Autism provides Murfreesboro Little Theatre director dramatic advantages

By Angie Mayes MURFREESBORO, TN — When the play “The Glass Menagerie” opens on Friday, Jan. 5 at Oaklands Mansion in Murfreesboro, it will feature a two-time director who just happens to be autistic. Murfreesboro Little Theatre show director Catherine Buford said she was diagnosed as autistic when she was just 3 but wasn’t told about the diagnosis until she was 17. She said that until then, “I felt like I was always doing and saying the wrong things. I had a hard time making friends because I didn’t know the neurotypical social rules. I was just expected to blend in at the drop of a hat.” She said she grew up with a “negative look on autism (and) I spiraled into depression when I found out. After a few years of feeling sorry for myself, I did my research and realized that my autism explained why I was such a weird kid. Now I wear my autism on my sleeve and love myself more than ever.” She said she would probably be considered “high functioning, although she considers the term to be insulting. “‘High functioning’ doesn’t mean that life is easier for me as an autistic person; it just...