You know, James is autistic (diagnosed as Asperger's before it all fell under the label of autism, but that hardly matters), and as I read this, I wondered if your speaker was autistic. The voice rang true to me - my son sounds like that sometimes, though he has to be VERY excited about something, or else his voice is very monotone - and while he doesn't use life skills classes or other resources necessary for some autistic children (and I'm so grateful those resources DO exist - kids need them!), he still has a rough time navigating some things. I like that this is based on a true story! Thank you for sharing this. :)