Efi always says that our parents always tried to cure him, so he could be happy, but in fact, they wanted to cure him so they could be happy: he was happy to start with. Non-verbal, seemingly disconnected, but happy. Everyone has been a lot happier since they stopped trying to get him cured. We imagine what happiness or suffering must be like, but they seem to see the world and life in a completely different manner. My brother still can’t tell when someone is sarcastic, can’t read facial expressions beyond the basics (and with the basics he can’t tell when they are fake or real) or body language, but he is expressing his own feelings in his own ways.

Of course we can never know what truly goes on in the minds of people with Autism.

In my eyes Autism is not a poorly functioning body: it is a differently fnctioning mind. I think you view Autism the same way I view CP: a trap where your body simply won’t do what your mind says.