Jeffrey Zeldman’s daughter Ava wrote this really powerful essay called “The Shame”.

And fuck it, the pros of my Asperger’s far outweigh the social cons, at least at this point in my life. My creativity and vivid imagination, my natural leadership, my ability to work alone and feel confident in my own choices, my unique empathy toward others and compassion for animals, the fact that when I become interested in something I’m practically a walking encyclopedia for that topic—my sense of humor, and the way that I always say what’s on my mind, a trait that women are told not to have, I have because of how my autism affects my executive functioning and my inability to abide by social norms.

You should definitely read the whole story. It’s very inspiring to see this kind of confidence despite all the bullying etc.

Isn’t it great that not everyone is the same? That would be very boring.

(via Horst Gutmann)