Exploring Childhood Autism Manifestations

Just a fun curiosity question: how did your autism manifest in childhood? I'm wondering if how I played was indicative of autism but I have yet to see somebody talk about a similar experience. I preferred doing things with my toys repetitively, like opening and closing a toy dinosaur's mouth or moving toys through a play set the same way every time. I never engaged in imaginative play unless I was with other kids but I couldn't come up with my own scenarios so I would often be the pet that just followed them around. I never lined up my toys but I would often just get so engrossed in how they moved that I would even open and close the clasp of my mom's watch and would consider that playing