Today I read the news that autism case one has died. Don was eighty six and died recently. He was the first officially designated case of autism in the 1930s/40s before the condition had been defined. The young boy called people by numbers, blamed the needle when he was pricked by someone, got people’s attention by pinging them with an elastic band. He was labelled a dullard and a simpleton before Leo Kanner examined him, articulated the features of this condition and coined the word autism as ‘an inability to relate to others in the ordinary way’. When I teach Albert Camus’ L’Etranger, officially published in 1942, I am quick to note that if the book were written today the main character Meursault would probably be seen as on the autism spectrum rather than the heroic existentialist band-width.
A worrying feature is that autism has recently attained a kind of cool status, an extension of nerd cool. The binary certainties of their world view are refreshing to many. The same tendancy runs through some modern vernacular usage. It is seen as a good thing to be obsessed with something. The BBC encourages us to binge watch their box sets on iPlayer. Obsession is never a good thing. Nerd techno evangelists with their binary simplicities are our new messiahs, whilst what we need are people with a more nuanced approach to life. The terrible dictators and tyrants of the 2oth Century were also absolutists. Compromise was a dirty word, but if you cannot balance your positions you can easily fall into obsessive, absolutist and dangerous states of mind. Being autistic is not cool, not especially creative. Like much mental illness, it is a prison.
Don lived a good life and found meaningful roles in society. He hald down a job and was a respected member of the community, but he would have probably been happier relating to others in a less extraordinary way.
peoplearerubbish 