| |
Whilst Autism is not "Misunderstood Genius", the stereotype of Autism is people who sit in a corner, unable to speak, who rock, bang their heads on the floor, have tantrums and don't want to mix with others is also inaccurate. There are individuals with Autism who want to make contact with other human beings but don't know how to, because they don't understand the basic rules of social interaction. Autistic people, if they can't speak, will rock when they feel socially overloaded or overwhelmed.
Think about it, if you have no or little language and you can't tell people how you feel, what would you do to gain others attention? You are bound to rock or flap your hands or perform some other gesture to indicate your discomfort or your feelings. So also, how can you say that "People with Autism and AS don't have an imagination" when some severely Autistic people can't speak, and as a result. can't to tell you whether that is the case or not?
Autism is not a new condition. It didn't suddenly appear in humans in 1943 for the ever first time. A Frenchman named Itard wrote an account of a 12-year-old boy who had been living for in a Forest until he was captured on Thursday 9th January 1800. Itard named the boy Victor, who made no direct communication and was very self-absorbed.
Itard assumed that Victor had grown up without any form of human contact as he never spoke, and would gesture if he wanted/needed something. He would pull someone by the arm to gain their attention and wanted items to be in the same place constantly. He was also very unhappy unless the object was moved back to its former place. Itard also described how, when Victor wanted to ride in a wheelbarrow, he would pull someone by the arm, put the wheelbarrow handles in their hands, then climb in and wait to be pushed. All Itard's papers were published in 1801 and were titled the "Wild Boy of Averyon".
Eight years later, in 1809, John Haslam, a medical professional based in England, wrote an account of a boy who had contracted a severe case of measles aged 12 months. His behaviour, after his recovery, resembled that of a child with Autism, as he had repetitive speech and impulsive behaviour. He was admitted to Bethlem Royal Hospital at the age of six, where Haslam was a Director.
In the 18th and 19th Century the so-called "Idiot Savants", who we now know were Autistic, could well have been shown in travelling "Freak Shows", led by people such as PT Barnum and others. This was the heyday of the "Freak Shows" and the Elephant man, Joseph Merrick, was displayed in the streets of London and elsewhere in the 1880's, until Frederick Treves rescued him. NT Audiences may have watched, in amusement or amazement or curiosity or puzzlement, Autistic savants as they performed their skills and yet didn't look at anyone or struggled to speak as they did so. Bear in mind though, that the Savant skills occur in around 30% of classically Autistic people. Not every Autistic person is like Rainman. In fact that film is quite dated now. It was made in 1988, 20 years ago.
Nearly a century after the "Wild Boy of Averyon" was discovered, M W Barr, a late 19th century Psychologist, described in an 1898 medical report an encounter he had with a 22-year-old retarded male who, according to Barr, had a phenomenal memory and echolalic speech. The report was called "A note on Echolia, with the report of an extraordinary case" and was published in the Journal of Nervous Mental Diseases. Nothing further was acted upon it and no in-depth study was made of the person referred to in the report.
|
