Main character of Windswept Youth. Adorable dork. Autistic.

Backstory
Abagail was diagnosed with autism very quickly, as her parents were keeping an eye out for developmental disorders in their children. That's because their first child, Abagail's big sister, was born with very Downs Syndrome. Because of her parent's foresight Abagail received early interventions and a lot of specialized help when she was young, which she recalls with a bit of distaste but is ultimately very grateful for. Throughout her life, her family (mother, father, older sister and brother) were all exceedingly kind and supportive, and always created a loving household.

Abagail was always the 'odd kid' in school. She was bullied throughout her school days, especially in middle school. During that time, Jenna Liddel, a classmate, was always sure to be very nice to her, and went out of her way to befriend Abagail. Unused to such kindness from peers (especially pretty, semi-popular peers), Abagail idolized Jenna, putting her on a pedestal for showing basic human decency. She developed a crush, a HUGE crush, and while it wasn't a genuine or necessarily healthy form of love, it did open up Abagail's understanding of her own sexuality, which she cemented later in high school.

Jenna ended up moving away in the middle of their first year of high school, leaving Abagail feeling like she had nothing redeeming left. But in time she made a few friends, the bullying lessened, and she began to feel more confident in herself. Maturity taught her how to respect herself as a person, which was also stressed more and more at home. She knew that courtesy and kindness were the minimum she should expect from someone. She grew. (But she still carried around a picture of her and Jenna from middle school, a memory and affection she could never quite let go of. At this point, though, keeping the photo was more of habit than anything of incredible significance, though she saw it as a defining period in her life.)

After graduating high school, she applied to a university with a burgeoning special education program, hoping to improve the system that never treated her as well as it should have and improve the lives of children like herself.

Ongoing
In the middle of her second year of college, her roommate (who was pretty intimidating and rude) suddenly had to leave the dorms for reasons Abagail never pressed hard enough to find out. She was told that someone else was on a waiting list for dorm arrangements, and that she would have a new roommate soon--but had little other information to work with, as it was a special situation (and university organization is atrocious). When an older Jenna Liddel shows up with her things, it's a shocking but pleasant reuinion.

They end up becoming very close friends and discuss sexuality, their past, and their development as human beings. They end up dating and it's super cute.

Abagail ends up switching out of the Special Ed major partway through the year--she had only ever done it out of a sense of obligation, as if identifying as autistic meant she had to single-handedly fix everything relating to the autistic community. But she realized she'd be  a lot more comfortable pursuing research. (Abagail found working with students stressful and teaching did not come easily to her; research, on the other hand, made sense and was fun. Also SpecEd majors are gross and terrible.)

 Extras
>Loves Disney. Loves it. (It often appears in her echolalia)
>Was labelled by doctors as 'high functioning'. She thinks it's rather obvious though, and doesn't agree when others tell her they 'can hardly tell!'.
>As she identifies very strongly with being autistic, the comment above is not taken as a compliment.
>Has a habit of using words she doesn't know how to pronounce, as she learned a lot of her vocabulary from reading (not hearing).
>Has a close friend who is trans (but only comes out midway through college). They met in their special ed program, both autistic, He's basically her only autistic friend IRL.
>Hufflepuff

Series Related

Windswept Youth:
Main character!