Oh how I enjoyed reading this thread. Our older son amazed adults by reading before he was two and memorizes all kinds of "interesting"
material, and then recites it ad nauseum. We were fortunate when he reached 1st grade, in that his teacher had a college aged son with AS, and she really enlightened us. Our son too uses the term alien, and he and we discuss his life in "****land," or "the planet ****", his own little world where he is always comfortable. The girls at school just love him and watch out for him constantly, and we have thus far been thrilled that he has not been picked on. Next year is middle school, and that is the toughest time for all children.
We thought our son was a bit peculiar, but then we met a child who really has AS, and that was a real eye opener. Wow! We now consider our son to just be a bit "eccentric!"
As stated about others have stated about their children, ours is just the sweetest, most kind child I have ever met. He loves to teach younger children, but doesn't do as well with kids his own age, as he just doesn't understand the social cues. He gravitates to the "world of misfit toys," as he calls it, where all the children are "special," in their own special way. Sports are most definitely not his forte, but when you score in the top percentile on the statewide exams, I guess that doesn't really matter much, does it? There is always plenty to be proud of with these children.
I once read an article on AS that described it as the "geek syndrome," and mentioned how prevalent it is in "Silicone Valley," because these individuals are your classic pocket-protector types that can stay focused on intense jobs like computer programming and de-bugging. The article implied that Bill Gates was the head geek, but I've never read anything authoritative that he has AS. There is hope, the article stated, just get them through middle school and most will come into their own in high school, where their knowledge and special talents are more appreciated by their college bound peers. We still have hope that someday we will have the house to ourselves again.
Best wishes to all for a safe and happy new year.