I'm losing an autistic buddy soon (and a simple autism test for your knowledge base)

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I may have mentioned in the past that I have a bit of trouble working with autistic kids, because that profound sense of connection isn't always there. Autistic kids tend to struggle with eye-contact, understanding another's perspective, and showing affection. But there's a 4-year-old at the preschool where I work who has "won my heart," and I will miss him when he transfers to a "special school" next week. Several teachers have said he "rarely speaks," but for some reason, he often comes up to me and starts a conversation. I have learned through our conversations that he can read some words and is very good at math. But he's often "in his own world," and doesn't always follow directions, leading to frustration in some of the teachers. I wish I could continue working with him, as I've seen improvements in his emotional expressiveness, his interactive play with other children, and his ability to show affection. An interesting factoid: There's another kid in the toddler classroom who was thought by some to be autistic. But he actually only suffers from an expressive speech delay and occasional impulse control issues. I could tell he wasn't autistic from the first week I worked with him. He makes eye-contact, is very emotional, and also very affectionate. And he will bring a crying child a toy, a sign of empathy, which many autistic kids lack. Have you worked with or been around autistic people? I'm going to end this post and continue it in a separate post. I don't want to have this post be too long. In my next post, I will tell you about my "autism test" that confirmed my suspicions about the two kids I've mentioned here. Tune in next week for the next episode of Lost in Space...