The character of Autumn Blevins is partly based on Blaze Berdahl and Christopher Ulmer.
This is a sequel to the TheIEProblem.
The story is set in New York City during a heatwave.
Autumn Blevins, Meylin Arreola, Emily Flum, Andrew Gregory and Kanisha Robinson are returning characters from theIEProblem. Hassan Omar and Jessica Sale are also featured in the previous installment but only appear in small cameos this time around (Autumn’s parents also return for this sequel).
This is Todd’s first appearance in the series.
The “Special Friends,” Instagram that Autumn uses to interview people with learning and developmental disabilities is a caricature of Christopher Ulmer’s “Special Books by Special Kids.” Ulmer, a former special education teacher based in Florida, routinely interviews people with disabilities on his YouTube. The nature of these interviews are exploitative and lack any educational merit (despite Ulmer claiming the interviews are meant to spread awareness about disabilities).
Zombie Graveyard is a nod to Pet Semetary (1989) and Spirit Scribe is based on the PBS series, Ghostwriter (1992–1995).
Monmouth University is a real college that is located in New Jersey.
A sequel was never planned for theIEProblem and Being Special was originally conceived as an educational tract. This was abandoned, however.
Emily Flum was not part of the story in the original outline.
Autumn stims with a red ball throughout the story. Although, Autumn stimmed frequently in theIEProblem, the ball was never mentioned.
Hassan Omar, a very significant character in theIEProblem, only appears in a small cameo in the final chapter (he’s visiting family in Mogadishu when the events of the novel are occurring). The reason for this is because the author wanted a more “isolated” feel to the novel (meaning less characters).
Jessica Sale, who received equal billing to Autumn Blevins in theIEProblem, only receives a small cameo in Being Special.
According to the novel, Todd is on the autistic spectrum and has learning disabilities (along with impaired judgment). This is accurate to his situation in real life.
The band, Walk Talk, is referenced throughout Being Special. In fact, they’re Meylin Arroela’s favorite band (the band was also mentioned in theIEProblem). Walk Talk is a Brooklyn based band comprised of Mayteana Morales and David Bailis (along with other collaborators). Morales played Gaby Fernandez on Ghostwriter (1992–1995).
The events of the story occur from June to September. It also takes place nine months after the events of theIEProblem.
Autumn discusses Meylin’s maternal grandparents in chapter three but her parents are never mentioned or seen.
Meylin Arroela’s maternal grandparents are from Santa Maria Nebaj, a town in the western highlands of Guatemala. Her family is part of the Ixil community (Meylin uses Ixil words throughout the story). For example, Ja means water and Winaq means man.
The conversation where the director of Zombie Graveyard bribes Autumn $20 dollars to cry is based on a true story (including the part where Autumn admits nothing upsets her in the news or real life). Mary Lambert, the director of Pet Sematary (1989), offered Blaze Berdahl an additional $20 dollars if she cried on cue (after failing to get her to cry after multiple takes). The whole scene is taken word for word from Lambert’s recollection of the incident.
Meylin mentions the Yuba County Five in chapter nineteen during the search for Todd. The Yuba County Five were a group of men with intellectual and developmental disabilities who perished during a snowstorm in February 1978. Meylin describes the events accurately and Gary Mathias’s body has still never been recovered.
The interview with Todd in the library was much longer but this was cut for pacing.
A third and final installment is planned if interest is there. It will feature Autumn teaming up with Jessica against a common enemy. The novel will also rehabilitate the Jessica character.
The author was inspired by Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932) and David Cronenberg’s the Fly (1986). Autumn using Todd for her own gain is meant to mirror Cleopatra marrying Hans for his wealth (all the while still considering him a “freak”). Also, Autumn’s fear of turning into Todd in chapter twenty is similar to Seth Brundle’s horror at losing his humanity. Todd’s hands, partly disfigured from excessive stimming, and referred to as claws by both Autumn and Meylin, is supposed to hint at Todd’s animal like characteristics.
Cronenberg’s the Fly is also very present in the author’s abandoned novel where the main character fears giving birth to something like Todd (similar to Ronnie’s fears of giving birth to a monster in Cronenberg’s film). This theme resurfaces, however, although in a modified form, in Being Special.
Jacinta Hernandez is based on the life and career of Melissa Gonzalez. Gonzalez was the second Gaby in Ghostwriter (1992–1995) and was in the Happiness Club. THC was a group of child performers in Chicago during the 1990s. Originally, the author did not want too many references to Ghostwriter but Gonzalez was included anyway. The reason for this is because the author thought her life and backstory was fascinating (the other actors in Ghostwriter only get very brief mentions and are never seen).
There was a scene written where Autumn berates her costars for being bad actors but this was cut completely. It was the only scene showing Autumn acting on set.
Autumn has a persistent fear of drowning which is partly touched on in the story.
Emily is the only character to reach Todd in any meaningful way (perhaps due to their shared love of comics). When Emily is absent during Todd’s interview with Autumn on set, he throws up on her.
Despite being confronted over not standing up to Jessica during the playground scene, Emily is silent once again in chapter twenty. She just watches as Jessica taunts Autumn. This is a common problem for the character, she refuses to speak up about her friend’s bullying behavior (Emily is also silent when Jessica torments Autumn in theIEProblem).
SPOILERS
This story is the final appearance of Meylin Arroela.
In the Epilogue, it’s revealed that Meylin orchestrated the entire events of Being Special. She saw Todd’s public post to Walk Talk’s Facebook page where he revealed his email. Meylin then emailed Todd and instructed him to contact Autumn. He did not do this on his own but was encouraged to do so by Meylin. This precipitated the events that shaped the storyline.
If one is a careful reader, they will notice that Meylin gave Autumn the impetus for the “Special Friends” idea. In chapter one, Meylin outright tells Autumn to “set up a platform where she can interview people with disabilities.” Later on, Meylin introduces Autumn to Todd while making it look like it was Todd’s initiative. This is why she begs Autumn to give Todd a chance, even though they were mostly focused on interviewing children.
Meylin then uses reverse psychology when Todd’s interview did not match Autumn’s high expectations. She calls Todd a waste of time and “useless.” Knowing that Autumn’s ego is incapable of accepting failure, Meylin appeals to her vanity by insinuating that the Todd “project” was a mistake. This tactic emboldens Autumn to give him another chance.
This revelation is interesting in light that Todd was manipulated by his friends to do their bidding in high school. In essence, “he was told what to do.” Autumn is also on the spectrum but not as severe as Todd. This means that Meylin was basically controlling Todd and Autumn throughout the story. Todd’s interview, when he was talking about his friends during high school, was describing what Meylin was currently doing (even though for vastly different purposes). Autumn, however, due to her massive ego, did not think she was capable of being manipulated.
Meylin also educated herself about people with disabilities. She is well informed about learning, and developmental disabilities, and uses this knowledge to her advantage.
Jessica Sale tried a confrontational approach to bring Autumn down in theIEProblem (including constant bullying and harassment). However, Meylin went in a different direction. Meylin was so subtle about what she was doing that Autumn didn’t even know it was happening.
Clues are sprinkled throughout the story on why Meylin chose this course of action. The reader must make up their own mind after finishing the story. Meylin’s actual motivation is unknown.
The ending of theIEProblem finishes with Autumn in the midst of her greatest triumph while Being Special closes with her at rock bottom.
RELATED ARTICLE: Being Special, Chapter 18 https://baltimoreraven87.medium.com/being-special-chapter-18-75d8beaad81a All previous chapters linked.
