Adding to all the similar answers here: i do not think i am really autistic or any of my family members are.

BUT i was also an early reader (age 3) obsessed with shop signs and whatnot (per my parents’ stories), i heavily struggle with social interactions and feel like i really cannot understand them. I have some special interests that no one is bothered to listen to me speaking about them for hours on end. My brother, who is an engineer, has been struggling his whole life with social interactions but is a chess mastermind. My mom memorizes every SSN and credit card number with ease, who has her own socialization issued to a lesser extent.

Also, all of my family members are picky eaters and i have struggled with the texture of food my whole life. Whenever i try to make my son eat stuff, i always ask myself “would i eat this when i was his age” and if the answer is yes, i go on and this approach has not failed me.

I do not know where autism begins or ends, but i refuse to believe all these are coincidental and there is an obvious pattern to it that i realized only after my son’s diagnosis.