Another song that brought my experiences with autism to mind, Dream Theater‘s Solitary Shell, from the Six Degrees of Separation CD.
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He seemed no different from the rest
Just a healthy normal boy
His mama always did her best
And he was daddy’s pride and joy
He learned to walk and talk on time
But never cared much to be held
And steadily he would decline
Into his solitary shell
As a boy he was considered somewhat odd
Kept to himself most of the time
He would daydream in and out of his own world
But in every other way he was fine
He’s a monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost withing himself
In his solitary shell
A temporary catatonic
Madman on occasion
When will he break out
Of his solitary shell
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I have no idea if this song was written to be specifically about autism, but I doubt it. It could just be about an extremely introverted kid.
The question that pops to mind: Why does the child in the song need to “break out of his solitary shell” at all?
no straight lines 
There’s the assumption that he’s in a shell at all. That might just be the observer.
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Norah,
The assumption that he is in a shell is indeed an assumption of an observer. Only the kid in the lyrics knows what it looks like from the “inside”.
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