It surprises me how hard the world is on introverts (especially the young). This is probably because I'm not one, really, so I didn't see when I was younger, and then when I did, I sort of went (ignorantly) 'why don't you just do this?' and it wasn't until the last maybe five years that I could actually wrap my head around how difficult the interactions were for introverts. Generally I'm pretty able to see other points of view, but it wasn't until the internet (where introverts can talk about these things and I can be around to see them) that I understood how difficult it is. I had no insight into the situation at all. Now I look back at the way we're taught in school and cringe for all those kids that don't have the skills/temperament/whatever to deal with the terrifyingly social nature of it all.

Hm, this has been a long tangent, I guess, but I just wanted to say thank you - for providing this insight, both on Sheppard, and on my own lack of understanding in this area.