Personality
As is characteristic of people with Asperger's Syndrome, Reid is socially awkward. He often fixates on things (prompting Morgan and other team members to have to tell him to be quiet), and misses social clues at times (for example, unknowingly changing the subject of a conversation). The unsub in "Broken Mirror" noted this, and Gubler stated in an interview in the show's second season "'s an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's Syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three Ph.D.s and one can not usually achieve that without some form of autism." Writer Sharon Lee Watson stated in a twitter chat Reid's Asperger traits makes the character more lovable.
Gubler has also commented on the differences between Reid and similarly odd character Penelope Garcia: "She represents everything he is not, she is very tech oriented and I would like to imagine he is more like 1920s smart, books and reading etc". Kirsten Vangsness agreed, adding Garcia is more extroverted and available emotionally, whereas Reid struggles with his emotions. Reid is a technophobe, and does not use either email or the new iPads. Gubler tweeted that Reid is also germaphobic. In general, Reid dislikes shaking hands, and shows adverse reactions when touched by strangers. It is speculated the character may also have slight obsessive compulsive disorder, particularly from a scene in "Out of the Light" where Derek Morgan slightly moves an item in an OCD unsub's home, and Reid immediately places it back to its previous spot.
Reid is a good map-reader, and therefore does the geographic profiling and map-related activities for the team. He also has a talent with words, and is the team's go-to linguistic profiler, as well as their unofficial discourse analyst. He is rarely seen behind the wheel - one time when Morgan hands him the keys, JJ and Emily exchange horrified expressions - but in "Lo-Fi" he is seen getting in to the driver's side of a vehicle and even driving that same vehicle in one scene. Nearly always he is seen as the backseat passenger during car scenes, and he commutes to work using the Metro, and presumably the VRE.
Read more about this topic: Spencer Reid
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