Neurodivergent (Headcanon) Alley: Keeley Jones (Ted Lasso)

*Keeley-related spoilers.*

Once I started looking for neurodivergence in Ted Lasso, I saw it everywhere. I’m not sure how many characters from the show I’ll end up covering on this particular jaunt—before my attention pulls me

 in a different direction—so I’m rightly starting with my favorites. I’ve already looked at Roy and Ted, and now I have to talk about Keeley!

When it comes to neurodivergent coding on Ted Lasso, Keeley might initially be put forth as a contender for Most Likely to Be Neurotypical, but a lot of that is trappings. A somewhat-celebrity from having dated multiple footballers, she models and later does PR for AFC Richmond, a job she does so well that she eventually gets the opportunity to start her own firm. She doesn’t really appear to struggle socially. When people think about neurodivergence, they probably don’t picture Keeley.

But honestly, if this woman is neurotypical, I’ll eat my hat. Personally, I see an autistic/ADHD combo with Keeley, though I could also be persuaded by arguments of just ADHD. The first thing I want to look at here is her bluntness and honesty. Keeley speaks what’s on her mind, enthusiastically and without filter. Her friendship with Rebecca begins when she drops in on Rebecca’s office and announces, “I’ve decided not to be scared of you anymore,” and that same conversation ends with her cheerfully declaring how gobsmacked she is by a glorious photo of Rebecca sunbathing topless. When Roy asks if she’s talking to her friends about their relationship, Rebecca and Higgins try to cover, but Keeley immediately, casually replies, “Yeah, we’re talking about you.” She values being direct, and being herself, and for the most part, she doesn’t stress over what people think of her based on that.

Keeley’s energy and excitability definitely give off ADHD vibes. When she’s happy, she’s liable to scream or squeal, and like Roy, she’s rarely shy about yelling curses in public. She doesn’t get embarrassed about showing strong emotions, including crying in front of her friends. She takes up space to make herself comfortable and doesn’t apologize for that. In her professional life, she stills surrounds herself with fun, pretty things that make her happy, even if they’re not “grown-up” things—stuff like pens with fuzzy balls on the end or sparkly unicorn notebooks.

Again, Keeley doesn’t seem to have a lot of issues with social skills and communication. She’s a friendly, loving person who generally gets along with people, and while her boisterous bluntness isn’t necessarily socially “appropriate,” her traits endear her to others more easily than, say, Roy’s withdrawn gruffness. And she knows how to mask when she needs to. It adds up to someone who might camouflage their neurodivergent traits better than some of the other characters.

But masking, of course, has a toll, and Keeley is always at her best when she’s leaning into everything that makes her Keeley. I’ve been thinking lately that her difficulties with really coming into her own at KJPR might be down to neurodivergence and masking. First, there’s the added pressure of running her own firm, with VC backing. It brings logistical/business challenges she’s never had to deal with before, she’s so busy she has to “make time in [her] schedule to sit at [her] desk and cry,” and she’s no longer surrounded by the people she knows/loves/is comfortable with. For the first time, she’s managing an office and a staff, but she didn’t hire these people. The VC group brought them in, like they were setting up a prefab firm and just plopped Keeley into it. All these things pile up, not to mention being in a new relationship that monopolizes her time and focus, and it leads to what I think is the crux of Keeley’s problems with KJPR: she’s not thinking and acting like Keeley, not really. She’s so intent on 1) keeping her backers happy/not squandering their investment and 2) doing what she thinks a kickass PR person is supposed to do that she doesn’t pay attention to her own instincts. Under that intense scrutiny (real or perceived,) she flails, freezing up in situations that she would’ve confidently handled back when she was working for Rebecca. Her mojo is thrown off-balance because she’s acting like a version of who she thinks she ought to be, not who she actually is. In order to reclaim her swagger and rediscover her savviness, she has to go back to doing things her way.