ASS-P wrote:
this week , has a piece about a jazz fancier/historian , on Phil Schaap , who comes off as if he might be Aspie...
Okay, I read it last night. Maybe, maybe not-am uncertain...I daren't presume about people I don't personally know. Hard for me to draw line between "obsessive" (which this guy sure sounds to be) vs. the whole ASD thing being present for him.
Clinically, "OCD" gets applied to folks but supposedly, the people understand that it's problem & use repetitive behaviors or thoughts to allay anxiety/fear. As layperson, "obsessive" means just that (not such a strict definition): intense interest in particular thing (that tends to be out of step with what's currently "popular"-otherwise it would just be called "trendy"), whether or not person derives intense satisfaction or instead feels bad about his/her preoccupation.
Seems there are many folks who feel out of place & time, as in wanting things to be how they used to be, culturally-for reasons I both can & can't understand. Life was simpler a few decades ago (less people on the planet), on the other hand I personally don't care for the cultural products of previous times (old music, for instance). Would those "type" of people (those who long for "olden times"-the way things were during the person's childhood or formative years) get considered diagnosable as having a disorder ?
A note, in passing, on another article "Largo Nights", in same issue of magazine: Dana Goodyear's story on "Largo", a small, atmospheric, unique nightclub (for music & comedy) mentions club owner Mark Flanagan. Says he used to work with autistic children, teaching them to sing along with his guitar.
New Yorker story wrote:
"I like things that are though-provoking, emotional, and have a sense of humor," Flanagan told me. "There's a streak of crazy in the best ones. When you work with very talented artists it's a very fine line. I worked with autistic children for eight years. You see these similarities. They can tap into the muse so easily." He takes pleasure in the artists' quirks.
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*"I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't."*
15 May 2008, 9:27 pm
www.newyorker.com 
, this week , has a piece about a jazz fancier/historian , on Phil Schaap , who comes off as if he might be Aspie...
