Ok, I admit this made me tear up. I found out last year that I'm autistic and I've been struggling to adjust to the news. Although it explains a lot, it's a tricky thing to wrap my head around the fact that I'm allowed to be the real me (I'm 44 and I've been masking for most of my life). I'm trying to accept that being different is not a bad thing. Even though it sometimes makes life difficult for me. People like Bronson give me hope. If you ever read this thread, thank you Bronson xxx

Awesome story! Just one thing bothered me. PDD-NOS is not a rare form of autism. It's alle forms of an autism like disorder that doesn't fit the bill. So it might be that his set of symptoms is fairly unique, but the term is just a container for everything in that corner not fitting the exact diagnoses like classical autism or Asperger's and more.

This young man seems absolutely delightful! I'm not sure how 'rare' PDD really is. I know I had a kiddo in my toddler room who was diagnosed with it. I had spent a summer working with autistic preschoolers before I started working there at the daycare, so fortunately I knew what to look for and was able to advise my little guy's foster parents about testing. I ADORED this particular kiddo. Teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, I couldn't help it with this baby. He was so incredibly sweet and loving, but he was also shy and 'slower' than the other kids his age. He also got sick a lot, so extra cuddling was basically required. If he hadn't had amazing foster parents who were actively working toward adopting him, I probably would have applied to adopt him myself. That was how much I loved this kid. I went to his new school to check on him when he graduated from my class. He had moved to the same program where I worked a year prior. I watched him from the doorway with one of the...

I'm aspergic. It wasn't until a few years ago that I was diagnosed. Asperger syndrome wasn't a recognised thing when I was growing up. I look back on past experiences and I know when I f****d things up. I'm not excusing past behaviour, but I now know why I did certain things (nothing bad I hasten to add, just, well different from perceived 'normal behaviour'). I get overwhelmed by my senses; sound, smell, taste, etc. To the point where it can cause me to get angry, irritated, uncomfortable etc. Okay, example, the drainpipe outside my house, behind my bedroom, when it's rained there will be an occasional drip of water hitting the bottom of the drainpipe, my bedroom is on the second floor, the bottom of the drainpipe is outside about 10 meters away, I can hear that drip.

I've got three kids on the spectrum.This young man is wonderful . However PDD - NOS is a generic autism diagnosis for when the doctor or school doesn't want to say it's autism. It is in the US anyways

Thank you for being a good voice for autism, at least from what I read so far. :) People with autism are all so different from each other, but I think your message is flexible enough to be good for them all- as well as non autistic people too. Respect for you, as a person. From another autistic person.

I love his shirt!

Thank you. My son was diagnosed with PDDNOS when he was three. Because it isn't considered an autism diagnosis, we have struggled getting any kind oh help from the schools.

his parents shouldn't of hid it from him

I had an interesting encounter with a person who didn't know he had Asperger's until he was like 40. The diagnosis made his life worse, because he started to play a victim, stopped trying harder in life, and just totally labeled himself "handicapped". Before the diagnosis, he had a complex job as a programmer at the bank, almost paid out house mortgage and a family. Then all went down hill..