When my son was about four years old, my husband and I noticed that he became less responsive playing with friends and even talking with them. One day I got a call from his preschool teacher to tell me that she thought he was “retarded.” Very shocked, I asked her why and she said that he played by himself, did not seem to communicate with the other children and avoided eye contact. That was some 40 years ago,and autism was not a household word then as it soon came to be.
I was just devastated and could not see how that might be possible. From that moment on I began praying fervently for my son. As he grew older, I noticed some things about him that seemed a little odd – but certainly nothing indicated that he was mentally challenged. He worked hard at his school lessons and excelled academically.
As time went on, I did notice he began to display some repetitive behaviors, but I dismissed it. When he was 16, a classmate invited my son to his birthday party, and my husband and I were also invited to attend as chaperones. It was a really large party and as more and more people arrived, I noticed my son trying to get away from the crowd. I went over to him and he said, “I need to get out of here -- there are too many people.” My husband took him home, but I stayed to chaperone. I remember saying to a friend there: “If I did not know better, I would say that my son is autistic.”
In the years since my son was in preschool, autism had come to the forefront as a major developmental problem in children. Shortly after that party, my friend called to say she thought my son had Aspergers, a high-functioning form of autism. I asked her a few questions and decided to start researching for myself.
Aspergers syndrome is a diagnosis that was once given to those who have trouble with social interactions and also tend to have obsessive interests and enjoy repetitive activities. Generally speaking, people with mild autism (formerly called Aspergers) have difficulty because it is hard for them to communicate one-on-one with other people. They generally have average to high intelligence and strong verbal skills.
While there is no known cause for this type of mild autism, there are some risk factors. Men have it more often than women, there may be a genetic factor, and it is sometimes related to other syndromes. Some of the signs exhibited with mild autism are social awkwardness, difficulty understanding jokes or sarcasm, trouble making friends, sensory and motor issues, lack of eye contact, intense interest in certain activities, and difficulty with change. On the positive side is a very strong ability to focus.
While continuing to research, I began to see that my son possessed many of the characteristics. One of them is how relentlessly he strives at whatever task he is performing. Typically, he would work on something until he perfected it. To give an example, he loved watching the Houston Rockets play basketball. After focusing on a move that he saw one of the players make, he would go out and practice it to perfection. One time he spent five hours to make sure he had it right.
Persistence is a great gift to have, but to become obsessive I felt was a hindrance to him. I worried that he would have a very lonely life. I prayed that God would change him and that his obsessiveness would lessen.
Many answers came. He received an engineering degree from Texas A&M and has had a very successful career. Not long after starting work, the Lord brought a young woman into his life who became his wife.
The answer that has astounded me the most began while he was at Texas A&M where he got involved with a Christian group. Wow, how God changed him! That obsessiveness became an asset as he became an avid follower of Jesus Christ. Growing up, he had always gone to church and Sunday School, but this new hunger for knowledge of the Bible was insatiable.
Today he is a pacesetter in promoting and leading Bible study in his church. Both he and his wife also joined Bible Study Fellowship, an international organization with hundreds of thousands of members. More than 20 years ago, he was asked to be a group leader at the BSF class near where he lives and later was singled out to become one of the teaching leaders who give in-depth weekly lectures. How it thrills my heart to observe how the Lord has chosen him to be a vessel to reach others with the gospel.
Only our awesome Lord can take a characteristic someone possesses that may have a negative implication and turn it into a valuable asset for His glory and purposes! Truly, there is no God like our God!
July 12, 2026
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
