Give them a wing..

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder which affects social and communication skills and, to a greater or lesser degree, motor and language skills. It is such a broad diagnosis that it can include people with high IQs and mental retardation -- and people with autism can be chatty or silent, affectionate or cold, methodical or disorganized. While people with autism may be different from one other, they do have certain challenges and traits in common. Of course, it's always possible that you'll meet an autistic person who doesn't fit the mold. Overall, autism implies an impaired ability to read and manage social cues. Autistic people are unlikely to be the life of the party, though they may well be quite talented in such areas as engineering, technology and music. It's important to know that stereotypes of autistic people as "idiot savants" (such as the character presented by Dustin Hoffman in the movie "Rainman") may represent a few unusual individuals, but these are by no means typical of all people on the autism spectrum.