We have a daughter with several handicaps. Her behavior has been difficult. We will celebrate her forty-sixth birthday in three days. Long ago we gave up the diagnostic struggle and focused on maximizing her growth and development based on what worked for her and us, not what others theorized or professed. She does not speak but uses sign language and attended schools for the deaf. She has many of the traits described here, the most striking is her overreactions to too much stimulation, emotionally, visually and situationally. We used to think she lacked empathy but finally realized she expresses it differently. The key to our coping and learning was to accept her as a unique individual with her unique mannerisms and modes of expression and wonderfully different personality. I’m not saying here that scientific exploration and research is unimportant. The data described in this article can be important for us to be more accepting toward those who are differently abled.
