>>Today, I’m a little socially awkward but professionally successful, married and raising kids. All of whom are more “normal” than I.
Same here. I never got put in special classes until I was recognized as “gifted”. I can’t imagine my life would have turned out better if I had been told that I was broken from my earliest memory. I sure wouldn’t have tried so hard to overcome my social challenges and anxieties if I had been told that I had an excuse for them.
I knew I was brainy and weird and bigtime socially awkward, but that's just who I was.
I now have a son who was diagnosed with autism, and it is scary to see how similar he operates compared to how I was at his age. The thing that bothers me most is that I can see how desperately he wants to interact with other kids - normal kids - but he just doesn't know how to go about doing it. The other kids can sense it right away that he does not know 'the rules' so they treat him accordingly.