Autism spectrum disorder is a frequently discussed problem that is observed in many individuals nowadays. Autism is also referred to as Asperger’s syndrome and has unknown to science causes (“Autism Spectrum Disorders Health Center” par. 1). This is a developmental disability that is expressed in significant social, cognitive, communicative, and emotional issues of the people affected by it (“Facts about ASD” par. 1).
Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by a variety of signs and symptoms that may vary in different individuals. The general symptoms are an inability to relate to other people or their feelings, avoidance of social and physical contact, inconsistent communication with other people, and very unusual ways of learning, reacting to, or memorizing things.
In his stories from “An Anthropologist on Mars”, Oliver Sacks explores the everyday lives of several people affected by autism spectrum disorder. The fascinating fact about some of such individuals is that they may be gifted in a number of ways.
For instance, they can be able to memorize things very fast and precisely, or they may have a perfect musical ear, they can show outstanding drawing and painting abilities, or be excellent at math. Such individuals are called savant, and Sacks describes two of them in particular – Stephen Wiltshire and Temple Grandin.
Neither of these people represents a stereotypical image of an autistic individual often shown in the films. They do not show repetitive movements, they do not have emotional breakdowns, but they both share incredible abilities.
Stephen is an outstanding artist with a precise eye and amazing memory, he creates the most detailed drawings of cities observed by him from a helicopter. Temple is a scientist with a Ph.D., who is also good at memorizing information, and has a perfect musical ear. One more similarity between the two people is that they frequently engage in social activities due to their professions and lifestyles.
The difference between Stephen and Temple is that the former is unable to live alone as he is not as good at everyday routine activities as he is at drawing. Temple leads quite a lonely life in a house of her own and uses he self-designed squeeze machine to simulate the only physical contact she needs – hugging (Sacks 262).
Besides, Temple often explores her own experiences and attempts to understand the feelings of others that are unavailable to her by visualizing herself as other creatures – people and animals. Temple is very observant of her own mind while Stephen does not seem to analyze his differences. One may say that the main difference between the two people is that Temple has a scientific explorative mind, where Stephen has an artistic one.
Temple’s extraordinary insights allow her to teach about autism and make the world of autistic people a little less vague for the observers. Temple relates to animals more than people; she enjoys touching and holding them. Temple compares her sensory reactions to those of cows. It is possible that her emotional development is closer to that of animals than to human one.
In addition, Temple is alone by choice; she remains celibate because a feeling of love towards another human being is alien to her. Temple’s decision to stay alone makes perfect sense as she easily gets overwhelmed by human contact, and her reactions and behavior are difficult to read and comprehend for the others.
Temple could have forced herself into a relationship, but this would be nothing but torture for her and her partner. Being close to people makes her terrified, touching others creates panic. This is the response she has developed as a baby and had for her whole life. It is quite logical that Temple prefers to stay out of relationships not to aggravate her emotions. That is why she compares being autistic to “being an anthropologist on Mars” (Sacks 259).
Works Cited
Autism Spectrum Disorders Health Center. 2015. Web.
Facts about ASD. 2015. Web.
Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Print.