User blog comment:Weavillain/Why I Believe Leni SHOULDN'T Have a Mental Disability/@comment-33279747-20171007231349

I don't believe Leni is simply ditzy, she's clearly more impared than that IMO - however I wouldn't classify her as severely mentally retarded or having any specific mental/neurodevelopmental disorder either.

She seems capable of basic hygiene, dressing herself, feeding herself, and interacting with others on a basic level. Her heart is certainly in the right place as well, and she's no doubt one of the most likeable siblings. She's kind, sweet, tolerant, clearly cares for others, and rarely (if ever) shows ill-intent or harm towards anyone.

However, she is very literal-minded, easily confused, prone to misinterpreting common phrases and situations, posesses significant lag in coordination, gullible, has an unusual posture (or she could be simply drying her fingernails all the time?), struggles with word meanings and context, and has a nonlinear approach that interferes with her ability to get from point A to point B in conversations. I would not trust Leni to live on her own, at least not without a caretaker frequently checking in on her and removing potentially dangerous items from the home first. Incidents such as Leni becoming stuck in Lily's crib, franctically panicking and thinking it's a prison (thus requiring the assistance of her siblings to escape); mistaking an inanimate object for her brother; frequently walking into walls; combined with her personality traits that unfortunately allow her to be easily taken advantage of by others (especially Lori) - can all be crippling. Of course, she's not quite as bad as, say, Patrick Star - maybe closer to the character Stormy of Sealab 2021 (minus his occasional mean-spiritedness). But Leni is a character that I feel most people don't want to see get hurt or have anything bad happen to. I would want Leni to always be with somebody trusted, for her own safety.

Leni does have her shining moments, granted they are far and few. She does posess some degree intelligence. The episode 'One Flu Over the Loud House' made me feel far more compassionate about a character I already liked a lot. Leni was the only sibling to not succumb to the mass hysteria and paranoia during the episode, she was clearly concerned for the sick and wanted only to care for them, rather than avoid or attack them. I've felt much better about her character after that episode.

Now, having said all of that, I firmly believe that if Leni were to take a professional IQ test, she would score significantly lower than average for her age group and demographic. I'm positive she would place in one of two categories: Borderline Intellectual Functioning (IQ ~ 71-84), or Mild Mental Retardation (IQ ~ 50-55 to approximately 70) - likely closer to the latter (these classifications are according to the DSM-IV, in which these definitions remained unchanged in the newer DSM-V version save for supervision recommendations). I'm basing this on all behavior, interaction and intelligence she's exhibited so far in the series, remember this is merely my interpretation (I am not a mental health professional, nor do I pretend/claim to be, although it is an avid interest of mine I spend a lot of time studying and reading into). I could be completely wrong, if the writers decide to take her in another direction and have her be a secret genius, although I believe this is unlikely.

The problem with the term retardation is that today it has excessive negative connotations and is widely considered a pejorative term. Despite my best intentions and me using it in the most literal, purely psychological meaning of the word [from wiktionary: 2) "Having mental retardation, mentally deficient or underdeveloped."; 3) "Specifically, having an IQ below 70."] - many folks will simply not be happy with using the word to categorize Leni's intelligence, even in a mild state.

I don't believe Leni's behavior is consistent with that of those on the Autism spectrum, Down Syndrome, or moderate-to-severe mental retardation. In fact, I don't believe the writers had any specific disorder in mind when developing Leni from the start, leading her to likely forever having a vague "abnormal dumbness" to her that will never really be pinned down, as I don't believe the show's writers ever intended for this to happen or else they would have set this scenario up earlier in the show, as the OP mentioned. Even all of the gags I mentioned earlier (Leni becoming "trapped" in Lily's crib, for example) were played for laughs and not meant to be taken seriously, afterall this cartoon is meant to be goofy - I don't believe we should expect consistent, rich story arcs or intensely deep character development; it's simply not that kind of show and it was never meant to be. The writers might even see this and think we were reading too much into it (or they might encourage it...?)

Anyway, if people insist on not using the term retarded (including its variations), I've come up with another way of describing Leni's behavior and intelligence: Leni is slow. It's short and simple, but more importantly, it remains descriptive and accurate without losing any weight or meaning behind the words. People will probably still object to even this, but I think it's fair and brings us closer to resolution about her character and how she is portrayed.

Just my thoughts.