來自星星的你
卷首語
作者：by Jesse Hunter
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in？ Like a square peg， trying to fit into the round hole of society？ Like the proverbial black sheep？ If you haven’t， trust me， it’s not a pleasant feeling. It’s like the whole world understands some massive inside joke， and you’re the only one who doesn’t get the punch-line. And the things that seem important to everyone else are so beyond your comfort zone， that you’d rather stay huddled inside， safe from outside stimuli.
In my adolescence I was diagnosed with ADD and Manic Depression. In college， doctors said it was Social Anxiety Disorder. For one reason or another， I always felt misdiagnosed. And a few years ago， I wondered if I actually had Asperger’s Syndrome. My mother， a certified psychotherapist， emailed me a link to an online Asperger’s test. I never took it. It’s still flagged and saved in my inbox. Part of me is afraid what the test will say， but another part still yearns to know…
This month’s features all deal with the Autism spectrum and how it affects different people. My Life as an Earthbound Alien highlights how being diagnosed with Autism doesn’t change your“otherness，” it only confirms it. In A Beautiful Mind， we learn how being autistic isn’t the disadvantage it might seem. How Can People Think Autism Is Menacing？ displays the ignorance and brutality of the masses， who lash out against autistic innocents. And I Was Diagnosed with Autism at 40， documents how a traumatic childhood experience can plant of a seed of fear in your heart that may never stop growing.