What is your take on autism?

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Think it is a neurological disorder which makes our brains wired differently.

I would go with neurological difference, what we lack in social skills, flexible thinking, ect. we make up for in perfectionism in the workplace, consistent moral compass, a disposition for honesty, the uncanny ability to focus for hours on a task or activity, seeing the world differently (which is favorable for creatives in the workplace and entrepreneurship), and close attention to detail.

Developmental disorder: yes because we do not develop social skills through natural processes (without conscious effort), our minds don't develop a strong ability to regulate emotions, to see the "big picture" in a life or in reading long novel...things that develop at a certain speed or intensity for most people does not for us, regardless of what superior strengths we have. Call it nit-picky semantics, but in spite of developmental difficulties, developing those weaknesses to "reasonable" strength at some point isn't impossible...the ceiling, so to speak, is not set in stone; the way in which our brains develop is. Although early intervention can dramatically lessen the day to day negatives of aspergers and largely make up for developmental deficiencies.

Disorder vs. difference?

In our society, all too often a difference is seen as a disorder.

And the good qualities that you mention in the workplace: perfection, moral compass, honesty, focus, seeing the world differently, attention to detail, creativity ... from what I've observed, these things tend to make people jealous, or they feel threatened or insecure. So they strike back using their social skills as a weapon.

Developmentally, it would seem for most of us that we weren't born with the manual for social skills that is expected for everybody to have, and even when we try our best, there's a certain blindness there to some degree. Everyone has a potential they can naturally reach and there is room for improvement ... and I would say, some can even go way beyond expectations and accomplish great things.

As for early intervention ... I'm glad that the only label I received as a child was "gifted." That was bad enough ... hard enough being the teacher's pet all through school and being resented by the other kids. I'm glad that my parents kept me at the appropriate grade level for my age instead of letting me skip ahead ... they asked me my opinion on it and I agreed, because I was small and knew the teasing would be worse if I were placed in a class with older, bigger kids.

It seems to me the best "intervention" is love, understanding, acceptance, patience, guidance, and yes, discipline based on reasonable expectations ... from family, and not being treated as "less than" but as a respected, valued individual and member of the family with the same rights and responsibilities. This can of course vary depending on individual circumstances and needs based on high-functioning / low-functioning, etc.

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I'm referring to cognitive behavior therapy, a child routinely seeing a therapist who can talk through the difficulties and tell them how successful people think, what thoughts are destructive, what thoughts are powerful and productive. Sometimes parents don't understand the subtleties of how we internalize events and communication; they don't see us behind the scenes beating ourselves up over a mediocre grade in a class, making a social blunder, or some falling short of perfection in some way. Sometimes they don't see that when they ask us about something or mention something to us repetitively, we can internalize it as "we should" or "ought" to do it because not doing it is "bad". Great parenting can be a great substitute if they are well read on psychology and aspergers, or even just smart and great communication skills, but the same "toughen up" or "you're just a late bloomer" isn't going to fix the way children with autism see the in black or white terms, or blow little things out of proportion...instilling the thought process when the mind is young and plastic can make a huge different in the course of their lives. I'm just saying CBT at an early age can be the difference between a successful adult and an unsuccessful one.

True enough that CBT can help, I've heard good things about it.

In my case, although there's no perfect family and every family has its problems and issues, most definitely including my family, I can see the instances where mine were helpful while growing up. Which is good, because I'm not sure anyone suspected me of being autistic, even though looking back, I definitely exhibited traits.

Dad was understanding, shared and encouraged special interests, was there to listen, and would quietly guide me away in private from stimming behaviors that would not be acceptable in public.

Mom once tried to teach me how to make small talk. It failed miserably ... "Look, there's a truck." she said. I looked, and did not know what to say in reply because it was obvious to everyone who could see that there was a truck. She had a good attitude about school, in that she expected you to live up to your potential and would reward good grades, but she would not give you a hard time if you were trying the best you could but still not making the top grades. If you honestly were a "B" student, she would be satisfied with that and not expect you to stress out and be an "A" student.

Grandma once tried to teach me that if someone claimed they didn't want a birthday present, you should buy them a present anyways, because they were really hinting that they wanted one, but too polite to come right out and ask you for one directly. Made no sense to me, but I've always remembered it. (Although I probably fail to apply it to other circumstances beyond birthdays ... * lol *) She would also always say that people normally only had two or three real friends in the world ... the others were fake and phony, and just pretending to be your friend. And that I had worth ... so I "didn't have to take a back seat to anybody."

Long story short, I agree that CBT can be a very good thing, so it's good to have it available as an option. And not just for children.

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The brain wiring, or lack thereof; if our cause of confusion, lack of understanding, lack of awareness, insight into things or people, connection of unrelated events (sometimes they are unrelated) seeing a pattern.

Yes, that and all that it entails; it's also an equal measure of sensitivity to various stimuli. This is what makes us act, avoid, freak out, shut out, melt down, seek alone time.

It also occurs to me that past treatment by others is a big influence too. This creates avoidant behavior, lack of trust, instant dislike of particular people or professions.

Autism is neurological difference that has a significant combination of at least a certain number of certain traits.

There is not one autistic trait that all autistics have.