Gary, 25, with Hypersocial Disorder, Meets His Therapist
The Autistic Planet, ch. 3
This story is based on my article “What If Autistic People Were the Majority?” I recommend you read it first if you haven’t already:
Gary had a therapy appointment. He parked his car in front of the Head Problem Center. The building itself looked like a gigantic head; it was a large dome. Above the front door, there was a large sign: HELP FOR HEAD PROBLEMS.
Dr. Dickinson invited Gary into her appointment room.
Dr. Dickinson sat in a rattan rocking chair, knitting. Gary sat down on a cozy couch that was reserved for patients.
The walls were covered with tall bookshelves. They were full of books, mostly.
There were also a few cat figurines on the shelves. Pink Hello Kitty curtains covered the window.
Gary found a fluffy Hello Kitty pillow on the couch. That was a new addition to Dr. Dickinson’s collection.
Dr. Dickinson was in her forties. She had blonde hair, and she was wearing a Hello Kitty hoodie and jeggings. She sat in the chair without lifting her eyes from her knitting work. Gary didn’t make the mistake of breaking the silence.
“So, is there anything new?” Dr. Dickinson finally asked.
“Well, I went to the HSD support group. There was this new girl, Miranda. I was happy to hear that she’s coming to the spring party”, Gary said.
“OK. Don’t get your hopes up, though. Remember that you have HSD, and you don’t have a job. You’re not exactly a catch”, Dr. Dickinson reminded.
Gary felt his mood sinking.
“Yeah, I know. But Miranda’s got HSD too. So, I was thinking, maybe…”
Suddenly, Dr. Dickinson started screaming and sprayed water on Gary’s face with a spray bottle. Gary closed his eyes with discomfort. Now his face and hair were wet.
Damned it. Gary had accidentally looked Dr. Dickinson in the eye while talking to her. Even after almost three years of getting water on his face, Gary hadn’t learned to avoid eye contact.
“No eye contact! Naughty boy!” Dr. Dickinson yelled.
She looked like a furious wildcat with her eyes wide and teeth exposed.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Dickinson. I didn’t notice I was doing it.”
“That’s the problem, Gary. You need to pay attention. If you talked more slowly, you would have time to notice these things”, Dr. Dickinson scolded.
Here we go again, Gary thought. Now Dr. Dickinson was getting to her favorite topic: criticizing Gary for speaking too fast.
“See, people with HSD speak too fast. That’s why you do stupid things like stare people in the eye.”
Gary did his best to speak slowly. He carefully looked at the Hello Kitty curtains while talking to Dr. Dickinson. It took Gary all his energy to focus on where to look. It was so tedious that he didn’t even feel like talking anymore. Gary was sure that was what Dr. Dickinson wanted; she always said Gary talked too much.
Gary had barely said anything for a few minutes. The only sound in the room was the faint ticking of a Charmmy Kitty wall clock. Even Dr. Dickinson’s knitting needles were silent. Instead of metal, they were made of wood, so they didn’t make much sound.
“Well done, Gary. Here, have a lollipop”, Dr. Dickinson said.
She handed a yellow lollipop to Gary.
“Um, thanks”, Gary said, carefully keeping his gaze on the pink, fluffy rug.
Gary was in a low mood when he got home. He went to the kitchen. Gary’s dad, Paul, was making lunch for himself. Gary sat down at the table.
”Hi, dad.”
”Hi, Gary! How was your therapy appointment?”
”You know, the usual. Dr. Dickinson sprayed my face. I got a lollipop at the end of the session, though. You want it, dad?”
”You bet I do!” Paul said.
For some reason, Gary’s dad loved lollipops. Gary suspected that sucking lollipops was a way of stimming for his dad.
”I’m warming up this tomato soup. Do you want some?” Paul asked.
”Sure.”
Gary and his dad started eating their lunch.
”You’re not usually that quiet, Gary. What’s wrong?” Paul asked.
”I’m just wondering if I have to go to therapy for the rest of my life. I still make eye contact, even though I’ve gotten water on my face for almost three years.”
”Oh. Well. The doctor said the therapy takes longer to work when you start as an adult. If only you had gotten your diagnosis as a child, everything would have been smoother. I don’t really care that you make eye contact, though. I’m used to it.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Even your mother isn’t like the rest of us, after all. When I met her in college, she was very outgoing. She talked a lot. But I liked her for who she was.”
Gary’s dad hadn’t talked about this topic much. Gary’s mom talked about it all the time, of course.
“So, who made the initiative? Mom says she was the one who asked you out.”
“She did. She asked if I had seen that new space movie. I had, of course, but I said I didn’t mind seeing it again.”
“What if you had to ask a girl out? What would you say?”
“Oh. I haven’t thought about it, really. But you need to be yourself, that’s what I’ve learned. And you got to make each other laugh. That’s what has kept your mother and me together all these years.”
“OK, dad. That makes sense.”
Gary felt a little better now. His dad’s words warmed him even more than the hot tomato soup. Even though Gary’s dad was autistic, he had always understood Gary. Paul had never expressed that he would want Gary to change.
Did Gary want to change? He wasn’t so sure anymore. Having a job would have been nice, of course. But a part of him questioned getting watered just because he couldn’t keep his eyes on the carpet.
The story continues in chapter 4.
Find all published chapters of The Autistic Planet on this list.
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