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America’s Next Top Model has a very popular contestant with Heather Kuzmich. The 21 year old beauty has a form of autism known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Aspies (as people with the disease have called themselves) often exhibit lack of a social filter, have trouble maintaining eye contact and struggle with making friends or�retaining relationships. Kuzmich is seen weekly struggling with her environment and the other girls in the house.

A gifted art student from Valparaiso, Ind., she has a lean and angular look well suited to the fashion industry. But her beauty doesn�t mask the challenges of Asperger�s. The show requires her to live in a house with 12 other would-be models, and cattiness and backbiting ensue. Early in the show, she appears socially isolated, the girls whisper about her within earshot, and viewers see her crying on the phone to her mother.

One girl is frustrated when Heather, concentrating on packing a bag, doesn�t hear a request to move out of the way. At one point, the others laugh when they stake out their beds and Heather has no place to sleep.

She is a talented model and is gaining praise and respect for her work on the show.

But while Heather�s odd mannerisms separate her from her roommates, those same traits translate as on-the-edge high fashion in her modeling sessions. In interviews on camera, she often glances to the side, unable to hold eye contact. But Ms. Tyra Banks, the �60s-era model Twiggy and the fashion photographer Nigel Barker, who all appear on the show, marvel at Heather�s ability to connect with the camera. The pop star Enrique Iglesias is so taken by her haunting looks that he chooses her for a featured role in a music video.

photo source: CW Television

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