But he doesn't LOOK like he has Autism....

Yet again, it's this question....
"What does Autism look like?"

The hard part is that Autism doesn't have a look, persay. There are some similarly characterizing behaviors...but even that isn't very efficient for 'picking' out a child with Autism. Each child is so very different. Let's say there are 50 parts to Autism...one child could have 20 of them, another could have a different 20 and a third can have 10 of the same of the first child and 10 the same as the second child. All three will have different issues and behaviors. Autism is very hard to put into a box. I rather prefer it that way, anyhow.

When people I know meet Ryan (people that we don't spend a LOT of time with), they say "He doesn't seem like he has Autism", or "I couldn't tell anything different about him". I just kind of smile and nod. My son takes a lot of pride in having nice manners. He says please and thank you, he doesn't typically have a meltdown in public anymore (barring no issues arise), and he says "what's your name?" and "nice to meet you". He seems like a quiet, well-behaved child. And he is. Mostly.

Then when these people come to my home, or spend a little more time with Ryan, they begin to see him a little differently. His sensitivity to food, his inability to understand video games, his stimming behaviors, when he gets frustrated or upset, his odd behaviors, his language...etc. Then it's "yes, now I can tell he has Autism".

My son functions very well on a day to day basis. He's very smart, he's talented in many areas of life, he's loving, caring and sensitive...why does he have to LOOK like he has Autism or BEHAVE in a way that 'shows' his Autism in order for people to understand who he is on the inside, the part that really matters?? He's not Rainman. You can't always just TELL by looking at a child.