Mutations & Conversations - a Column by Tré LaRosa

My friend Steve Silberman died a year ago on Aug. 29, 2024. I was familiar with Steve before he knew me. Steve had written a highly popular and applauded person-centric history of autism titled “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity.” His writing, much like my…

I have been thinking a lot about aging lately. I think about it when I notice that it takes my dog, Duncan, a second longer to stand up after a nap; I think about it when I notice a gray hair in my beard, a privilege; I think about…

Growing up, one of the worst parts of having cystic fibrosis (CF) was the gross orange cocktail I had to drink as part of my annual oral glucose tolerance test. This nightmarish, faux sports drink is full of glucose and is used to screen for diabetes. For years,…

Like many others, I never want to feel like cystic fibrosis (CF) is holding me back in any way. Yet the condition has shaped many of my experiences and taught me so much, including resiliency. At different times — mostly during periods of stability and complacency — I’ve forgotten…

When I was asked to write this column over two years ago, I was thrilled, but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to write about. I knew I would have some leniency to tackle different subjects, and I didn’t want to be boxed in. But I also wanted to…

When I took Advanced Placement psychology in high school, a few subjects stuck out to me as being intuitive. I was weirded out by this because the majority of school lessons were not intuitive. Math, chemistry, and biology are logical and scientific, but I don’t naturally understand cells, or how…

I can’t separate my physical malady from my mental diseases. Cystic fibrosis, depression, and anxiety are all linked, and they’re all separate. I think of my blend of comorbidities as a morbid sort of smoothie. I can tell what is going on whenever I don’t feel well, but a…

I used to dislike surveys, polls, and questionnaires. I understood why they existed — customer or patient feedback is important — but I never really saw anything change once I took a survey. I hadn’t considered that perhaps my feedback was unrealistic or didn’t represent the entire community. It wasn’t…

I recently saw a meme in which a person is smiling or laughing in the first panel, then looks utterly dismayed in the second. The second panel’s overlay reads: “Tfw [that feeling when] I realize I’m being perceived by everybody else who ever interacts with me.” This meme is one…

I used to be ashamed about my insecurities. I believed that as a man, I was supposed to be strong. I was supposed to silently hate myself, my appearance, and my body, while projecting an immutable air of confidence. That was the “manly” way. My masculinity, my…