Our 17-year-old autistic son Jake is declining at the same rate his peers are developing. He has the pimples, the sudden height, and the hormones. But the right side of his body slumps like someone who has had a stroke. Once right handed, he now uses only his left hand. At 15, he knocked his eyes off their parallel tracks by slamming his temple into the corner of a wooden post. One eye looks straight ahead while the other looks up and to the side. Both optic nerves are damaged. All the damage is self-inflicted. He has been banging and punching his head since babyhood.