I have been studying an autistic savant friend for years. She maintains a degree of social normalcy most of the time, but over-stimulation can cause her to freeze in place and on rare occasion erupt into tourettes-like outbursts in public or emotional tirades in private.

On the flip side, she compulsively writes stage productions and plays piano, or plays guitar and sings music she has written for her plays. She wrote, cast, produced and directed two plays, the first written in Shakespearean prose and set in the forest, complete with violin playing fairies, the second a more modern love story (all her plays are love stories) in which she, bravely if not competently, sang at least 5 original songs, accompanied by her guitar with about 6 months experience playing guitar. The first was a minor success, the second a minor failure. Of course her production budget of $0 was a factor, and casting her lead male with a brave man with a speech impediment was also a factor.

I only recently heard the term “neurodiversity” and I think it is a very important part of the human experience and deserves acknowledgment and exploration. I was also one who didn’t fit into “the box”, and while I adapted and even excelled at “normalcy”, I always struggled with the inner knowing that I was not “wired” like other people. As an older adult I have come to terms with and learned to safely explore the less stable areas of consciousness where many autistics are stuck, but as a young child it was a terrible struggle to try to fit in.

In a primitive culture people like me/us are often honored and revered for their high level of sensitivity. In a regimented lockstep society like that in many countries until around 1960, sensitive people were either isolated or crushed under the wheels of “progress”. Finally we are being recognized and validated. It’s about time.