I just recently retired, too. But I’ve had several autistic kids I worked with directly. None of them were so severe that they didn’t speak. One boy I had when he was in 2nd grade and Class of 2019 Senior High School Graduation T-Shirt. But I kept trying and soon he became trustful enough to speak and I got to work with him again later when he was in 5th grade. What a marvelous change there was in him even though things were still difficult for him.