Though Tyson is not autistic, it would be easy to misdiagnose the many symptoms he presents from other conditions as Tyson being on the autistic spectrum.
Tyson’s teacher for nursery and reception was certainly under that assumption, due to Tyson’s ‘hyper fixation’ on maps, even going so far as to draw maps over everything he had already drawn. This was instead from Tyson’s form of Synesthesia and his attempts to understand, as well as simply drawing the maps he saw over people and objects.
However, as a child, Tyson didn’t have the awareness to explain that to his teacher or to understand why she was giving him extra attention over his classmates. Though it was ultimately unnecessary, Tyson does look back and appreciate everything that teacher did to help him.
Another way that Tyson can be misinterpreted as autistic is his tendency to ‘pressure stim’. He feels most comfortable when he has pressure and weight against his skin. This shows as almost always wearing multiple layers, regardless of how hot he is.
He can sleep whenever and wherever he needs to, but Tyson feels safest sleeping with his duvet wrapped around him. Even if that means that he melts in the summer.