My child with AS is on the mild side of the spectrum, and I do want to remind people that it is a spectrum disorder that affects people to different degrees. DS 20 can often pass for "normal" but he usually appears very awkward and people can mistake his lack of awareness of non verbal interactions as rudeness.
As a boy, DS had low muscle tone, flapped his arms when excited, and had very scripted ideas about play. He'd want to reenact exact scenes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and did not appreciate ad libbing. He allowed me to dress his lego figures but not to make them say things. He used to interject lines from favorite video games into conversation, not understanding that the lines were not familiar to others and had no meaning to them. He once hugged a store clerk who had been helpful, and had no idea when a person was done talking to him. He's come a long, long way, but he will always be different.
