By an autistic boy whose mother I know, from his typed answers to questions at an autism conference. He was 9 or 10 years old when he did this.

Some of my favorite questions and answers:

Do “normal people” sometimes scare you?

No, normal people don’t trouble me, but people who wished that I was normal — that is, people who see me as only a broken normal person rather than as an intact autistic person — do hurt me.

Describe one or two things that people can do to help you.

They can have utter respect for diversity, and they can understand that diversity leads a tattered life when not wedded to tolerance.

Do you think it would be a good thing if researchers found a cure for autism and Asperger’s?

The road to Hades is paved with good intentions.

Would you want to be cured?

I would rather be cured of bigotry before being cured of autism.

One last unsolicited comment: It is my profound opinion that those who desire to divide us into “high” versus “low-functioning” autistics deliver a great disservice to our common quest for true equality.