This was really interesting to read. As a high functioning autistic person, I've only ever viewed the condition from the inside. Reading about the fear you felt when you discovered your daughter has aspergers was a little bit painful but understandable too, I suppose.
The media likes to portray aspergers either as a punchline or a super power. I don't really have an objection to that necessarily, they can do what they like. But the truth is somewhere in the middle. Only about 30% of high functioning autistic people are especially bright or talented, the rest get all the downsides with none of the upsides, and that's not acknowledged enough.
It sounds like Nomi was one of the lucky ones. Her artistic talent is a window life opened for her after closing the door to a normal, neurotypical life, so to speak. If she is into reading, you might pass my collected short scifi/horror stories on to her, as it would be interesting to discover whether fiction written by an autistic person resonates with her more or less than something written by an NT.
Several of them feature an autistic protagonist like The Beautiful Ones, or Little Robot. But in particular, "All the Little People", "Champion of the Little People" and "Pariah of the Little People" (in that order) are all about growing up autistic, exploring your imagination and recovering from the bullying autistics are commonly on the receiving end of.
Anyway, fantastic article. I'm relieved that she is in such good hands, as not every parent is emotionally equipped to handle the challenges of raising a aspie.
Thanks for your response, Alex. My fear was centered mostly around being an older parent (I was 36 when I had Nomi) and you worry that if your child will forever need assistance and cannot live on their own, you might not be around. However, one thing I've noticed about high-functioning autistic people is that they own their condition and they are more than capable of living on their own, not to mention I find myself able to communicate quite well with them because they're very open about what others may perceive as "shortcomings" and try to hide. I mean, I also have a problem of late with how the media has portrayed autistic individuals.
Nomi hasn't been much of a reader, as she loves more graphic novels and mangas, but I will tell her about them, she just may be into reading them. I would love to read your stories, as I write sci-fi, as well. I look forward to checking them out.