At age 3, Marla Comm was professionally diagnosed with autism but felt to have intellectual potential.
Both parents had socially-conformist values, so that Marla's anti-social behavior was unacceptable. Verbally abused by her parents, she was disciplined to become a normal child. It was never to be; her rigid, dysfunctional personality was not susceptible to change.
Now age 50, Marla's lack of social feeling, rigid routines, problematic language, poor imagination, inflexibility, repetitive tendencies, and ritualistic behaviors - are lifelong traits consistent with autism. Anxiety,...