>totally hijacking the topic of this thread.
HHH, it happens. The thread had run its course and then some.
>autism
I have one grandson who is definitely autistic. Though it's easily evident, it looks like it's limited enough that he may end up being a much sought-after employee. As alluded to above, some of these are marketable skills. They proved so for me.
There was no autism in the 50s --just geeky kids.
>mild case
In a way, yes, but apparently wide. When you look back over 60+ years, you can see a good number of characteristics --and a lot of things fit into the mild & broad scenario. Some, like my aversion to noise, were/are weird when it happened but are classic symptoms. Others, like math abilities, reading, lone wolf, lesser emotional range --well, they have often been assets rather than liabilities. That said, who can really tell if I have autism? Seems like everyone says they're on the spectrum nowadays.