Libby Scott Quotes

LIBBY SCOTT is a young autistic writer who lives in the UK with her family. Since her “Life of a Perfectionist” essay went viral online, she has become an autism advocate, speaking about her own experience of it at conferences and in interviews. Can You See Me? is her first novel. You can find Libby on Twitter at @BlogLibby.

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What I’m saying is I’m just like one mouldy blueberry in a packet. I’m not sure I’m wanted by the others as I make the whole packet look bad. I never fit in with anything or anyone. I feel like a key that doesn’t fit properly in the lock.

she dislikes Sunday so much is because it’s a fake. It pretends to be all fantastic and weekendy, but the fact is that on Sunday, you can’t ever forget that the week is looming ahead and the anticipation of having to go to school is lurking in every second. At least Monday is honest. It knows it’s rubbish and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

The walk is over too quickly. Tally tries everything she can think of to make it last longer, suggesting that Rupert needs to be taken all around the park and then play some stick-chasing games. But after twenty minutes, Mum says that it’s time to head home. “He’s an old dog,” she tells Tally. “And he had quite a fright yesterday. He’ll be happiest having a sleep on his bed now, while we pop out for a while.” “Can’t Nell and I stay here?” Tally asks, the second they’re inside the house. Mum shakes her head. “Not today. After yesterday’s escapades I think that I want us all to stick together. And besides, Dad is looking forward to seeing you.” “I can’t wait to see him,” says Nell, and Tally wonders how she can be so brave about going to the hospital but so scared about something as silly as the dark. Just like the dog walk, the drive to the hospital doesn’t take long enough. Mum parks the car and they all get out. Tally stares at the building ahead. It is grey and gloomy and huge and she knows that if she were to get lost in there then she’d never find her way out. “This way,” says Mum, leading them towards the main entrance. They walk past a man sitting in a wheelchair and a woman with her arm in a sling, and Tally lowers her eyes so that the only thing she can see is Mum’s feet in front of her. The ground changes from concrete to tiles and then Mum’s feet stop and Tally has to look up There are people everywhere and the lights are so bright that it hurts her eyes. “Dad is on the fifth floor,” mum says. “So we need to take the lift.” Tally steps back, accidentally bumping into Nell.

But autism comes with a whole load of great stuff too, you know? Lots of autistic people have gone on to do wonderful things in life, and sometimes, their successes come from the things that they’re passionate about.” “Like who?” sniffs Tally, not really believing her. There’s Ginny, of course – but Mum doesn’t even know that she’s autistic so she can’t mean her. Mum tilts her head to one side and starts ticking off names on her fingers. “People think that Albert Einstein and Mozart were autistic,” she says. “And maybe also Leonardo Da Vinci and Charles Darwin. And did you know that the man who created Pokémon is autistic? He used to love collecting insects when he was a little boy, and he wanted to give other kids the chance to experience the same excitement.

You have to be brave, Tally. You have to love the person you are and embrace the fact that you’re a bit different.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I figure that a lot of the cons of autism are not really caused by autism, but by how other people react to it.