If your child speaks fluently, does well in school, and can hold a conversation with any adult in the room, you have probably heard someone say, "At least he's high functioning." And you have probably also lived the part nobody else sees, the meltdown in the car, the falling apart over a small change in plans, the bedtime routine you are still walking through with a teenager. In this episode, Lisa explains why the high-functioning autism label is so confusing for parents, what is actually happening underneath it, and why the gap between what people expect from your child and what you experience at home is not a sign that you are getting it wrong.

• Why abilities in autistic children develop unevenly, so a child can have advanced language or an above average IQ and still have very little capacity to handle a change in plans.
• How language, intelligence, and masking hide your child's struggles from teachers, family, and the general public, and sometimes from you as well.
• Why autism is never the only thing at the table, and how ADHD, anxiety, sleep, puberty, and hormones all shape what your child is able to do on any given day.