>>732990 Yeah, I'm serious! Re: "brain cells wrapped so tight…", interesting observation! First time I've heard it put that way! I'm trying to deal with it, or, have been trying to deal with it my whole life, but at the same time I refuse to receive the idea that I am of less value than others! For the record, one of our boys is an Autist, he's an AMAZING human being, but the point of saying that, is, I've been told by family that I was exactly like him when I was young! All the stimming etc.! I used to love banging my head against plaster walls (between the studs) because, for some reason, it was comforting, but I could only get away with it for about 5 seconds before my mom would come running in to put the brakes on that! Add to that, the fact that I was one of the first kids placed on Ritalin…that was back in…?…'70 or '71! As I understand it, the dosage they gave me back then was a lot higher then they give today! Rialin is a synthetic type of cocaine, I was on that stuff from about 6 years old till my 15th year, which jacked my development across the board! Physically and mentally! Think about the impact of doing that to a developing kids brain! Anyway, my theory is that I "was" an autist, but for the sake of survival, I had to develop patterns and use strategies to appear "normal" and figure out how to function in life! Back then, I was simply labeled as a bad kid, constantly over hearing whispers of "there's definitely something wrong with him", "what are we going to do" etc…so, there wasn't ANY latitude for "my kind"! Today, Thank God, not only is "latitude" provided, but autism is respected, served and even celebrated! I'm sure I would've been labeled as "on the spectrum" by today's standards, but, that was then and this is now! So, would you mind cutting me a break? Who knows, maybe even someone like you has an answer that could really help me out! It's not like you're never going to need the help or consideration of others!