My paper on AS

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Asperger’s Syndrome:
The Race Against the Cure.

The man could only be labeled as eccentric. Over the course of his entire life, he never drove an automobile. Focused on intensely complex subjects, few people could even fully understand his ideas, let alone claim to be a rival in his field. Even still, this individual did not speak until age 3, and even after adopting speech, frequently exhibited echolalia, repetition of specific words and phrases for no discernable reason. He often had problems with social relationships, once stating,

“My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude.”

This man was Albert Einstein, and many of his mannerisms fit into the textbook definition of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), an autistic spectrum disorder that is marked by difficulties in interpreting social nuances and interpersonal interaction. In Einstein’s case, his challenges were all but completely overshadowed by his talents, leaving him a legacy of being the most influential scientist of the 20th century, perhaps in all of history.

Einstein was an individual clearly outside of the ordinary. However, are we to label the best mind of modern history abnormal? Today there are several organizations “searching for a cure” to “heal” or otherwise prevent autism and AS. Would these same people unmake Einstein? Does the push for normalcy and conformity override the amazing contributions these gifted individuals can make upon their world?

Within our lifetimes, there was a push to “cure” left-handed people, when all they needed was a scant amount of compassion and slight accommodations. Today, there is no negative impact whatsoever in left-handedness, and the idea of a cure is laughable. The same can be said for AS. Just like left-handed individuals during the aforementioned period, many with Asperger’s Syndrome have no desire to be cured.

There exists an insidious belief that Asperger’s Syndrome is a condition marked only by its deficiencies, failing to assign any value to the amazing abilities many AS individuals exhibit. One key facet of Asperger’s syndrome is a fascination with a very specific topic. Most AS individuals can learn absolutely effortlessly on any topic of interest, and retain an amount of knowledge unfathomable to the average individual. Quite simply, a person with AS often has the ability to learn more in one week than an average person could learn in a decade. For those able to leverage their skills, the potential is there for tremendous achievements in their respective fields, just as many before them have made a unique impact on the world.

10% of autistic and AS individuals have savant talents, compared to less than 1% of the total population. These talents are amazing to behold, even seeming supernatural. These include abilities of perfect recollection, amazing mathematical skills, effortless calculation of the day of the week for any date in history, perfect pitch and the ability to play whole symphonies by ear, word for word memorization of thousand of books, and many other feats that defy belief.

This is not to say that there is not a handicap associated with AS. A trademark of AS, along with autism in general, is the inability to modulate stimulus mentally. Background noises, such as air conditioning, side conversations in a crowded room, even the buzzing of electrical lines, drowns out the sounds of someone speaking. Florescent lights are commonly painful to look at, as the individual can see the light strobing, turning itself on and off 60 times a second. Clothing can be very uncomfortable, with many AS individuals needing to be very selective about textures and clothing tags, which may cause unbearable discomfort. Tragically, even human touch can be painful under the wrong conditions- AS individuals often need to train their peers as to the “right” way to touch them. With the ability to internally modulate what pours into the floodgates of the senses, AS individuals must respond by either limiting their interactions (avoiding crowds, loud noises, bright lights), or physically working to limit stimulus by closing eyes, covering ears, retreating to dark rooms, and other coping methods.

There are also the social limitations. Social interactions that occur naturally to most individuals are simply not imprinted on the AS mind. The DSM IV uses this as the primary determinant of AS, stating- “Severe and sustained impairment in social interaction” as criterion A for a diagnosis. Many AS individuals have problems with discerning the emotions and motivations of others. A typical AS individual longs for friends and social companionship, but is armed with few weapons in order to achieve this goal. As a result, social integration is further hampered above and beyond its impairments due to stimulus overload. AS individuals common become withdrawn, becoming hermits in the modern world. A common despair of AS individuals is the feeling that the world has disowned them, that the whole of the world is gathered in an enormous circle going about their lives in harmony, while the AS person is forced to watch from the dusty corner of the room. Depression and suicide rates are exponentially higher for those with AS than society at a whole.

It is on these levels that AS individuals need help and assistance. Cancer is a disease to be cured. AS is a disorder to be understood, with the individuals challenged, supported, encouraged, and embraced for their amazing potential for greatness. It is an enormous tragedy that so many individuals with the power to change the world are marginalized by the idea of a cure that would wrest their very uniqueness from them. Our society places little attention on the positives of autism, and instead loads these individuals with a sense of guilt, making them feel that the society that has already excluded them now wishes to eliminate their kind, just as one would with smallpox, polio, and HIV. Diversity must be cherished.

Personally, I have fought my own battle with Asperger’s Syndrome my entire life, although it has only been in the past year that I have received an official diagnosis. In AS, I have found an explanation not only for my challenges, but also my gifts. Even with my challenges, I have no desire to change who I am. I have a very successful career training others on mortgage lending guidelines for a successful national bank, I live on my own, and have recently purchased my first house, while continuing my education. My life remains a struggle, and at 25, there is still much about the society I live in that I have yet to grasp, but in simply managing to find my niche, I have achieved greater success than many with my affliction. This is nothing but a tragedy. How many AS individuals with Einstein’s potential are currently out there, their talents unutilized?

Nice job. I have to admit, my favorite part was the Einstein quote.. I can relate to this:

"I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude.”

Let us know what the professor and the class thinks of the paper. I'm interested how well it would be received among NT's (and how much they know about the spectrum to begin with or whether this is all new information to them).

Blue Jay
Joined: Jan 13, 2005
Posts: 95
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

This is not to say that there is not a
handicap associated with AS. A trademark
of AS, along with autism in general, is the
inability to modulate stimulus mentally.
Background noises, such as air
conditioning, side conversations in a
crowded room, even the buzzing of electrical
lines, drowns out the sounds of someone
speaking. Florescent lights are commonly
painful to look at, as the individual can see
the light strobing, turning itself on and off 60
times a second. Clothing can be very
uncomfortable, with many AS individuals
needing to be very selective about textures
and clothing tags, which may cause unbearable
discomfort. Tragically, even human touch can be
painful under the wrong conditions- AS individuals
often need to train their peers as to the “right” way
to touch them. With the ability to internally modulate
what pours into the floodgates of the senses, AS
individuals must respond by either limiting their
interactions (avoiding crowds, loud noises, bright
lights), or physically working to limit stimulus by
closing eyes, covering ears, retreating to dark
rooms, and other coping methods.

I've missed it for this year but next year I'll get all out to have the library and the local weekly do something on this for April Autism Awareness month.

There are also the social limitations. Social interactions that occur naturally to most individuals are simply not imprinted on the AS mind. The DSM IV uses this as the primary determinant of AS, stating- “Severe and sustained impairment in social interaction” as criterion A for a diagnosis. Many AS individuals have problems with discerning the emotions and motivations of others. A typical AS individual longs for friends and social companionship, but is armed with few weapons in order to achieve this goal. As a result, social integration is further hampered above and beyond its impairments due to stimulus overload. AS individuals common become withdrawn, becoming hermits in the modern world.