Autism and society's definition of 'normal'
Denis Campbell's piece (Shortcuts, G2, 24 September) highlighting that 1 in 100 adults has autism shows that it is surely time to stop calling autism, ADHD, Asperger's syndrome etc "disorders" and, worse still, "mental illness", as frequently happens in the media. There is a theory that there are so many people diagnosed with autistic spectrum "disorders" because these are all just different variations in the way the brain works, which have not been eradicated by natural selection because they are needed in society. Just as much as we need the stable, steady people to keep things running, we also need the sudden, inspirational and obsessive people to invent new ways of doing things. Sadly, it is because it is the stable, steady types who have designed the education and health services that the autistic spectrum people look like "abnormalities" within society. It is time...
Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science
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