Lamar Hardwick calls himself the Autism Pastor. He was diagnosed with autism in 2014 at the age of 36 and often hears statements like, "We would never know something was wrong with you. You seem just fine.” He wrote an article for the Huffington Post about this "fine" phenomenon and it caused me to really think about the unique challenges people in similar situations face. Those with autism who appear to be "fine" are individuals who often spend a large part of their lives struggling to find their place in society and wondering why they don't seem to operate like the rest of their peers. If they only knew the reason they feel different from others, is because they are different. they could have understood themselves better. Dr. Hardwick said something that rings true for every person with autism, however, something he wishes he could tell his teenage self, "DIFFERENT DOES NOT MEAN DEFICIENT." And he reminds us that yes, he is just fine, but he is also autistic, opening up our minds to the stereotypes we can mistakenly put people with autism into. To read his full article click here. (Photo from HuffingtonPost.com)