In American Sign Language, the sign for Autism is to make the letter A with both hands at the ears, then bring the a-fists around the front of the head until they meet, closing off the eyes. The concept is Autism closes off the person from the world or creates a barrier between the person and the rest of society.
At a recent sign language class, there was a woman sitting next to me. I'll call her Jane. As my instructor, who is deaf, was telling a story about buying a new computer and giving his old one to his niece for Christmas, Jane laughed out loud and then under her breath whispered the word "shoes". I was perplexed. Nowhere had our instructor used the word "shoes" in his story, yet for some reason Jane thought the story was funny and had evidently been about footwear. I surmised her receptive skills for sign language just weren't up as high as the other students in this advanced class. As the instructor continued to tell different stories, Jane continued to be very amused, but always whispered incorrect words, sometimes nodding as if she agreed or understood when clearly she didn't.
When I mentioned this strange behavior to the instructor he informed me he suspected (or knew) Jane was a high-functioning Autistic person. I was now fascinated. Other than her mirthful joviality and sometimes misunderstanding the intent or subject of our teacher's stories, Jane seems downright common. Her choice in winter sweaters is banal, her quick helpful nature (she jumped at the chance to fetch coffee for the class) is pleasant, her hair-do is well put together and her eagerness to talk to strangers admirable. Yet if you listen to the meter of her voice, watch her mannerisms closely, there is definitely something there, almost indiscernible. Or is it that I'm seeing things now which may not really be there; simple personality traits that make her distinctive but not autistic?
Aspergers Syndrome has recently been the cause celebre for Hollywood and television, or at least it has drawn special focus. The show Community on NBC has a major character, Abed who supposedly has Aspergers. The syndrome is marked by awkward social interactions, obsessions, and a lack of understanding of sarcasm or wit. Abed speaks awkwardly, is obsessed with film and t.v., and in the first season certainly exhibited a lack of sarcastic comprehension, but as his character ages, he has become more and more "normalized" especially as his television associates become more and more eccentric with each season. The recent movies "Adam" and "Mary and Max" both feature main characters dealing with Aspergers, as do a number of recent novels. Last year's Amazing Race featured a man with Aspergers. What is this sudden fascination? It is fairly easy to create a character who has a "quirkiness" while still being for the most part "normal" by giving them the now familiar trait of Aspergers. Gone are the days where an autistic character must be portrayed with fervent gusto by the likes of Dustin Hoffman in Rainman.
The United Kingdom conducted a wide survey of households and discovered about 1% of the total population had some form of autism, from severe to mild. What was surprising is how many adults answered the survey that they "suspected" some kind of autism as an explanation for their own life-long condition. The Los Angeles Times posted a recent article about the sudden "explosion" of autism cases in children, a nearly 20% rise over the last decade. The problem with the concept of such a rise, they have determined, is that adults with autism have typically been diagnosed as retarded or even schizophrenic and either heavily medicated or locked away. A study of adults in mental hospitals revealed a generous proportion of them were actually autistic. The obvious conclusion is we are not really experiencing a dynamic up-shift in the number of autistic children, we are simply diagnosing it more often than a decade ago. The number of autistic people in the American population is probably on par with the U.K. at 1%.
My sister and I have always joked she is a little bit crazy and I'm a little bit "retarded". I will admit I have never been all that comfortable with being touched, it kind of gives me the creeps (my parents were not touchy-feely people). I am very sensitive to sound and really can't stand loud noise (my father was the same way). For most of my life I felt very awkward talking to people, and I can get very obsessed with certain subjects. These could all be signs of high-functioning autism, albeit to a tiny degree. Maybe the joke my sister and I tell each other has some validity.
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