Agreed, one of my friend’s sons has never been diagnosed, but he can’t remember faces or meeting anybody other than his immediate family . He repeats himself often in a conversation , and does not not like direct eye contact. I believe he would be called a Functional Autistic . He recognizes me because I can engage him on car talk. He is obsessive about a few things and a poor student, and lacks many social skills that every else in his family has in spades.
However, in the past 5 years he has built a few websites and is making 60k a year in a home based business for “tuner” parts for his great obsession, Honda civics made between 1993 and 2001! He machines the parts in his garage, assembles them, has UPS pick them up at his door and bills his customers.
My autistic nephew is 8 and he has found he can communicate via a computer. His parents have given him his own computer. he mostly watches movies but has a way of showing things he likes and relates to with the computer. He will never function in society. But he will have a place somewhere, just like the kid you mentioned in your post.
If you find the window he is looking out, the opportunity opens for many things.