I realized some years back that I have a mild case of Asperger's. For the longest time I thought myself out of place. Because I am. I also knew that I looked at the world differently from most. In some ways it has proven disadvantageous. I needed to learn (sometimes the hard way), behaviours and customs that "normals" learn automatically and take for granted. But when talking to a lady about racism, I realized that Asperger's has proven to be a tremendous benefit to me.

You see, I was raised in a time and place where racism was not only tolerated, but encouraged. A fact that I have addressed before. I never understood racism. It made no sense to me to discriminate against another population just because of the amount of pigmentation in their skin. Still, I tried to fit in. For years. The "jokes" of the time, which were anything but a laughing matter, rang hollow. It took an astute friend (in College!!) to help me understand the violence in the so-called jokes.

So, how exactly, was it a net advantage, viz racism? Because I didn't (and still don't) learn behaviours the same as other people, I didn't automatically internalize racist behaviour. I still have the occasional racist thought flash through my mind, as I have confessed before, but I can deal with it, separate it, and analyze it so that I can keep myself from passing on the racism that society had tried to instill within me.