When we ordered a hotdog for our autistic 9-year-old son, Scott, and explained that the mustard must be made in a squiggly line on top of the hot dog — much like one would see on any picture of any hotdog in any children’s book — you never even batted an eye. You had no idea that if he’d received a hotdog without mustard or with the mustard NOT in a squiggling line in such a loud, cold, visually stimulating environment, it would have likely caused a meltdown for which there may have been no immediate recovering. You just nodded, smiled, said you understood, and brought us a PERFECT hotdog. You made sure the milkshake had a cherry, and brought him a salad as a side to his kids’ meal even though that isn’t the norm.
