I have posted privately to the original poster about a good friend of mine
who is a special education specialist and the mother of a 12 year old
autistic son who breastfed for many many years.  He is not verbal, but does
allow and even welcome physical interaction -- probably because of the years
of breastfeeding.

I was also delighted to see the post from one of our fellow LactNetters who
has a form of autism.  "Autism" as a term can refer to a wide range of
outcomes, from people who are non-verbal like my friend's son, to people
like Dr. Temple Grandin.  Dr. Grandin is a professor of animal science at
Colorado State, does research on designing cattle-holding and moving
facilities for slaughterhouses, and is the author of several wonderful books
on autism.  My personal favorite is "Thinking in Pictures: Stories of My
Life With Autism."  I highly recommend it to anyone, both because it is a
rare glimpse into the mind of a differently-brilliant person and because it
helps explain some of the many wonderful ways that our brains work.  On the
continuum from completely abstract/thinking-in-words to completely
concrete/thinking-in-pictures, I am way over on the "thinking in pictures"
side, and this book helped me understand both how I think (in pictures and
videotapes) and that other people don't necessarily think like this.  I had
the opportunity to meet Dr. Grandin last year and hear her speak, once to
parents of "handicapped" children and again about "different ways of thinking."

Kathy Dettwyler