Families of neuroatypical children carry shame until strangers grant permission not to feel it

Evidence

I have had several such experiences, usually while waiting in line, and they always go the same way: first comes the friendliness of the neuroatypical person, piercing through my little bubble of public isolation (usually involving headphones), then the shame and panic of the parent or grandparent, and finally the relief at having permission not to feel those painful emotions about someone they love, finding a little safe harbor in a never-ending storm. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 724

Categorization

• XREF: The doubling device — Klein being mistaken for the friend of a neuroatypical teen and the relief it brings — parallels how being mistaken for Naomi Wolf opens similarly freighted interpersonal doors. This is the personal ‘doubling’ method at work at small scale.