I was listening to the BBC stream today of yesterday's Thought For The Day on their Today program. It was about Asperger's syndrome and whether or not we should consider it as a disability at all. It's read by a mother of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. Her son, a computer programmer doesn't want to be "cured". He is perfectly happy the way he is and says his Asperger's gives him an edge in his field of work.
Follow the link - it should take you to the November 22nd episode.
Click on the 7.30-8.00am segment, and when the real player window pops
up move the wee time cursor along to about 17.10 minutes. This is the
start of the Thought For The Day part. It's a very interesting way to spend 5 minutes and started me on an internet quest for education about the Autism Pride movement. I hadn't even known there was such a thing but it makes a lot of sense and has some pretty heavyweight advocates in the field.
For example, Simon Baron-Cohen (cousin to Sacha Baron-Cohen of Borat and Ali G fame) , director of the National Autism Research Centre in Britain, despite his years studying them, doesn't seek to cure autism spectrum diseases. He believes they are caused by a failure to develop a "theory of mind" in infancy but that this difference needn't always be classed as a disability, especially in high functioning individuals and those with no mental retardation or particular speech difficulties. In some ways, goes the argument, people with Asperger's are freed up from the normal thought processes, which can obstruct the logic of thought and work, to which their neurotypical peers are prey.
Indeed, there is a case that Einstein might have had Asperger's Syndrome, and where would the world be if Einstein had been "cured"? His failure to talk until age 3, his contant repetition of words and phrases as a childhis apparent "slowness" and poor performance in school had his school-masters convinced he was of below-average intelligence. And yet, and yet, what he would go on to do...! His word is practically synonymous with genius, and he was able to function very well in the world despite requiring long periods of solitude. Newton is theorized to have had Asperger's too. There are arguments both for and against these posthumous diagnoses. Check them out. It's a fascinating debate that can only shed light on the complexity of the human condition.
If you are interested you can read more about the Autism Acceptance movement here and here .
