Stuck Mid-Novel

I am writing a murder mystery about a Notre Dame professor whose wife goes missing and foul play is suspected for a number of reasons, i.e., he has a girlfriend, a large life insurance policy on the wife, and his behavior toward her has been abusive. He quickly becomes the number one suspect. However, there is a key witness to what happened on the day she disappeared--an autistic eleven-year-old boy who is unable to communicate what he saw. My problem, despite the research I've done, is in making the boy realistic as an autistic child. I guess what I need to know is how he would act in his daily life. Any ideas? Thanks! Ellen

What might help you is to volunteer at a school that works with autistic children. This will give you excellent insight into what it's like for someone who is autistic. Randi

Thanks, Randi, that's excellent advice. However, time management is a major problem. Since I wrote that post, I have found a wonderful lady who lives in South Bend who has an autistic son, and she has been a treasure trove of advice and has even read parts of my manuscript. I think I have a pretty good handle on it now, but thanks so much for thinking of me! Ellen