Maggie's Farm

I have 3 autistic (truly autistic) nephews. Each is different, and have varying levels of the disorder.
One is probably closer to the brainy intellectual type, though his anti-social behaviors and certain repetitive behaviors are a clear break from the standard. Still, he is the most social of the three, probably a high functioning Asperberger's.
The oldest is also a high functioning Asperger's. He is now 23 years old, lives at home and is working walking dogs at a medical facility where they do testing on the animals. His affinity for animals is such that he also works as a guide at the local Aquarium. Unfortunately, it leads to occasionally uncomfortable situations, since he has no filter. "These are the reef sharks, and while it's not mating season for them, their sexual behavior is very interesting...."(goes on to describe the act to a group of 11 year old schoolchildren as another guide hurries over to interrupt).
The third is low functioning and highly ritualistic. I'm not sure what will become of him (age 21), since he has not managed to learn many skills at all beyond simply caring for himself. He suffers from seizures, particularly when stressed, which means the family must remain on schedule at all times. Any deviation can lead to an episode, unless that deviation is discussed at length prior to the change. However, he has a photographic memory, which is often uncomfortable for people who don't know him and have only met him once. I've seen him walk up to a girl working a booth at a vacation spot, say hello to her by name, and begin asking her about her hometown - all information he'd picked up the prior year when we'd visited. It's fascinating to watch, and sometimes uncomfortable.

Autism was off the radar for me until my nephews were diagnosed. Since then, I've become fascinated by the concept and its diagnosis. It's clear to me it is being overdiagnosed, and this is leading to some bizarre political reactions. A fellow worker, who has a child diagnosed with autism, spends hours warning people about not eating healthy foods and how it can lead to autism, or how pollution causes it, or how other mundane things should be banned to prevent autism. Another family I know will not vaccinate any of their children, and have suffered some rather uncomfortable and dangerous results for making this decision.
These people all fear something that is, relatively speaking, rare and are willing to exchange that fear for many other potential situations of incredible danger thinking they are less rare. All because of the overdiagnosis.

My wife and I are fond of saying about the recent uptick in autistic diagnoses that "you always had that funny kid on the bus." We all had him, the one who did weird things, had weird habits, repetitive behaviors. Sometimes we made fun of the kid and were scolded for it. Other people were often cruel to the kid, though often he didn't seem to mind or notice.
Back then, they were just weird. Today they are autistic.

Since they aren't my kids, the extent of my involvement has been to engage fundraisers and raise awareness.

As a kid, seeing (or being part of) the group that makes fun of, teases, or bullies another child simply because they are different takes on a new perspective when that victim becomes part of the family.
I don't honestly remember bullying another child (I was bullied, actually), but certainly I teased or made fun of others. It's part of the hierarchical framework of a child's mind - I was bullied, and while I wasn't interested in hurting anyone, I sometimes felt the need to show a level of superiority (until mom stepped in and made me apologize and make amends).
It was all part of the learning process.

Today, I am more likely to provide advice or support to those I know with afflicted children. A very good friend of mine had a child with certain tics and behaviors that my wife and I recognized from our nephews. While I would never have suggested his child was autistic, he saw an article about autism, and began asking me questions since he knew our nephews were autistic. From that conversation, he realized his kid was likely Aspberger's and brought him in. Turns out he was, they got treatment and while there's definitely 'something' off, with him, he's still a great kid.

Our local school board was recently overrun by a parent with a child that had autism. I say overrun because she got elected, then became president, then began pushing her personal agenda down people's throats.
I'm sympathetic to her needs, but she went about it the wrong way. Asked for too much, too quickly. Actually demanded it and tried shoehorning the stuff in. She was quickly ousted and eventually moved to a district that focused on special needs kids.

It's a tough row to hoe. My sister-in-law is going straight to heaven, I'm sure. She has more patience than I've ever seen in a human.

This is absolutely true. In my school district, the focus is on raising overall performance, so they ship out the autistic kids to other schools.

Down by my nephews (part of the reason their family moved there), the schools want the money and ATTRACT autistic families. (I wonder when someone will do a study and say that region is an "Autism Cluster" and blame it on the environment?)

Their funding has gone up dramatically over the years - but there is a limit, too. In the last few years, the funding may be continuing to rise, but so are costs. As a result, they've hit the ceiling of what they can handle and make it cost efficient.

It's an absurd game they are playing, and it's going to have detrimental effects for those on the losing end. But no worries, there's a government program for them, too.