Who's Autistic?
Monday May 15, 2006
Wikipedia, that incredible conglomeration of content on everything from Aardvarks to zooetropes, includes a little article on "People Speculated to Have Been Autistic." While it does include a disclaimer stating that its speculations are "based on reported behaviors rather than any clinical observation," it's still a lot of fun to read. Included among its possible autistics are the usual suspects -- Einstein, Mozart, Turing -- and quite a few I'd never thought about. Who would have supposed that Thomas Jefferson, Michaelangelo, James Joyce and Ludwig Wittgenstein were very possibly diagnosable on the autism spectrum?
Kinda makes you think!
Comments
I think there are a lot of eccentric, socially inept, or even selfish people who are/were simply not autistic. When I read about people leading successful lives, graduating from college, etc., who are supposed to be autistic, it really seems to trivialize my son’s problems.
Kathleen, nobody’s trivializing your son’s problems. These people simply may have been on the autistic spectrum, and sure, maybe they have lead successful lives, but were they truly happy and in touch with their emotional selves? Could they carry out meaningful and successful relationships? My son has his problems too, but I prefer to hope that maybe someday he will have the coping skills to deal with the anxieties and tantrums, which will then allow him to lead a successful, happy, emotionally fulfilled life. To me, anyone that successful with autism is an inspiration!
Actually, Alan Turing (inventor of the electronic computer during WWII) had a very tough life. He was lucky in that (a) he met a mentor early on who saw his potential and (b) his skills earned him a place in history because they were so desperately needed at the time that folks overlooked his quirks (mostly)– at least during wartime. Not so much aftwards, but that’s another story…
This underscores again the thought that when we talk about autism, we seem to be talking about two different syndromes — one with the traits commonly found in high-functioning and Asberger’s syndrome, and those more often found in low-functioning kids like my son. Of course there are overlaps in symptoms, but there are also overlaps in symptoms of OCD and autism, retardation and autism, etc. My son would probably have just gotten a diagnosis of retardation in the past because of his very serious cognitive disability. He jumps up and down and flaps his hands and is overly preoccupied with Disneyland, but he doesn’t resemble the people talked about in this study. He also is very sensitive to the feelings of others. If I say “ouch” he’s the first one in the family to rush to my aid and give me a hug, and say, “Poor Mommy.”
I think I know what Kathleen is feeling. Although it’s no one’s “fault” most people think of high-functioning and Asberger’s syndrome when they think of autism, or they’re more interested in these kids. I even had a couple of autism consultants tell me how fascinating high-functioning kids were, even though they knew Jalen wasn’t much like these kids at all! Makes you feel kind of like your child is not considered worthy of their interest. Again, I know this is not intended, but it’s still hard for parents of low-functioning kids.
I found the book “There’s a Boy in Here” to be very encouraging because it tells the story of this boy Sean Barron who had many behaviors of low-functioning autism and grew to be a very successful writer, journalist and speaker who most people do not even believe is autistic! The book is written by his mother and him, his mother recounting the stressful times and difficult behaviors the family lived through and comments from Sean as an adult on why he thinks he may have acted that way as a child. It’s very good and gave me much hope!
I’ve always thought that people with the low-functioning varieties of autism are capable of becoming HFA or Asperger with the proper training. It seems that those who remain low-functioning are rebelling against what they see as a world of incomprehensible demands. An education based on the innate philosophy of HFA/Asperger, probably involving HFA/Asperger teachers, must be given to these children before they grow into the defiant behaviors often seen in traditional special education.