Vaquera

I’m a 37yo female, diagnosed with high functioning ASD at 35. Almost all of the women I personally know on the spectrum (and those with ADHD) were diagnosed later in life, and all of us are very good at masking. Girls are def taught to grin and bear it socially! My parents used to force me to make eye contact with people and talk on the phone. It was very difficult for me, haha.

Tocabe is awesome, we eat there all the time. The owners are great!

I love Louise Erdrich too

I'm a midwestern farm girl living in Southern California. We have hippie-inclined neighbors who are completely all-natural everything when it comes to food... I went for a ride with them one day to pick up their raw milk, they basically work around California's regulations by buying a "share" of a dairy cow from a local dairy farmer, and then collecting their share of the raw milk once a week. They are allowed to drink the raw milk because they "own" it. For real!

I can’t speak for everyone with ASD, but yes I do think it was beneficial even if it sucked. It was not done in an abusive manner, and I’m grateful that I can function socially, especially as my career has progressed. I am very high functioning so it was of course much easier for me to adapt than others on the spectrum. This is all viewed through the lens of my recent diagnosis of course, I didn’t realize that was the root behind my natural inclinations as a kid/teenager. If my own children are diagnosed with ASD, I will pursue early intervention to help them adapt and work within society (though I don’t think neurodiversity is a “problem”, it’s just how we are).