A 13-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome—a form of autism that often causes difficulty with social interaction—spent 11 days in the subway system last month. In a heartbreaking Times article, Francisco Hernandez Jr. tells how he took refuge in the subway for over a week because he got in trouble in class and "didn't want anyone to scream at me" at home. He says nobody spoke to him the entire time he rode the trains, and when the reporter asked him if he "saw any larger meaning in that," Hernandez replied, "Nobody really cares about the world and about people."



