So What’s a Social Disability, Anyway?

Excerpt from Journeys with Autism: (click for entire article)

As many of you know, I’m in Santa Cruz for two months to visit my daughter and, as an added bonus, to escape the Vermont winter. Or, should I say, those were the two reasons, in order of importance, that I got on the train in Springfield, Massachusetts on January 21 and ended up in lovely Santa Cruz three days later.

But now I realize that I came out here for a third reason: to take myself out of my accustomed context so that I could see myself, and the world in which I live, more clearly. In other words, this visit has quickly turned into a spiritual retreat of great intensity — one in which I’ve come face to face with myself, with the ways in which I relate to the world, and with the ways in which the world relates to me.

One of the things that has struck me since I’ve been out here has been a sense of deep loneliness. It’s not the loneliness of missing my husband, my friends, my familiar places, or my routine. It’s a much deeper loneliness, one I’ve had all my life. I’ve always felt as though I’ve been walking through the world alone.