Even my own understanding at that age was a little muddled. For instance, when I was a kid, I thought my autism somehow tied into my lactose intolerance. Really, my folks had stopped giving me ice cream because it made me depressed for some reason. But somehow, those two completely unrelated things had formed a connection in my brain. So, for the longest time, when people asked me what autism was, I’d say, “It means I can’t have milk.” My other default line was: “Can I take the cheese off that pizza? I can’t eat it because of my autism.”
