Dear RJ,

I don't really know how to start this letter, but I guess saying why I'm thankful would be a good idea. I am thankful because for the first time that I have seen a headline with the word 'autism' in, the story has not been about pity, or coddling, but of admiration and elation. I am thankful because your photos and story will go out to the public and represent us in a way that I don't think has been done before. We are often portrayed as weird, or scary, or any other number of bad things; you however have challenged that and showed that yes, we are different, but we are just as talented, valuable, intelligent, ambitious and able as any NT. I am thankful because you are succeeding in ways that I wish to and ways that I hope I to. I am thankful because although I got emotional reading about your modeling, and your open letter, and reading the experiences that you detail, that I have experienced too, I wasn't angry or upset, I was hopeful that it doesn't always have to be like that.

It is so important that people like you do what you do and show the world that autism is not something to be 'cured', but something to be celebrated, embraced and accounted for.

So, thanks RJ Peete.

A.