Damage of Labels and the Importance of Autism in Society

 It has become apparent, as stated in an article by Ms.Temple Grandin, that autism is not the best when used as a label. Nor is Asperger's. Throughout the article, she cites examples of families bringing their children to conferences focused on autism. She points out one specific instance where a mother had brought her child to the conference. Upon conversation, Ms. Grandin decides to inform her that, in the past, instead of Asperger's or mild autism, she would be described as, "intellectually gifted."

Through extensive study on the woman Temple Grandin, it has become clear that she is one of few those who is verbal while still being autistic. She gives great insight into the autistic brain, comparing a computer to the human brain and how autistic people's do not always connect giving them cognitive disabilities and causing them to be unable to speak or perform certain daily tasks. She also explains how to teach a child to perform certain daily tasks. She also mentions that diet can impact a child greatly. Overall, she ascertains that though Autism can be tough to deal with at times, both for the individual and surrounding family and friends.'

Her story is rather unique. She grew up with a good family and an especially loving mother. She did not speak and refused to learn, though she had a great intellect at an especially young age. The doctor her mother went told her that she should institutionalize her. Her mother refused and at age four, her mother began in search of answers. What they found worked was to have a sort of therapist visit their home and play games with her so that she would learn the principle of taking turns. Her mother was also stern and determined that she learned old-fashioned manners, which she did. As years passed, her mother, at the urging of one of the teachers at the school, enrolled her in a boarding school. It was a nice high school, almost perfect for the child with horses to ride and other small amusements. The same teacher that urged her to attend also challenged her intellect. By asking her to solve complex problems he brought her motivation and drive. Eventually, she attended college and got her Ph. d.

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=3cab90f1-456c-4b6f-bdb3-2e3baf5ef9f7%40sessionmgr120

Testing

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.

Autism

It seems that many who experience autism are extremely intelligent, some even considered geniuses. Plagued by a host of issues unique to autism, they often do not talk as early as most and do not like attention from people. In the end, those who are autistic are not all geniuses, and not all geniuses are autistic.

The Brain

The brain is composed of many different pieces and sections. There is the amygdala, the hippocampus, and a host of others. The interesting thing about so-called geniuses is that there are composed of all of the same pieces as others, though they function differently. As mentioned previously, spatial reasoning is a huge part of genius. Furthermore, it seems that genius can be present in a person, though not completely in the academic sense. A person's talents can lie in their ability to create wonderful music, engineer a building, or manage people efficiently.

Personal Experience Leading to Conclusions

Throughout the study of this topic, much has been learned. Though it was originally thought that geniuses are insane people, it has become apparent that they are more normal than we originally thought. They are often plagued with mental illness or mental disorders. Things like depression, anxiety, insomnia, dyslexia, autism, and a score of others. However, it is also clear that many of these disorders can easily be dealt with, as studies, medications, understanding, and stigmas are all being improved. It is also interesting to learn about the brains of these people. The makeup of their brain is much different in comparison to a regular person. It is interesting to note that these people also have special abilities, like spatial reasoning, though they often lack important social skills and an understanding of day to day tasks. In conclusion, it is essential to learn about geniuses, as they tend to be the most influential and also the most creative, as genius is associated with such talents.

As a student in an academic high school, I got to know some of these so-called geniuses. The school was focused on learning in four areas, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Because of this, the school supplied no sports programs, drama, art, or debate. Set up to allow a student to receive both their high school diploma and associate degree from a local university, it set up many challenges. But, students had the brains to meet such challenges.

They had magnificent brains, able to often complete Calculus by the end of either senior or junior year of high school, despite these talents, they could not socialize. They often avoided social situations. Only a small percentage of them would attend dances, though often most would attend barbecues. They often would stick with a small group of friends, playing cards during lunch or studying. Most of them would study throughout the day. Some would read physics articles or build robots in their free time, while others would build small rockets planes. They were also extremely interested in technology and often would debate about the best technology companies. Often, many of them would not speak up in class or socialize on a regular basis, instead, doing the extensive reading for their courses and beyond. It became clear that many of them were socially awkward therefore inhibiting their ability to develop proper social skills. However, it is important to highlight that this was a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math,) focused school.

This made it harder to differentiate from the general genius population, as most of the students were focused in these areas. It is also essential to point out that it seems geniuses are generally only thought to appear in these professions, though there are certainly creative geniuses in every field. It seems that, as evidenced by previous reading, geniuses can be more than just academically sound. Often, those who develop their genius as children, or later in life, are often the most influential in society.

Once, while talking to a teacher, I was mentioning how many of them appeared much smarter than me. She said that, "You know Brooke, many of them will just sit in a corner and do their work, never talking to anyone." I came to the conclusion soon after that many of them had autism. Perhaps not at the far end where they could not speak, but enough that they were socially awkward and lived in their own worlds, while studying extensively on a range of different topics.

However, in association with their normalcy, it appears important to bring attention to the fact that not the entire student population was this way. Maybe a fourth of students would be considered normal, attending school, working normal high school aged jobs, and visiting with friends on a regular basis. The fact that they lived normal lives while being immensely intelligent and attending a rigorous school, brings home the point that intelligence and genius can both be present in a person.

This experience allowed me to study, through experience, about the behavior of the savants of our society. I learned that there are some that are not fully normal, but live limited quiet lives, barely doing anything but constant study and card games. It was also interesting to see the change in myself and my attitude towards education and nerdiness after being exposed to such people for three straight years. It is interesting to see how well they function in society, though they are not typical people. Most do not consider the game Magic any fun, but for a certain circle of people, it was, and is. In the end, genius is more expansive than we realize, and also more normal. Some of these intelligent students led normal lives, while others continued in pursuit of knowledge and nothing else.

Mental Hygiene and the Soviet Union, as well as Genius

Mental Hygiene is simply defined as keeping up on one’s mental health. An article entitled, “Mental Hygiene for Geniuses: Psychiatry in the early Soviet Years.” The piece describes areas of the Soviet Union that focus on psychiatry and genius. There is a portion of care for the mentally ill and a section regarding genius. The premise of the article is to prove that having a mental illness does not mean one is a genius. It also highlights the importance of nurturing genius and those with mental illness and how the Soviet Union accomplish both goals.

   The start of the article describes the Soviet Union as a broken country. Originally, the goal with psychiatry in the country was to diagnose the mentally ill and subsequently admit them to a hospital. This presented many issues and around 1915 efforts were made to create a new plan. Instead of sending mentally ill patients to a hospital, they would focus on outpatient care and prevention. The goal was to go through the entire population and take note of those experiencing mental illness. Eventually, in the 1920’s, this plan was implemented. However, many of those in the psychiatry field were skeptical. As for regular citizens, it made them all suspects. It also caused businesses to seek those that they assumed were talented, just because of their mental illness and the supposed connection between that and genius.

   The next phase described was eugenics, where the desirable characteristics of a population are perpetuated throughout a society by the use of selective breeding. Though it was considered ethical at one time, after the nazis attempted to use it, it was finally thought of as incorrect. Many people believed in the practice, from psychiatrists to politicians. The man behind this was by the name of Lev Rosenstein. There was also another who was making strides in social care though his goal was to protect and care for the geniuses, not the mentally ill. He wanted to protect those increasingly intelligent people from scoff and scorn and instead cultivate their talents for the betterment of society. He countered that, contrary to the belief that socialism would fix treatment of the genius population, that such a change would take time. He discussed that some of the problems these people face are related to their obvious intelligence. That they because of their unique personality traits, things like antisocial behavior, “individualism,” and “frequent ailments,” (Sirotkina, 151). He also mentioned the sad stories of those great people and hoped to prevent such occurrences.     

He goes on to describe the many ways that they are abused, resulting in their living in poverty and dying early, due to their inability to conform to social norms, as well as their different forced actions to please the media and the masses when they are nothing like that. He also mentions that because they are antisocial, they may end up in asylums or prisons. Most importantly, he discusses the fact that if they are cured of such ailments, the result may be devastating for their creativity. He also mentions aesthetic medicine as a means of making them more presentable to society.

   The interesting thing about the article is that the purpose is not fully clear. The author mentions many related topics but fails to connect them as one would suspect. Throughout the article, he talks of genius and mental illness and their possible similarities or connections. In the end, it is clear that these issues are important. But, it does cause one to wonder whether the issue of mental illness and genius are truly so intricately related, or if genius is a thing all on its own, with no true relation, but associated disorders that one incurs at birth due to their intelligence. Furthermore, it is insanely clear that both genius and mental disorders are not so simple to understand. There is much more to each of them than meets the eye. As the study continues, it is essential to realize that science and medicine have yet to fully understand the brain. It is a growing profession, but since the brain is so complicated, it may be many decades or centuries before it is fully understood. Interestingly to note is how normal these people can be.

A study once said that when a random sample of people entered a facility to be evaluated, some had experienced mental illness throughout their lives, while others had not. Interestingly, they miss-diagnosed many of them, stating that some had disorders when they really did not, and some did not have disorders when they clearly did. This proved that people can live life normally with mental disorders, unlike what movies or the media like to portray. In conclusion, it is clear that there is a connection between mental disorders and genius, as there are social programs, mental illness, and genius in the early Russia.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=66d65c44-3153-4c97-8401-5394f506f4f8%40sessionmgr4006&vid=3&hid=4203

The Lives of and Discovery of Genius in Mathematics

In an article entitled, “Geniuses and Prodigies,” by Stanislas Dehaene, he explains different so-called geniuses. All of the men mentioned are apt at mathematics. These men are Srinavasa Ramanujan, G. H. Hardy, and a man named Michael. As the piece continues, it talks about the mechanics of the brain and issues that can lead to one man’s diagnosis of autism, while another man’s struggle was poverty and a lack of opportunity. Eventually, all three men’s lives are described as all are geniuses in mathematics.

As his professional life is explained, his brilliant skill in mathematics is revealed. This man, Mr. G. H. Hardy, was a part of the Royal Society, he conversed with many intelligent minds, like, “Whitehead and Russell,” (Dehaene, 18). In January of 1913, G. H. Hardy found an obscure letter in the post, from India. At one point he looks at a letter from a young man in India, finding scrolled on the paper many theorems he knows are already proven through his work, along with others that have yet to be found. Though he detests amateurs, he chose to read on, discovering in the letter countless professional terms and a request by the boy that he tells him his opinion on countless theorems.  

He finds that the young man is Srinavasa Ramanujan. Born in India, the boy came from a poor family. He discovers that many of the mathematical formulas used by this young man are not otherwise well-known, he also notes the boy’s attention to detail. He finds that the young man used a mixture of both well-established theories, while others are recently discovered and used in roundabout ways, and other formulas that seem to be a creation all his own, where the origin of such theories remain baffling. He, G. H. Hardy became rather intrigued began to work through the figures. Though he was uncertain about it, Hardy knew that they boy was a genius. He once dictated, “the formulas had to be true because, if they were not, no one would have the imagination to invent them,” (Dehaene, 18). This association soon became a wonderful relationship, leading to many discoveries. He decided immediately to bring Ramanujan to Cambridge, where he was later joined by the Royal Society.

As for Ramanujan himself, he could almost be viewed as higher than Isaac Newton, because he did not begin with a high standing, or others to lean on. He was born to a poor family and only received nine years of schooling and no university education and, at an early age, his genius was discovered. He discovered various theories that he had no knowledge of himself but found. He also mastered basic trigonometry by age twelve. He based his study on two books, but that was only the beginning as he expanded his knowledge and further discovered mathematics. As described in the article, he had an uncanny sense for creating the correct formulas. He also was quite good at envisioning, “arithmetical sequences,” (Dehaene, 19). Because of these great skills that he possessed his findings are just now being proven, his notebook was filled with mathematical material.

Ramanujan also described that he was visited by an Indian goddess named Namagiri. He says that he would often wake up in the night and quickly jot down ideas and formulas he had learned. The author does, however, refute this claim by saying that he does not fully agree with Indian religious figures being at the forefront of academic discovery. And, though he does not fully disagree, he explains that there could be a connection with neuropsychology. He mentions how psychology and neurology could be at the forefront of discovery in that field, hopefully explaining why Ramanujan had such a genius mind.

About fifty years after Ramanujan’s death, a boy was born by the name of Michael. Though similar to Ramanujan in the genius aspect of things, he was also different in a myriad of ways as he was both autistic and retarded. He was studied by two psychologists from England. He suffered from macrocephaly, where a child’s head is enlarged. It can sometimes be harmless if there is only a small amount of fluid present, but large amounts of fluid can be a hint at possible brain tumors, along with other issues. As a child, he was rather misbehaved and did not understand the concept of danger. He lived in his own detached world. He also never waved good-bye or pointed at objects, things children often pick up from observation and do.

He never has learned how to use words and is not even testable on a regular scale telling fluency in the language. He was nonverbal throughout his childhood. Even two decades later, he will not speak. He in fact never learned sign language and is what would be described as an idiot savant. Though insanely intelligent in mathematics, he never matured in certain ways. He is both autistic and retarded.f However, since age six he has loved basic mathematical functions such as multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction, and since then they have become his favorite hobbies. He also loves calendars, clocks, money and maps.

Though the comparison of two vastly different, but similar men is somewhat absurd, it outlines an important point. Both are skilled at mathematics. The point seems to be that, though Michael cannot name a rabbit from a car, he is clearly gifted. He would be described, as previously mentioned, an idiot savant. There are scores of people like him, though devoid of basic social understanding or language, they are insanely fast human calculators,  some able to tell the day of the week for any past day. How can a poor boy from India be so skilled? How can a mentally retarded man be so apt at mathematics? The only question should be, why not?

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uvu.edu/stable/25678251?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents