I remember Amberlight on here saying she had a sort of epiphany as a child that she had free will, that she wasn't just a leaf on the breeze (sorry if I've misquoted/misunderstood Amber.) my DS1 was dx'd with Aspergers at 3.5y and at 4 his toys suddenly started talking back. After that he became a lot more 'of this world' iyswim, more actively living his life rather than merely reacting. Maybe he hit a language threshold or something, I don't know.
My ds2 (4, just dx'd with autism/PDA) still has language delay and spend his life reacting to the many things he finds treatening but I still harbour the hope that one day he might suddenly make that switch.
Does anyone else have anecdotal evidence of this sort of sudden switch in passive/active life of their Dcs?