"WOW! She looks so normal!" Say "thank you," even though it's a diss

You work so hard. Staying sane, in the middle of the night, when they're running around doing lord knows what. Staying calm, cleaning up a zillion messes left behind. Explaining, time and time again to relatives (if they care enough to not blame you and to just listen) the lingo, the terms, why he or she can't go here or there. Why you can't just wake up, drop them off at school or daycare, grab some coffee, and go to work. And of course leaving a lot of stuff out, because of all the people that avoid you in the first place because there's always drama going on in your life.
To add insult to injury, the once seemingly innocent comment, "wow, she looks so normal!" I used to be, whenever people gave me this observation about my now 9-yr old, that I thought they meant she was doing so well (given the diagnoses). I've now realized, through a series of contacts, that it means quite the contrary.
"She looks so normal," is usually followed by, "where did she get diagnosed?" "Is she on disability?" Honestly, these facts are no one's business. But really, they question validity of her autism. Perhaps it is the lack of information about what autism really is? The phrase encompasses all parts of the 'spectrum,' from 'aspergers,' all the way to 'low-functioning autism.' Perhaps it is people's willingness to deny what we as parents of special needs children go through every day. Whatever it is, whenever I reveal to someone that my daughter is autistic; and I am greeting in turn with the not -so -innocent comment, "wow! I never would have guessed - she looks so ................ normal!" Even though I know it's not a compliment, I still say, "thank you! I worry a lot about her blending in, and we work so hard in speech and physical therapy, so that's so nice to hear from someone else!"
Yeah it's a diss, but it's also a compliment, and a lot of work indeed does go into making them look normal. Take it in stride, pick your battles.

Bret and Holly 123

I couldn't help but notice a few thing during this most recent 'Celebrity Aprentice,' where the finalists came down to Holly Robertson Peete's, an Bret Michels.
I couldn't help but wonder (or notice) about how speedy Bret's recovery from his brain hemmorrage was. And then the 'mini stroke.' My father had a stroke, after which the left side of his body was completely paralyzed. So I find it questionable that Michaels's reps say (while he's in his alleged coma), that he will still be able to come back; and in fact be able to do his scheduled concerts and 'Celebrity Apprentice' appearance.
Another observation I would like to note, is that at first the 'Celebrity Apprentice,' show was about being a business person. Then, towards the end, it became about 'who you feel sorriest about.' I have to admit that the fact that, all of a sudden, Michael's daughter had to be tested (in the middle of the show) for diabetes, was a tad suspicious. Then, during the final show, his daughter was magically able to attend. I felt it wasn't fair. Can you imagine Holly, with her special needs son, attending the final event? If you've ever known a child with autism, then you would know that the majority of children diagnosed with a major disorder like that, would not be able to attend a major event like that.
So Bret's gorgeous 'borderline diabetic' (ok how many ppl do we know are 'borderline') daughter somehow shows up (no one asking if Holly's kids want to be there, I mean after all, how many people are tolerant of children (with behavioral issues) attending a big dinner?
I'm just confused. I thought it was about who was the best business person. I mean, after all, Holly won every challenge she was project manager on. And raised the most money, for her charity, in celebrity history
Bret won the majority on sympathy - I didn't know it was a show about who had the biggest sob story.