Faces of Autism

Recently, I have been researching information about autism. I grew up knowing a family with a severely autistic sibling. He can't speak and must use sign language to communicate. He would sit in church and twirl his tie and stare at it during the service. I also had a neighbour with identical twins that were severely autistic. I could hear them in their yard making animal noises while they played. I had the privilege of meeting Tony Deblois, a blind autistic savant with a talent for music. He spent a lot of time "stimming" and was difficult to talk with, but he could play the piano like Liberace. Those people I knew of were the classic autistics that we often think about when we think of people with autism.
I was surprised to learn about the diversity of people with autistic traits. There is an autism spectrum with people who can mostly function well in society, even if they have their setbacks.
There are people with Asperger's Syndrome, High-functioning autism, dyspraxia, and other autism spectral disorders who mostly function normally. In order to be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism, the individual must have an I.Q. of at least 85, which is a low normal. Many people on the autism spectrum can have above-average intelligence.
What I found to be most interesting is the number of famous people who have had autistic traits. Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Bobby Fischer, Andy Warhol, Alan Turing, Carl Jung, and more. I already knew Einstein didn't speak until he was four. There is no reason that autistic people have to be very impaired. There is a term called "neurodiversity" that promotes acceptance of the different ways people are "wired".
There is some debate on the famous people suspected to have had an autism spectral disorder, because most of them are dead now and experts have conflicting ideas on whether or not they were on the autism spectrum.

Aimee Mullins on TED Talks and Tony Deblois, autistic savant

A few days ago I came across this video from TED Talks. I subscribe to them on Youtube. This video was added on 11 March. It is about Aimee Mullins talking about her prosthetic legs. She showed her legs to a group of schoolchildren and they were all curious. She wanted them to be that way, she didn't want them to be afraid of asking questions. She wanted them to feel that there was nothing wrong with her. I think this video is enlightening.



Seeing the video made me think of this person:



I find savants to be very interesting. They have trouble performing simple tasks, yet they can do extraordinary things like calculate large sums in their heads or play difficult musical pieces from memory. I had the privilege of meeting up with autistic savant Tony Deblois in 2000 when I worked at a camp for the blind. He is totally blind. He was very difficult to communicate with and spent a lot of time rocking back and forth and waving his arms. He has such a great gift with music, playing the piano like Liberace. I have seen him on the Science Channel. I think it's right to look beyond people's handicaps and see them for the people they are. I had such a great time with the blind campers. I loved their talents. We had a talent show where many of them read poems they composed, songs they wrote, played instruments, and more. They were a lot of fun.