Though most listeners would never realize it, when an autistic person “shows” (i.e., talks about, or shares photos, links, articles, music, or memes about) topics on which she is expert, she’s not showing off for showing off’s sake. She’s trying to “infect” a potential friend with shared enthusiasm—trying to achieve a level of social confidence and transferred emotion. The awful irony is that we become our own undoing. Impulsivity and a tendency toward perseveration but away from reciprocity lead us
