Reader’s Digest India – July 2019

ReadeRsdigest.co.in 39

How to turn prejudice into pride

By Damian Tarnopolskywith Vanya Lochan

K

elly Groh is different from his

colleagues at the Regional Mu-

nicipality of Waterloo, Canada,

but in a way that’s not always obvious.

All his life, Groh has been sensitive to

noise and bright lights and has a hard

time processing non-verbal cues. The

reason for this only became clear seven

years ago, when he was finally diag-

nosed with Asperger’s syndrome. The

50-year-old systems analyst’s excellent

memory and talent for processing com-

plex data made him well-suited to his

job, and he managed well enough with

office interactions after he began with

the municipality 11 years ago—until

the fall of 2011, when he returned from

an extended medical leave.

During his first week back, confusion

over a task eventually led to two of his

superiors finding him in his office with

the lights off and his head between his

knees. From Groh’s point of view, the

ensuing conversation didn’t go well be-

cause his colleagues weren’t sensitive

to his disability. “I can’t read people,”

he explains, “so it’s hard for me to see

if someone’s misunderstanding me.”

The encounter escalated to Groh feel-

ing trapped in the room and calling

the police.

Finding ourselves in an environment

where we’re not fully understood, or

are unique in some way, can be un-

comfortable and may result in feelings

of shame or insecurity. However, by ac-

cepting our singularity and even turn-

ing it into an advantage, finding pride

in difference is possible.

Accept Yourself

When standing out from the crowd

causes difficulty, it can be natural to

think there’s something wrong with

BETTER LIVING

CELEBRATE YOUR

DIFFERENCE