Unfiltered Story #418771

Well, since autism is in the news, let’s share a really interesting fact: did you, dear reader, know autistic people were sometimes considered sociopaths?

Let’s see why.

Scene: An average home, in average America, where an undiagnosed autistic middle schooler (Me) has been handed The Diary of Anne Frank by her mother (Mom), as part of a homeschool curriculum.

This takes place in the early 2000’s, when being gay was often a death sentence in America, and being an ally had very real consequences for careers and social status.

However, I have been handed a book on the Holocaust, and am therefore assuming this is a lesson on that topic alone. It was the style at the time, along with celebrities appearing at formal events in bikinis.

I have examined this book with all the detail I bring to analyzing the Bible in Catechism (Catholic Sunday School) or other historic texts, like the baby literary anthropologist I am. And I notice that it mentions it’s edited.

Well, of course! I’ve journaled before, and it was nonsensical, like all first drafts. The questions at the end definitely want me to know that Anne Frank was Just Like Me.

And, like anyone, I proceeded to make some assumptions.

Assumption 1: I am a typical person. I know that genocide is bad, regardless of who you do it to. The Vatican doesn’t hold demons are real, or I would probably have filed charges against God with the Hague. So obviously there’s no need to worry about creating empathy, we’re able to look at the historic records and say genocide is bad.

Assumption 2: Therefore, the editing must be to turn the tragic record of a dead girl into a work of art, to honor her in death.

This explained why the questions at the end existed, AND why it was so well-written. After all, it’s not like anyone expects teens to produce a perfect first draft. It’s art in memory of a good person.

Here, however, is my mother’s thought process:

‘Wow, I’m sure glad I got an edited version of that thing. My daughter is just too naive for hearing that Anne Frank was lesbian; she already says in public that ‘bullying’ gay people is wrong and gets really weird about rules. Gee, she’s also really quiet sometimes, and her face just doesn’t move right. It’s just so creepy. I hope she learns empathy from this; I really can’t handle more of that cold face.’

Cut to the kitchen.

Me: I finished The Diary of Anne Frank, Mom.

Mom: So what did you think?

Me: It definitely ended at a great place.

Mom: (horrified, assuming I meant that the literal death of a child in the Holocaust was good): [MY NAME!!!]

Me: (suddenly realizing that my grammar had a SERIOUS error) …THE EDITING!!! No, no, not her dying! The book got edited–the end was really tragic! It was a really great tribute.

Mom: (silently debating whether to tell me or not… then deciding that I must have somehiw figured it out and was just mocking her) Well then.

Cut scene to Sarah McLaughlin looking very sad while In The Arms of the Angels is playing.

Sarah: Did you know misunderstandings like this happen every day? Autism has existed everywhere, for as long as humans have. But YOU can make a difference. For just the low price of remembering that your experience isn’t universal, YOU can stop creating this kind of problem in your own life! Call the toll-free number on your screen now, to just pause, breathe, and be sure everyone is thinking the same thing.

Sarah: as a bonus, we’ll also include this helping in OTHER relationships too. Call today!

The scene ends.