a hold of me and I'm happy

In the Todd scouts episode, I noticed that he completely recreates his normal apparel using bark and pinecones, whatever he can find- at first I thought the bark over his shell was protection. Totally makes sense. But then I noticed the pinecones acting as his goggles, the strip of bark in place of his gauntlet- they provide no purpose whatsoever except to fill in the gaps where he feels like he’s physically missing something, and he was so uncomfortable without just the weight or the physical contact of his tech he had to just have SOMETHING THERE

This video made me so happy, I love Donnie so much, and as an autistic person he is so precious to me. Great analysis, had me feeling all sorts of ways

God, I have family members who need to see this. My cousin is autistic and his parents try to train him out of so many things. Every time we visit each other, they make him hug us but I’m always the one who says “no, if he doesn’t want to hug, it’s okay.” And ever since 2020 (ya know….) he stopped talking and his parents always get mad at him for it :c And instead of working on ASL, they yell at him to talk. And he does have a need for cleanliness and washes his hands & uses hand sanitizer a lot, which is fine, but his parents always get mad at him for that too….. I love him a lot, and I wish they would just treat him the best way for him, not for them.

It’s says a lot about autistic representation when a mutant turtle feels more real then most human autistics in current media I love Donnie so much and it brings me so much joy to see him being treated like a fully fleshed person and not a shoehorned stereotype I adore rise and it’s writing so much Fingers crossed other shows take notes from rise and we can get similarly cared for portrayals of neurodivergency Wonderful video btw oh my gosh

What a fantastic video, you have such a good pacing for these types of videos and I loved watching it! Can't wait to see more!

I definitely think it’s amazing that autistic people who aren’t EXACTLY like Donnie can still relate a lot. For example, I can be INCREDIBLY touchy. I am AWKWARD AF but I don’t generally have a problem with physical touch. I am good at lying, decent at tone, and fairly good at reading body language. I’m not big on tech, I honestly can’t stand that at some point I would get to upgrade to another iPhone SE generation bc I don’t want to lose my home button. Updates scare me and I lost my little mind when the search bar on my iPhone got relocated to the bottom, thankfully a friend knew how to put it back up top. But… I have my specific foods, texture sensitivities, sometimes take on a more formal tone for no good reason, my stimming movements, and also I can relate to the “clumsy and graceful” aspect too. For example- I can’t tell y’all how many times I’ll be walking and not pick up my foot enough and almost trip myself. How many times I’ve banged my head on somethin bc I misjudged the distance. That being said… I can walk in platform shoes almost without issue. I can duck and weave around objects without pause a lot of the time. I can climb incredibly well and I’m good at balancing on one foot and on bracing myself at heights (like “locking” my legs onto a prop device so I could drop my whole top half down towards guests as a scare actor without fear of toppling over) It’s amazing that while he is his own person, and I am a wildly different person, I can still relate to him a lot

This was such a well done video!! I'm a new TMNT fan and seeing this kind of neurodivergent rep especially in shows targeted towards younger audiences is really nice to see, and you put it into words in a way I honestly couldn't do if I tried! This show does an incredible job at writing a character who has autism, and showing how it impacts their life WITHOUT defining them! cant wait to see more of your vids :)

This was absolutely beautiful. You described and explained everything so eloquently and just made all if your points flow and fit together so well it really felt like i was listening to a presentation at like a professional conference. This was a beautiful analysis and I can tell you were really passionate about the information you were putting out. I can't wait to see if you do more videos on subject matter similar to this!

I'm about to write a wall of text- (infodumping be like) Donnie's obsession with tech was definitely my first "waitaminute" moment for the character. Of course, most Donnies have this but the way it was portrayed made it stand out a bit more as something that he's fixated with, rather than something casual. I have a lot of special interests, some of which fade in and out depending on literally just what I'm interested in at that moment. (Some of the more static ones are psychology and social justice so this is gonna be very long sorrynotsorry-) My special interests are pretty much always taking up some space in my mind, and I take *every* opportunity to infodump. I also know just how disheartening it can be to be denied that chance when people show disinterest. Low empathy is... *Not* something I have. In the slightest. I'm actually very high empathy. But the amount of Autistic characters I see in the media who are "low empathy" are just straight up ableist. Donnie, thank you. Todd's scouts was definitely when I said "holy crap he's like me-" Because that was definitely a meltdown. My phone is my comfort item too, and I need to have it with me *at all times.* It either needs to be in sight, or I need to be able to feel it in my pocket. So many teachers have told me off for having it on my desk and I have to explain that I'm not even gonna use it, it just needs to be there. (They never actually believe me-) When I'm anxious, things get loud, and I get overheated and just- *t o u c h i n g .* Which pretty much immediately brings on sensory overload- Donnie's way of handling his meltdown is actually very healthy. He seems to have an innate knowledge of what's happening to him and how to deal with it. He probably stims more in this episode than all the others combined, which could very easily be seen as a conscious effort to ground himself, which is something I do. He vocalizes his need for his comfort items, which won't bring them back, but shows he's aware of his situation and honestly? Sometimes talking about my comfort items can bring me comfort, albeit a small amount. He also goes to measures such as making his goggles out of pinecones or covering his shell with bark. He's going to an effort to at least *replicate* his comfort items, which is such an amazing touch, because once again, the bare minimum for me is feeling my phone in my pocket, which is about the equivalent of what he's trying to do here. You can see the process of the meltdown getting worse but then better as he adapts to the situation and finds ways to make it more familiar to him. I could see the moment it ended. He wasn't complaining about his phone, he took off the substitute tech and he stopped the scratching. My parents, bless their Neurotypical hearts, laughed as they saw this... "unhinged" Donnie, while I was biting my nails in the background because *I got it.* He was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar situation, without any of the comfort items he usually carries around, and with no way to really distract himself via special interests because there's really no tech in the woods, nor any way to indulge in his love of music or sci-fi *without* his tech. This is probably why he specified his phone as the thing he needed most. He could easily load up music on there, which would probably be a simple calming strategy. I sighed aloud when he started being *Donnie* again. (Also the ASL definitely solidified my already forming autistic headcanon because NONVERBAL EPISODES BE LIKE-) And the motor skills are just like me I swear- Give me sports, I'll crash, but give me music and I'll dance like no one's watching. Give me a pencil, nope. But I type like a God. All in all, this is the most natural representation of Autism I've seen in media like, ever. His Autism is never treated as a mental illness or even a disability. And I know that's our best definition for it at the moment but I've never seen my Autism as a disability. Ever. And I know other people feel the same way. And his family is so supportive I swear- He's the one who's the target of the last physical affection, and while his family might slip up and miss his discomfort, it's obvious they're aware of his sensory issues and accommodate to the bet of their abilities. While they're not very patient with listening to him infodump, they never discourage him from his love of science. Their annoyance isn't with him, but rather, comes from a lack of interest in the topic, which is completely understandable. They love talking about Jupiter Jim or Lou Jitsu with him, and depending on the situation, groove out with him to his beats. (I.E. Leo backing his rap up) Mikey definitely shows the most understanding as someone who probably has ADHD. He actively tries to understand him, no matter how hard that is for him specifically. Bringing out Dr. Feelings to help him express himself healthily without ever acting like one of those therapists who try to enforce eye contact like it's the most important thing in the world- (I usually look at people's mouths cuz it's less overwhelming and let's me process words better. Guys always think I wanna kiss them-) They're all very aware of his low empathy and very much understand when he's being sarcastic or not, and they never get mad when he misunderstands a social cue. Donnie's not "the Autistic character." He's a character who happens to be Autistic. And he's so *real* to me. I see myself in him but also see him as someone who's definitely not me. I feel like when I see Autisticcoded characters it's either "they're just like me" or "no." The former is nice but ultimately makes Autism seem pretty 1dimensional. The other one... No- I see him do things that I do, but also see things that are nothing like any of my experiences. He's like a friend. There's common ground, but he's too deep for me to call him my kin. And strangely? That's a better feeling than if he *was* my kin. Don, I love you. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

I appreciate that they gave Donnie multiple special interests that don’t necessarily correlate with one another. As someone on the spectrum, my special interests are widely ranging and show up greater at certain times than others. It just goes to show that, like most people, people labeled as autistic have multiple things they are passionate about and may just express their passions in a different way.

Hii!! Firstly, thank you SO SO SO much for making this, I identify with him as an autistic person so much, seeing a video as easily comprehensive and digestible as this is incredible!!! Id also like to ask if you knew anything more about high empathy, particularly in autistic people. I haven't seen much of it and I would love to put that sort of representation in my work, as well as understanding it more. However I'm not the best at grasping the concept of empathy in general, much less high empathy. Again, awesome video thanks again

This... This is beautiful. I REALLY hope they make a season 3 so we can see more Donnie

I’m not autistic, but I have ADHD and characters like Donnie and Mickey (though Donnie feels a lot closer to me than sweet Mickey) it feels validating, to see just natural characters with mental illnesses portrayed as normal and “ok”. Honestly it helped me make me feel like myself for once, and not just me trying to battle against it the entire time. I damn near cried when I saw the similarities between me and them! Although ADHD isn’t talked about as much, it’s representation still exists to an extent and it’s amazing, I wish more shows follow the example of this one.

the whole phone part is really relatable since my phone helps me with anxiety and depression plus i have this whole fantasy of being an adopted sister since this is a very accepting environment and what i grew up with is shit

gosh this is a rlly good video. you spoke rlly well, and made genuinely good points that i agreed with. i love donnie a lot, and i see a lot of my traits and habits in him, and a lot in mikey as well. this show holds a special place in my heart, and i love watching these kind of analysis videos that aren't talking about whether its good or bad (because i couldnt take someone calling my favourite show shit), but talking about the characters. ill probably be watching this video at least a few times, because its easy to watch but keeps me interested, is infortmative but doesnt take itself too seriously and all the things i love in a video. again, incredible video

I love these analyses that you make. I know that you’ve only really made two but I actually enjoy yours quite a bit. It goes in depth and you definitely put out what you know without trying to push any kind of agenda.

Donnie is so well represented that it was the first thing that made my undiagnosed ass realize “oh shit I might need to schedule a doctor appointment”

I'm very glad ROTTMNT exists, more so for the fandom and Donnie. While I find the show loud and overwhelming, these analyses have helped me finally figure out why I sometimes feel weird or defensive when a neurodivergent coded character exists, or why alien/robot characters sometimes make me happy in a certain way. Thank you for this in-depth explanation and character breakdown

This show and the fans treatment of the way they wrote Donnie actually helped me with my own diagnosis since I found this all like a week before testing and came to terms with it waiting for the results

Loved the video (already watched a few of your rise ones)!!! But I wanted to say how grateful I am for the captions and the time you took to get em that well done!!

while I'm not autistic, I am neurodivergent (adhd) and I'm incredibly happy that we're getting more neurodivergent rep in media that isn't just stereotypes, and I'm hoping for more characters like this in the future (side note: I also really like how the rest of the cast can also be read as neurodivergent without them being stereotypes either, especially Mikey, who has long been stuck as the goofy adhd "look a squirrel!" character. Everything about rise is very refreshing and I love it a lot)

‘One flavourless juice!’ is perfect

YESSS YOURE BACK! Love your vids and your scripts!

This analysis is so beautifully put together. The way you explained autistic coding in different medias and how you represented autism as a whole was just so well said. I thoroughly enjoyed this video and shared it with my audience so they can understand why I'm obsessed with Donnie :)

I just received my formal autism diagnosis! Thanks for introducing me to what autism actually is. I couldn’t have asked for a better video to find almost a year and a half ago. I’m also thankful for the posted time this video was uploaded, because time is a strange concept for me to try to hold to so I thought it had been much further into the past that I began my self-diagnosis process. This video holds a special place in my heart for helping me understand myself in a way I can’t imagine living without now. So thank you :)

Its interesting that you used that scene from Star Trek, because there is a good chance that Dr. McCoy is also (almost certainly unintentionally) autistic coded: hyper-empathy, stimming, sensory issues, difficulty with emotional regulation, difficulty maintaining varied relationships, a knack for making unlikely connections and thinking outside the box, good intuition about people, but difficulty understanding and accepting approaches to life (his belief that Spock cannot be content unless he embraces emotion). Which is interesting, because it would be an example of almost opposing points on the spectrum being represented in the same show.

Very well done and articulate analysis.💜❤💙🧡I don't have the time or energy to say how great this is so. Just know this was a amazing. I look forward to more of them in the future!