Autistic Persons Introduce an Innovative Way of Thinking

Autistic Persons Introduce an

Innovative Way of Thinking

Although "autism" brings to mind a picture of a child-mute, rocking, screaming, inaccessible, cut off from human contact; it seems that they can bring a new prospective to the world. This is a prospective that other people are not capable of seeing, because they are too verbal in their own ways of thinking. Because autistic people think so differently from the rest of the population, we have much to learn from their view on things. Their view is much more visual that the average persons pattern of thinking. As Temple Grandin put it, it is "Thinking in Pictures". Also, the title of one of her books on autism.

Symptoms of a classic case of autism include: no speech, poor eye contact, tantrums, appearance of deafness, no interest in people, and constantly staring off into space. Autism is regarded as an early childhood disorder. It is a disorder of speech, communication, social interaction, and repetitive type compulsive behavior. In itself, autism is a very difficult disorder to diagnose. There is no definite blood test or brain scans that give an accurate diagnosis. Diagnoses are based strictly on observed behavior, making it not the most accurate diagnosis. It is most likely a genetic disorder, but not one that can, as of yet, be tested for.

Autism is primarily a cognitive disorder. The definition of cognitive has to do with thinking. Cognitive psychologists put it, autistic people lack "theory of mind". Maybe what they lack in one area, they make up for in another. Just like in the case of a blind man. A blind man has no visual abilities, but a blind man's hearing senses double and triples to make up for the sense that he lacks. The nervous system has a remarkable ability to compensate when it has been damaged. This could, very well, be the case here. We should research the mystery of autistic people's unusual ability to excel at visual spatial skills. Also, study the connection between their superior visual skills and their poor verbal skills.

The autistic view on certain things is so different from ours that there is much to be gained from studying it. After all, aren't we supposed to learn from each others differences? We should put forth the effort to consider this new,