By Priscillia Gilman, Guest Op-Ed, New York Times, Dec 17/18, 2012

[....] It began as insinuation, but quickly flowered into outright declaration.

[....] In the wake of coverage like this, I worry, in line with concerns raised by the author Susan Cain in her groundbreaking book on introverts, “Quiet”: will shy, socially inhibited students be looked at with increasing suspicion as potentially dangerous? Will a quiet, reserved, thoughtful child be pegged as having antisocial personality disorder? Will children with autism or mental illness be shunned even more than they already are?

This country needs to develop a better understanding of the complexities of various conditions and respect for the profound individuality of its children. We need to emphasize that being introverted doesn’t mean one has a developmental disorder, that a developmental disorder is not the same thing as a mental illness, and that most mental illnesses do not increase a person’s tendency toward outward-directed violence [....]

Editor's Bio note: Priscilla Gilman is the author of “The Anti-Romantic Child: A Memoir of Unexpected Joy.”

Also see:

Comment by Anonymous on Orion's post, the parent of a son diagnosed with Aspberger's on bullying and its possible consequences