He said he had.
Then he asked me something unexpected.
“Marcus, do you think people were listening because I am autistic?”
I considered the question carefully.
“Some people may have been curious because they know you are autistic. But I think they listened because you had something important to say.”
He looked at me.
“Would they listen if I wasn’t autistic?”
“I hope so.”
He thought for a moment.
“Then I am just Theo.”
I smiled.
“Yes, buddy. You’re just Theo.”
He seemed satisfied with that answer.
Then he went to his room to organize his colored pencils.
I sat at the kitchen table for a long time afterward.
Because I understood something I had struggled to accept for years.
Theo didn’t need the world to see him as extraordinary.
He needed the world to see him as a person.
A boy who liked chocolate, preferred clear instructions, sometimes needed quiet, and wanted to be treated with patience.
