“Aware adults with autism and their parents are often angry about autism. They may ask why nature or God created such horrible conditions as autism, manic depression, and schizophrenia. However, if the genes that caused these conditions were eliminated there might be a terrible price to pay. It is possible that persons with bits of these traits are more creative, or possibly even geniuses… If science eliminated these genes, maybe the whole world would be taken over by accountants.”
- Temple Grandin, quoted in ‘An Anthropologist on Mars’ p.292, by Oliver Sacks
Autism didn’t prevent Temple Grandin living a full life, completing a Ph.D in animal science and becoming an accomplished author and researcher. When actor Dustin Hoffman researched his role in the movie "Rain Man," he came to her for advice.
For Comment : I’m a great fan of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory. It seems to me that a lot of autistic people are great visual thinkers.
Related Links:
- Temple Grandin interview at NPR discussing Animal Behavior and autism
- BBC All in the Mind discussion on latest autism research
- Blogs covering autism issues; Autism Diva, Mind Hacks, Neurodiversity Blog
- Autism Spectrum Disorder- a podcast discussion at Radio National
