I got started on this kick, I think, after reading the book "Emergence" by Temple Grandin. She is an "autistic" woman who has made quite a career for herself in animal understanding; she has a Ph.D. and all, and her story is one of an early struggle, considerable difficulties with the "normal" schooling system, and creating her own individual way of coping with the "normal" world. Much self-teaching and not easy, and as a result she has made contributions that a "normal" would not have done.