Autism comes in many shapes and sizes. There are ups and downs, laughter and tears. My son was born 7 weeks early and weighed 3 ½ pounds. His head fit in the palm of my hand and I remember crying as I held him for the first time, as he was just so tiny. I noticed him starting to have “tics” when he was about two. He’d twitch his head to the side as he was watching tv. His tics changed every four months or so and he’d only have one at a time. Sometimes, he’d contract his tummy muscles in and out. Other times, he’d blink several times. Things had to be just so or he’d spend hours making it the way he needed it to be. If I wasn’t sitting the right way, or if we’d do something different than the usual, he’d be inconsolable. Sometimes, he’d even run outside. He was diagnosed with Tourette’s and OCD. I didn’t know that was on the autism spectrum until I researched it. There was so much I didn’t know. I’ve never been able to hug my boy. Sure, I held him as a baby an