I have had a startling and comforting revelation today.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I'm wondering if my brother also is HF autistic, if only for this childhood memory.

Also a "picky eater". He would only (and I mean ONLY) EAT boiled hot dogs with their skins peeled off, spaghetti with butter, and mashed potatoes. As for the latter, he would refuse to eat them if there was even the tiniest speck of unmashed potato, which he would call a "bump". Velvet smooth in texture or nothing. Mom finally surrendered to instant potatoes to get him to eat. When he finally tried and liked hamburger, our father practically declared it a national holiday.

And in his case, he was obsessed with construction trucks, e.g., backhoe, dump truck, bulldozer, crane, front loader, excavator, crane, etc. His favorite bedtime story was Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. It was an obsession, not an interest. He had a collection of toy Tonka construction trucks as well.

And now that he's an adult, he's an omnivore and followed his high interest in construction trucks for a career by becoming an engineer.