I was looking back at our family photos recently.

Pictures of the boys when they were small. M sitting on a blanket under the fruit trees at the end of our garden, his face lit up with a smile as he plays with the colourful plastic toys surrounding him.

S at the same age with the blank stare of the child with autism, resolutely ignoring both people and toys. Children with autism have no imagination, so very limited play skills. They often only approach people as a means of getting what they want. Some do not even recognise their parents.

Yet they can change. As he grows older, we see pictures of S smiling broadly at the camera…a short phase, like most boys he now hates to have his picture taken! He can play, in a limited fashion, with things which interest him…these usually involve music and technology. He has a smile which melts the hardest heart and gets him his own way far more often than is good for him. He has even learned to say please using Makaton sign language in his own idiosyncratic way…he blows us a kiss.