Matteo wrote the following after we recorded our Conversation. I chose to interview Matteo because he was a playwright with a play debuting off off broadway but…as they do this conversation went all ways!! Matteo is a man with autism who has been bullied. This is what he has to say:

Shakespeare once wrote "All the world's a Stage, and we (As in People) are nearly players"

That line couldn't be further from the truth, but what he didn't mention is: life is not a normal experience. It's a hard experience for each and every one of us.

People are not normal! Why? Because we are individually influenced by many many things, from what our parents say and do, to what the media says, to what the latest gadget is.

All those things don't matter at the end of the day and unconditional love should matter the most.

People lack unconditional love, and it makes my emotions run. You see, I'm autistic, and most times jokes, sarcasm and teasing bother me, especially when someone in public says it to me. Then I react, whether it be insulting them and/or assaulting them. They think "What's that person's problem?!" when they should know the world is not normal. It's not an excuse, it's not an explanation, it's a fact!! Then, some may call me, the autistic person that "has a problem" ignorant for not understanding society's ways.

My question to all of us, including myself, is why are we still "following society and its ways" when we live in a world that is not normal? The answer is more complex than we all think!!!

Matteo Esposito

Canadian Autistic Playwright of Sorting It Out