I was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum when I was around ten years old, following several years of emotional and behavioral disturbances that resulted in my removal from public schools.
I lived in a majority white, upper-middle class hamlet in one of the most racially and economically segregated suburban areas in the United States.
We lived on the “poor side of town”, a fact I was not aware of until I was in my twenties. Because I did not attend my town’s school district, I was not exposed to the emotionally toxic, racist, and misogynistic culture that pervaded the social structure and interpersonal relationships of the residents, particularly among youth.
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