Reading through some of these comments and thinking of others that I've seen elsewhere, I'm reminded that although it is true that ASD can be traumatic, lonely, traumatic, misunderstood, traumatic, and not well accepted, (emphasize traumatic ;) ), it's also true that most of us would rather be autistic than neurotypical. When we see neurotypicals and are told we need to be like them, we see inconsistent, judgmental and condemning, insensitive, uncaring, and often clueless people. NO INSULT INTENDED. There are innate advantages to autism. Many of us are exceedingly gifted, not because we are savants, but because of the way we think and learn and study. We are detail oriented and holistic to a fault. We "think outside the box" in often very creative ways. We are honest, even if only because we cannot master deception. We persevere in our pursuits because that's the way we are. We repeat over and over because we think that way. We cannot drop a thought until we have solved it.

Some of us are inherently gifted because of our sensory differences. I have perfect pitch and an acute musical memory. I can start a song on the same pitch weeks, months, even years after the last time I heard the piece.

Because I am autistic, I am different. The primary difficulty is living in a world hostile to us. Please don't give up on us...

Some people hear autism and automatically think of RainMan, assuming every child with Autism is a genius. They dont understand that it isnt like that for every child. They certainly dont understand the daily challenges and struggles that come along with it. I have been in this situation myself. I would simply say to them that it's a struggle, and that there are good days and bad, and that every child is unique. If it was a family member, maybe smack them on the head...LOL (jk). If you just dont feel like talking (we all have our days), I'd just smile and nod and walk away.

It's a good lesson on why people should think before they open their mouths. Autism isn't wonderful -- the people who have it are.

If he thought it was so wonderful you should have allowed him the privilege of caring for your son during a music class while you left for a quiet cup of coffee and something good to read.

He may have thought you said ARTISTIC - it makes sense that a music school owner would respond that way if he heard wrong.