AUTISMComing Out
Autistic
Transgender or gender-fluid people
are more likely to be neurodivergent,
and vice versa. Here’s what that’s likeI
was late for lunch. At the time, I was
juggling a teaching position with my
work as public engagement fellow and
running a journal; I’d made an appoint-
ment to meet a new graduate student
assistant—but time got away from me.
I was out of breath by the time I arrived,
head still spinning with the effort of
code-switching from one role to the
next. It would take a few minutes to pull
myself together, but the student was
already there. I sat down, attempted
some small talk (badly), rearranged my
jacket on the chair four or five times.
When I got myself in order, we com-
menced our discussion of the journal as
we waited on sandwiches.
“I want to ask you something,” she
said. “How do you keep all your perso-
Brandy Schillace"Fledging," original artwork, acrylic on canvas.Brandy Schillace is editor in chief of BMJ's Medical Humanities journal and
author of the recently released book Mr. Humble and Doctor Butcher, a biography
of Robert White, who aimed to transplant the human soul.OPINION