Spencer Reid, autistic profiler

by KT.gd744

Basically this is going to be a collection of stories about Reid and his autism, and how he and his team deal with it. One chapter may not particularly follow on from another, i one Reid may be in a relationship, the next he’s not ect. If you have any requests or suggestions then I would be happy to hear them, I would love it in fact. (This is the first time I’ve ever done this)

6. Spoons

Again, for the purposes of this story Derek and Spencer are in a relationship, but not living together. If you have any requests for pairs please send them to me.

When the team gets back from a case, everyone is exhausted. They all head off to go through their routines, Spencer included, but Spencer always did things a little differently. Most people can still function when they're tired, but Spencer, along with much of the autistic community, only has so much mental energy per day, each task takes up a certain portion of energy and once it's gone, something needs to counter balance to get some back. Eating doesn't work, it's gives an energy boost but doesn't make it any easier to understand and breakdown a task. Spoons, for some reason it's called spoons. After a case, he has pretty much no spoons left, so he gets dropped off home, he lets himself into his apartment, dumps his things by the door and usually passes out on the couch. He usually wakes up in odd positions with his shoes still on, and it never really occurs to him that he forgot to eat, shower, even brush his teeth. He tries sometimes, he really does, but even a genius feels like a moron when you stand staring at a toothbrush for 10 minutes and end up being defeated, unable to break the task down properly.

That was before he started dating Derek. Derek was usually the person that dropped Spencer home, since they were dating it made sense that one would stay at the others house every now and again, swapping it over so they both got to sleep in their own home. The first few times they stayed at Dereks. They went back to his apartment, Derek found a take out menu, ordered and sat with Spencer on the couch. He made sure Spencer took his shoes off, put Star Trek on, this helps him recharge and gain a few more spoons for the end of the day. Spencer would eat, brush his teeth, get changed and sleep in an actual bed. It's not that he needs a carer, he's not stupid or inept. But sometimes a prompt helps, it just takes a little time to figure that out, and accept that you need it. When Spencer was staying at his home alone he now left a dvd in the player before he left, that way all he had to do is switch it on. He has meals in the freezer, all he has to do is microwave it. He bought some mouthwash, so that even if he can't brush his teeth he can still clean them. Little things to make processing life a little easier