Asperger's/PDD

Asperger's is relatively mild, at least in my experience with it. Were you to meet my son, you'd simply see a tall young man who is somewhat shy. You, as an Aspie mom, would probably recognize what's actually going on with him. Others, not so much.

Severe autism (and I have a friend who as two children who are severely autistic) is another thing entirely.

But what ever the degree of autism, I sincerely doubt anyone who has any form of autism whatsoever winds up behaving as Putin has behaved.

As an aside, several years ago I asked my Aspie son if he'd prefer to be neurotypical, and he gave me a look that said, "Are you out of your fucking mind?" He is the way he is. He's been that way his whole life. Just as I, or you, or anyone else, has been the way we are. He feels no need to be different, and he's absolutely right.

Among the things I love about having two sons, one of whom has Asperge'rs, and one of whom does not, is that I am privy to more than one way of viewing the world.

The non-Aspie son is, by the way, incredibly social. Had he been born first, I would have figured out that number one son was different that went far beyond the fact that all of us are unique individuals. But I'm glad I went so long without knowing that my Aspie son had a diagnosable condition. As a consequence, we did all sorts of normal things. some of which were in reality a form of occupational therapy, but he wasn't labeled as different. I sort of feel sorry for those who get the Asperger's diagnosis early, because the label can be as harmful as it is helpful. However, I realize that those with an early diagnosis may be very happy they had that early diagnosis.