To a new mother, autism can look like shyness. Or fussiness. Andover Lakes resident Jenny Piccard gave her only child a lot of leeway — after all, Elias had been born prematurely at 31 weeks, weighing just 3 pounds.

Beth Eskin has always been argumentative. It’s a fine quality for the coach of the award-winning debate team, one of many clubs at Timber Creek High School suffering from legislative budget cuts.