I am on a trolley being wheeled back to the postnatal ward, my new son in my arms. He has arrived over three weeks early, but seems healthy and a good size for his gestation. Having previously had a child which spent several weeks in neonatal intensive care, I am just glad to have S with me. I look into his tiny face and he gazes back with unwavering wide eyes. Later in the week I tell my mother that at that very moment S reminded me of a cross between his brother M at that age and ET from the movie.

Knowing what we know now, the comparison with ET is not so surprising. S is severely autistic and people with autism are described as being like aliens from another planet, because they find it so difficult to communicate and adapt to society’s norms. I once read that having autism felt as we would feel if we were stranded in an exotic foreign country, unable to speak or read the language and could find no one to translate for us. We would struggle to comprehend the cultural differences and to make ourselves understood.

That is a thought that I have to cling on to when S is kicking off because he can’t understand what is expected of him. I hope that it is something that you will also remember if you meet a person with autism. Some parents even buy T shirts or badges for their kids printed with the words ‘I’m not naughty, I’m autistic’, just to encourage the world to show more understanding.