I don’t blame my parents, because my mother was terminally ill, and my father was suddenly the main provider and caregiver for three generations and six people, including himself. They did gush about how adaptable I was, and how I taught myself how to ride a bicycle, not realizing that that’s not what kids should need to do.

As an adult, I am very unhappy when plans change (unless it means I don’t have to leave the house), and I’m very unadaptable in the short term, though I am a well integrated immigrant, so I guess I’m pretty adaptable in the long term. To be fair, my chosen country has a culture that I’m a lot better at adapting to than that of my home country, barring the staring and greetings in waiting rooms (I’m an autistic American with a special interest in languages living in Germany).