The hardest part about being a neurodivergent adult is seeing a baby neurodivergent in the world whose sorrow and loneliness and yearning for belonging is written on their face—

I’m tempted to crouch down and say, Listen, elementary school is gonna be tough. Learn to fight back and make jokes. Things get better in college, better again in grad school. By the time you’re 40, your peers will be sundowning spiritually just as your stock will be rising. You’ll go to parties and clock your cohorts. People will suddenly be drawn to you. The very traits you’re bullied for now will be the things people point to in adulthood as evidence of your visionary brilliance. Hang tight.