Al Capone Does My Homework

I have conflicted feelings about the resolution of the conflict concerning Natalie and eye contact. I do think that it's important for an autistic person to know what non-autistic people will expect from them, and in the context of the horrific eugenics against disabled people in the 1930s it would be absolutely necessary for Natalie's personal safety to mask, but the way the narrative conveys this doesn't do a lot to question the reasons for the goal of Natalie passing as nondisabled.

I do like how Natalie is a highly developed character who's presented as a full person with her own thoughts instead of a collection of behaviors. She expresses that eye contact is “too much.” She's able to force herself to do it in order to visit her father in the hospital, which is important to her, but after that, I find it very hard to believe that she would continue the making-eye-contact game for interactions of less consequence than “I have to make eye contact in order to be allowed to see my dad, who is severely injured.”