Maguire, Richard

Growing up in 70's England, meant no one knew I was autistic because Autism simply didn't exist. What did exist was a toddler with tantrums, odd child, bad boy, lazy teenager, boring man. All these labels stick and they hurt. To this day people say with visible shock on meeting me, 'But you seem so normal!' What they do not see is the result of growing up with an enigma. I endured the school bullies like everyone else and the lifestyle of a social outcast. However, I did not understand why I was being mocked or, for that matter, different. I finally received society's forgiveness in the form o...