Aspies For Freedom

*Gives Korrigan pat on back* Sorry to hear that. About the clear braces, I heard that they're crummy because they stain and make you look like you don't brush your teeth that often and it also takes a little longer to finish your term. If any of your children want clear braces in the future, tell them of these facts about clear braces.

Hmmm...sorry to hear about you feeling irritated about being treated like you're younger than you actually are. May I suggest some things? When old people pinch your cheeks, say "Ow!" but not too loudly and calmly ask that they not pinch your cheeks. That works for me because that easily deters old people from pinching your cheeks. Old people like pinching the cheeks of young people and are more likely to stop if you say it hurts rather than say that you don't like being treated like a child. Besides, in most cases, it actually does hurt my cheeks, so I'm not lying when I say "Ow!" If you have a copy of your birth certificate, maybe you can show it to people who say that you're too young to remember certain things. About that stuff you mentioned about NT teenagers, I don't hate them all. Some aren't all that bad. Most seem immature to me for the reasons you mentioned. I feel more comfortable around older people. My mom told me that maybe that's one reason I come off as older. Most NT strangers talk about pop stars and I like discussing literature, especially the kind that teenagers don't normally touch unless forced to. When I was 13, I read Daniel Deronda and wanted to discuss it, but could only do so with adults and when I told a classmate I was reading it, she told me that her brother was reading it for college. I could go on about the literature I like, but some people might get bored. I invite you to PM me sometime.

Hmm... My hair is pretty dark, so the gray should be pretty noticeable when I get more of it.

It's like that with my father. He looks younger than he actually is. I'm like my mother, mistaken for older than I actually am. My mom told me that when they were dating, people frequently thought that she was his mother! If you want to hear something that makes that seem more absurd, I'll tell you that they're only about three months apart in age. After hearing someone say that s/he thought they were mother and son, I hope they immediately decided to not make out in whatever place they were in. I can only imagine the awkwardness of watching two people that I thought were mother and son making out. Or else they immediately corrected them. Then they would start thinking that my mother was one of those "cougars." A "cougar" is basically a middle-aged woman who likes to date men who are younger than she is. And by younger, I mean by about a decade or so.

We do. There is a lot of sun about. Clear blue open skies. Long days of summer plus most of us are Northern European descent where even a little bit of exposure gives a sunburn. So they don't take the chance.