I remember someone asking me once, "Who brings you? (to your appointments)" and I replied, "I drive myself." I am autistic, and I can drive a car, albeit automatic only. The latter is due to the fact that I find the co-ordination of having to (thank goodness you use the foot and the hand on the same side of the body) use a foot and a hand to change the gears on top of everything else, too complicated, but most cars these days are either automatic or most models are available in manual or automatic means this isn't a disadvantage. (The fictional Redmond Mountford (Ghosts From The Past and The Hare And The Tortoise) used to say, "Nah, you've got to have gears," even though he used to start off in second and when he had up enough speed, go straight over into fifth). Being able to drive when autistic isn't something that should be celebrated. (I remember, when I went to Japan, an American said, "He's Australian and she's Italian, and they can communicate in Japanese. Now, I think that's fantastic!" I thanked him, but I thought, "King Henry the Eighth was English and Catherine of Aragon Spanish and they could only communicate in Latin," now, that may seem unusual, today, but we have to remember that their marriage wasn't one of love, it was a strategic union, whereby King Henry the Eighth father had organised the union between Arthur and Catherine, but Arthur died. Due to a literal interpretation of the Bible, they sought Papal permission. It may seem unusual today, though, but I have heard of Australian men marrying Asian women and the man doesn't speak an Asian language and the woman doesn't speak English.

The other day, when I had an infusion, I had a nurse with whom I have a rapport say, "Some "normal patients" can actually be quite difficult. You're fairly easy, in that you only want a gluten free sandwich, a cup of tea and some water (and often a second cup of tea later on) an extra pillow and a room temperature blanket. Some patients can be very demanding.