What is wrong with us? 17/01/2016

Some thoughts:

Autism is not a disease, nor a defect, not an illness nor a failing; but neither is it necessarily something to celebrate.

It can be a gift bringing advantages in focus, concentration, pattern recognition, artistic or mathematical abilities, empathy or a truly caring nature.

But it can also bring all sorts of difficulties, particularly in communication, particularly in todays hectic world where everyone seems to be in such a rush that no one has the time to connect.

Sometimes those difficulties can be so overwhelming that some will retire and shut themselves away in self imposed isolation…

So what is Autism?

I believe it is no more than part of the natural variation in humanity; part of the huge variations in the human population.

There have always been those who have stood out, throughout time; the shy and retiring, the absent minded professor, the hermit, the wise man/woman, the witch doctor, altruistic souls who fought the slave trade, or patrons or great artists, those artists themselves…

I am not saying that all were Autistic, but many behaved in ways that autists might. What I am saying is that Autism comprises behaviours that have been seen throughout history, yet only today do we quantify and label them with a syndrome or disorder.

We are all Perfectly normal! We are just part of the natural variation in human kind. No more than a subset of normality than, ectomorphs, or endomorphs, than being tall or short, left handed or active versus indolent!

In the past it would be thought that it was ‘just the way they are’ and people would have accepted us, made allowances and accommodated us.

The only difference is that the natural variability in where the most connections are in our brains – which varies tremendously even amongst ourselves (‘you have met one Aspie? Then you have met one Aspie!’) – it is only that we can reach a point on a scale that we are labelled.

It all depends on where we have those extra connections – elsewhere in our brains and we may have been entrepreneurs, con-men, or politicians – or even lawyers or estate agents!

01/06/2014

I love words and linguistic differences and accents and etymology though I have never learnt another language well enough to speak – so am I a Linguistic thinker?

Yet at the same time I love diagrams and think easily in three, if not four dimensions and carry maps in my head and tackle problems in a holistic manner – so maybe I Think in Pictures?

Or is it more than that?

For I would say it is thinking in details, spatially, yet all the parts have to fit together as a whole – so is this Holistic Thinking?

And I can understand emotional thinking; I love art, where it generates emotion in me; not just paintings and music but a good book or film, where I can identify with the emotion of the characters – so Emotional Thinking?

In fact, before I found my new wife and fell in love, love that still grows and increases after more than 13 years, before I found her, I would say that I only knew love second hand by experiencing it through art – so what would that be, Second Hand Emotion?

So do we think in only one way or can some of us think in several different ways, yet only one at a time? Do we have several different ‘Thinking Caps’?

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treat or cure 23/11/2013

It seems to me that there are two extremes evident in the Asperger Community.

Those who accept the challenge and all the benefits it brings with open arms, being thoroughly and vociferously appreciative of the gifts they have received and often being somewhat disparaging if not downright dismissive of those who have not such a positive perspective of the privilege that has been bestowed upon them.

On the other hand there are those for whom all the work and trouble involved in dealing with what they perceive as a very doubtful benefit, makes them feel bowed down and brutalised by the bullying, frustrated and fearful for the future and let down by the lack of services and support in the community.

It is easy for those who feel positive to look down upon those poor souls who struggle, believing that all they need to do is make the effort; after all they have done so and achieved positive outcomes.

They want no cure and criticise anyone who so much as mentions such a thing. And they have the added justification that because of the way that autism develops, there can be no cure.

But stop right there! I would say to them; and have a thought for what is right and fair in those circumstances. There are those who for no fault of their own are dealt a much poorer hand. With trials that are not easy to overcome and difficulties manifest in trying to cope with day to day life.

And this stretches back all the way from those with Aspergers that due to their life experiences has stolen away their confidence and left them vulnerable to the exigencies of dealing with life in poor circumstances, with no long term satisfying employment, neither friends nor family nor any means of improving their situation.

Yes stretches back all the way from there to those who are unable to communicate at all, who are labelled as mentally challenged, uneducable and who will probably spend their whole lives in institutions.

Yet is this the true picture? Have we not seen examples such as Carly Fleischman who by being on the receiving end of sterling efforts by her Father in particular, has received enough help and encouragement to break out of such a prison and has been able to tell us about it.

OK then accepting that a cure is not and never will be possible, have we not been shown that treatment, often at great cost and effort to those who care has been well worthwhile and has achieved wonderful improvements?

So I would make a plea to all those who have such a good idea of their own abilities, and feel so grateful for their gifts, not to reject these, their less able peers and to cry that all is well and Autism or Asperger’s is great and what a wonderful gift and how thankful they are for it.

Yes I would ask them to stop for a moment and recognise that so many of our fellow travellers really struggle and fight for what little they do receive and that treatment is not only a viable option but also a real benefit and support that we should all fight for.

“All Cats have Asperger’s” but do they have theory of mind? 09/06/2012

Tinkerbell moved over and sat in my chair, while I was making a cup of tea.
When I came in she ‘spoke’ to me with a soft questioning ‘mrrrow’, and lifted her paw a little in a typical cat’s questioning gesture.
So I went over to her and sat on the pouffe in front of the chair and she turned to look at me repeating her question: ‘mrrrow’ – (is it all right for me to sit here?)
I told her it was and she started to purr and stretched a paw towards me, spreading her toes, a loving gesture from a cat.
Then when I moved round to sit in another chair she drew her paws in and folded them under her, showing that she was pleased and could now settle in her chair.

Does Tinkerbell have ‘theory of mind’ – can she? After all ‘All Cats have Asperger’s’, and am I deluding myself that I can read body language and facial expressions in a cat?