Intellectually Disabled Charlie
Charlie's depiction as an intellectually disabled person is full of damaging stereotypes . Intellectually disabled people are considered lazy,unmotivated , and more likely to be hostile. The early progress reports in the novel try to show Charlie is intellectually disabled by being filled with grammar and spelling errors. The problem is, these errors are not authentic . It's a neurotypical writer pretending to be intellectually disabled in a way that pokes fun at what these people are capable of. Furthermore, Charlie is chosen for the experiment because he is considered "special" by Dr. Strauss and Prof. Nemur. They choose him because he is motivated and hard-working, something the novel states other Intellectually Disabled people are not. The idea that people with cognitive disabilities are not disabled, just lazy, is another damaging stereotype that the book seems to support.
