"The only fair and relevant basis of comparison"

When I first saw this, I thought "Hell yeah!" but ever since something has been niggling away at me. And I think I just realised what it is:

This does not (and should not) apply solely to "a child with autism" or even "a child"

The only person anyone has to "measure-up"to is themselves. I am still working on applying this to myself, but I try really hard to reassure my children that they will NEVER disappoint me so long as they can assure themselves that they did their best and their goal is to always move forward, even if that occasionally means taking a few steps back.