Last night I attended a baseball game at the Metrodome. I was fine with the noise inside the stadium, which is incredibly loud. I bought food (diet soda, two kosher dogs) before the game and never left my seat. I enjoy baseball, and was able to focus on the action. When people were playing with beach balls and tossing paper airplanes, I kept my focus on the field. For some reason, it offends me that people would pay to attend a game and then not watch — or even make it harder for others to watch. Ignoring the people though is better than what one moron did: he proceeded to get into a fight over the silly beach balls. Watching the game was good, despite the distractions. It's less annoying to have people act up at a sporting event that during a movie! What bothered me was leaving. The crush of the crowd, the smell of smoke (lots and lots of smokers), the traffic, and everything else makes me tense and nervous. I would prefer to wait a bit longer and let the crowds pass me...
At birth, doctors suggested I would be mentally disabled, in addition to the physical injuries I suffered. I have never been described as normal. “High-functioning autism” (HFA) is just another way to describe a few aspects of “me.” The autistic me is the creative me, the curious me, the complete me.