heavily ill conceived notion that mental health sufferers can just coast through life, begun doing a mid-level dive into the most popular disorders which people have and get them some form of leniency and write off on getting away with doing nothing
It's very likely Andy has Munchausen's syndrome for two reasons:
- Attention - people with it tend to feel as if they aren't getting enough affection/support in their lives, so they will fake conditions to try and basically fish for attention. Andy's predilection towards being specifically in a group home, where caretakers will be forced to give him nonstop care, could be a major tell for this. Being a leech on his family is also another way he could be getting some sick satisfaction out of faking, as his active harm towards his family makes him feel important (the incense situation is a good example, he will endanger others for his own benefit. He thinks that hiding under the shield of being "autistic" frees him from blame for this, contrary to your average narcissist).
- Symptom faking, as you said
He acts like an inept retard with 0 social skills whilst asspulling long words when in a corner, being able to source information quite efficiently and also operating a PC
He specifically looks up and pretends to have conditions that match online resources for autism. This is why he almost always carries around an iPad or some other device and lists symptoms/treatments he thinks he
should be getting (a telltale sign for Munchies specifically is using complex medical terms, like you said, or somehow knowing which specific treatments or drugs they need to be cured of all their problems). The "stop 'busin me!!!" is a method to try and detract people from questioning whether he really has what he says he has: basically playing the victim in every situation. Whatever the reason, he'll find up something online that validates his feelings and will stretch the willingness of others to help for his own gain. It's not just selfish, it's
predatory. And he likes being a predator, because he hasn't been seriously reprimanded for it yet (in his fucked up mind the rewards (attention) outweigh the costs (his dignity).
I'm typing all this out because his situation isn't like what you'd see in the
"Munchausen's by internet" thread specifically due to his schizoid personality and dishonesty. What Andy wants is an endless loop of attention, care and validation. Illness fakers have a complex for attention too, but they usually play this to try and get something useful and
immediate, such as internet clout/fame, donation money, etc. Andy's not looking for help so that he can be (or atleast pretend to be) a functional being, he wants to play this up essentially until he dies because his goal is to be looked after by others for all coming time (this is why he will act like a literal child, he doesn't want to try and appear as sane to his audience. He relishes in the fact that others think he's abhorrently retarded and ultimately can't be trusted alone, and sees this as getting what he wants. Seeing others actively suffer from his made up retardation gives him satisfaction as well as he thinks his manipulation is working). He will always lie about how he feels, how he thinks and what he wants. This lying builds on itself to the point of actual delusion, and at this point it's possible Andy himself has no idea what he originally wanted out of this because he's just gone in so far deep. Sunk cost fallacy, he's acted like this for so long it can't really stop unless he's euthanized. Psychologically speaking it's impossible for him to not take up other's attention, because it's hard to ignore a babbling retard. If not the police, his family or nurses, then he'd probably be screeching in a McDonald's for the same effect. Unless he's put on some serious drugs this isn't going to end until he dies, and of course the doctors won't know what to fucking give him because he's never going to be honest.
There's genuinely no point in guessing what his endgame here is, because it's just as likely that he himself has no idea either. Did the car accident really fuck him up
mentally? Or does he want people to catch that red herring as an excuse for his regression and retardation? With Munchausen's it's all about the story they tell and doing whatever it takes for others to buy it.
TLDR: nuke Buffalo