My 3 year old son with high functioning autism is doing amazingly well. His ABA therapist (who is unfortunately going to be replaced with someone else soon because she has some personal issues going on) is pleased with his progress. Everyone who has worked with him believes he is incredibly intelligent. He is very, very smart and will probably soar in academics but has developmental issues such as communication and obviously needs work with socialization. But he is starting to master "yes" and "no" and its a great thing and his behavior is pretty good too. He rarely throws tantrums anymore.. it took a lot of work but it has worked.. he still dislikes haircuts and baths but instead of throwing a tantrum he'll keep saying "all done" and if I tell him "no not done yet".. he accepts it and says "almost done" but it is said quite often...but the important thing is that he ACCEPTS these things and I can take him everywhere now as long as he has his toy cars and such so he is coming along great. But I am telling you it just gets to me that everytime I read up on autism on websites and such, those in the autistic spectrum are compared to "normal" people.. what the fuck does "normal" mean???? The opposite of "normal" is "abnormal" and to me "abnormal" means "freak" or "outcast"! I am sorry but I HATE that comparison!! Those on the autism spectrum are NOT abnormal, yes they need help with many things.. they need help with functioning in this cruel world because the sad fact of the matter we are living in a cruel and nasty world.. and function differently than neuro-typical individuals (is really what should be replaced with "normal") but that is NOT abnormal. Do you want to know what I think fits in the "abnormal" category? People who are not normal are the ignorant ones who judge others wrongfully so (and I am sorry if I am being the pot calling the kettle black but I am sorry, I can't help myself if I feel I am or something important to me is being judged wrongfully so by someone else) AND worse off, someone who refuses to be educated.. to me "abnormal" people are narrow minded assholes who take every little thing for granted. To me "abnormal" people are the ones that stare at people like us or others who are dealing with unrelated issues...those who stare obviously were not taught good manners and very much by their parents or teachers or just ignore what they were taught.. and I am sorry STARING at someone else for whatever reason is just plain NOT NORMAL!! Do you see my point? So I wish the creators of these sites or writer of any book on autism woulf replace "normal" with "neuro-typical" because those in the autism spectrum, or who have any other unique characteristic are NOT abnormal.. the ones who stare and judge them ARE!! I hope this doesn't offend anyone but I had to speak my mind. Pisses me off how much fucking ignorance there is.