Thanks, belligerentyouth for the link. The discussion of color perception and language reminded me of a puzzler which has bothered me for years: Why, do you suppose, is pastel red such a significant color in English that it has its own term, "pink," while other pastels are merely called pastel yellow, pastel blue ....
And of troy, you are absolutely right about "autism" being a spot on a bell curve. "Autism" itself encompasses conditions which can be described on a bell curve, from profound autism to those we merely think a bit odd in some respects, and that curve fits in turn into a larger curve describing a larger portion of humanity. I have contemplated whether certain other family members would have been classified as autistic had they had more profound language difficulties. My own son's form, hyperlexia, has a couple of quirks, such as a tendency to large size (used by one nuerologist as a diagnostic tool). He was 23" long and 10 lbs 4 oz at birth, and hasn't looked back.
