I'm sorry if I came across as harsh. I did not intend to bite your head off. I wanted to hear your response, I assure you, and I do appreciate it. I just don't want to be blamed for being frustrated, and I don't want to be ignored, even if it's not on purpose.

I think what you perceive as harshness might just be a mis-writing on my part: I said "If you are browsing on the Autism forum, I assume (foolishly?) that you have some experience with autism" or something to that effect. Well, that "you" HONESTLY was not meant to refer to you specifically, Didgee Eeyou. I meant it to refer to ANYONE browsing on the forum, i.e. those who pass my question by and do not answer. I wasn't questioning your knowledge or anything of the sort. It was just a poor choice of words for which I humbly apologize.

I'm sorry that I got annoyed with the label. I know most people don't perceive it the way I do, but I think it's very different for people who know individuals not labeled as "high functioning." People love to ask me whether my brother is "high functioning", and when I rather haltingly say "no", I get these annoying looks of pity and people seem to take that to mean he isn't "present" or can't speak or something. My brother does not function or think the way most people do, but it's not as though he's "low functioning." So medical label or no, I dislike the term, and I really hope it goes out of fashion soon. And that's all. Really. I'm not out for blood. Hope you don't think I'm an asshole, but if so, yeah, I see why. Sorry.