Zero Consequences

These are all great thoughts. I just interpreted it as - this response tells us a lot about this character's personality.

Like... I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative. It's just that I don't see anything wrong with Ayomide not feeling ashamed of her mental condition, and also being happy that something really bad, that she thought was she had caused, was genuinely not her fault.

Rob McBobson

I have executive dysfunction, and I did in fact accept the idea this quickly, friend. :) I mean, why would I not have? Since I already knew I had ADHD, with a real diagnosis and everything, the thought made sense. I had no reason to feel shame about things I couldn't control, like a mental condition, and naturally I was relieved, like Ayomide is, to know that my awful college results and uncleaned home were not me choosing to be lazy. And to be honest, I think it does the opposite of reinforcing that stereotype of slackers. IMO, what it does is to show that like me, she's *not* a slacker, she's got a mental condition, and is relieved to no longer have to be ashamed of it. No disrespect, but what you call "using the idea to absolve themselves of guilt", I call "not feeling responsible for things that genuinely aren't their fault." Nothing wrong with using an excuse if it's a valid one.

Rob McBobson

This is not the comic to bring this up on. Claire's cubetown interview (three days) has taken almost a year, and theyre not even back yet.

Rabbit

The first time I heard about executive dysfunction, my reaction was something like, "that sounds bad. Sure glad I don't have it." The next few times I heard about it, my reaction was something like, "That sounds a bit familiar. That must be rough for those people." After something like a dozen times of hearing about it, I heard about it again. "OH MY GOD, THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH! THAT'S WHY MY LIFE IS SUCH A WRECK!" I think the difference between your reaction to Ayo's response and mine is that I'm assuming, contrary to what she says, this is *not* the first time she's heard about executive dysfunction. She just wasn't prepared to accept it before. But now, she's not at school, it's not some bullshit theory that her psych major friends are throwing around. This is a grounded and sophisticated adult. She may work in a coffee shop, but she has an air about her that says she's been around. And she knows this thing and thinks it's what I have. Also, kind of at rock bottom, and how else could I have gotten here? She's not crediting her prior exposure now because she didn't really credit it then, either. It introduced her to the concept and probably managed to convey "these helpless people have this problem that's not their fault", which is why she so quickly moved to blaming it for her woes.

Some Ed

You think 38 is enough? I mean, look how long it took working through a first kiss a couple of times....

Donna Flint

Fair enough, but... it's a webcomic. It has to condense certain things down because it can't realistically spend the 38 strips it would need to cover the subject matter properly.

Tim Keating

I love love love that we're talking about executive dysfunction here, but (and maybe it's just me) I've never come across anyone with executive dysfunction who 1) so quickly accepted the idea, or 2) so eagerly and immediately used the idea to absolve themselves of guilt. Executive dysfunction almost always goes hand-in-hand with some combo of crippling fear (it's terrifying to confront the idea that you can't control yourself enough to do even basic things) and deep-seated shame ("you're such a fuckup", "why can't you just do it?", etc etc). So to see Ayo's first reaction to the idea be "oh great, it's not my fault!" feels... off-putting? Like, it feels like it's reinforcing the harmful but all-to-common stereotype that folks with executive dysfunction are actually just lazy slackers looking for any excuse to avoid responsibility, like most people believe they are. Though obvs, YMMV! And Jeff himself took the time to call out that this storyline is far from over (not to mention the large amount of trust I have in him with his handling of sensitive topics in his stories over the years), so I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes and hopeful this might get addressed in the future. :)

My only thought is that maybe it might more accurate for Hanners to say "can't" here instead of "don't" but wow is it lovely to feel so dang seen in this comic!

VideoBrew

Executive dysfunction is a big problem in people with ADHD(Which I've had since I was a kid, but was only diagnosed last Nov, at 34 years old). This exact scenario is literally a recurring nigthmare I have off and on for years. Occasionally I have a nightmare of the same theme but about work or relationships instead of college.

At least she's getting a good headstart on it. I didn't figure that shit out until I was in my 50s.

Clifton Royston

I'm in this comic and don't like it.

Peter McDevitt

I didn't have a problem with executive dysfunction in college, but I do now. But there are reasons for that.

Hugh Eckert

I can relate to Ayo in some regards. Like, I have the discipline to go to my classes, but if there is an assignment that I am supposed to work over during an entire semester then I have no problem putting it off, not planning for it until deadline is really fucking close.

Daniel Rydberg

Ah yes, when we use our mental disorders as an excuse to suck at life 👍 I can relate.

DaddyUmbreon

That's my university experience! And diagnosed with ADHD years later at 35 :)

Kateřina Churanová

Introduce her to Pintsize. :)

Joseph Bonnar