My 24yo son has Autism and is non verbal. He loves my treadles and if I drag one out he will sit there and sew away like nobodies business!! In fact the quilt in my avatar is his and he sewn a few of the seams together for it!!
He loves anything that I do, he helped me put hood pins on my Shelby Mustang and helped sand on my hot rod when I was painting it. The headers (exhaust) on my car was painted by him and my wife asked me if I was going to redo them because of the runs in them I told her "Heck no he wanted the runs there and thats where they are staying!"
But he loves to watching me sew and is the happiest when he gets to treadle. I think it is wonderful that she overcame some of her fears and ventured out in strange territory. For Kids with Autism they strive on routines and schedules and never drift far from them.
Billy