"My brain runs on a different operating system"

This is what my 14 year-old said to me a couple of months ago. Every time I think of this statement I am more sure that this young man is truly special. I wish I had a similar degree of insight. I don't typically. I tend to look at things in very black and white terms. What I'm learning is that my son does too - just from a completely different perspective.
He has had to work so hard to get where he is. Nothing is designed so that it's easy for him. School, activities, the world in general.
Some sounds he simply can't deal with - like the sound of people chewing food as they eat - a normal occurance during most every meal, never mind in a busy restaurant. He hears things I can't even imagine.
Notebooks, textbooks, fiction might not work because the paper inside doesn't feel right.
Clothes require even more precise specifications that I'm only beginning to understand.
Food - another catogory simply overloaded with landmines.
Routine is everything. He's had to learn to be like most everyone else in society. I hate that for him.
Can you imagine what his world looks like to him? I sometimes long to see it through his eyes and other times I'm secretly glad that I can't. I don't think I could handle it.
No wonder he sequesters himself in the world of Information Technology, software and programming language. It makes sense to him. It's very predictable and the responses always have a reason. There's nothing to touch, nothing to hear no synthetic social language to navigate. It actually sounds peaceful.