Is it so bad to talk to oneself? It just says that one's own world is sometimes more important than anything else.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Media article on Asperger's, and how close does it come to my own history?
Here’s a piece on Vox by Noel Murray that seems
somewhat relevant to my own history, “10 things I want to teach my autistic son
before he goes to college,” link here. The son in the piece is 13, so the early
adulthood of college is still some years away; and the article says that he has
Asperger’s, which is on the functional side of the autism spectrum
developmental disorder.
Some of the advice about body awareness, personal
hygiene, and environmental cleanliness (challenged by clumsiness) seems to ring
true. My own “symptoms” seem to have
been milder than reported here.
It’s still a mystery how my own developmental
backwardness and physical weakness emerged.
At first glance, it could seem
rooted in my having the measles in 1950, just before my seventh birthday, but
that doesn’t square completely with the record. My parents report some foot
problems in early childhood. I seem to
remember being told I was slow feeding myself once, one of the earliest
memories. The first grade comment report
card notes some mild issues with dependency on others. But second grade went well, and I wasn’t
acutely aware of my physical problems until my third grade teacher confronted
me, way back in 1951.
I remember wanting to start piano about the beginning
of 1952, and don’t remember why! But it
does seem that once I got into piano, my brain, in order to focus on schoolwork
and music, pruned out other physical development (for sports) too quickly. So this whole matter has always had the edge
of a “moral” problem.
It is hard to be good at everything, but playing piano
requires mechanical skill, and artists often are good at some practical-work
things, like cooking, or repair things (like bicycles).
Is it so bad to talk to oneself? It just says that one's own world is sometimes more important than anything else.
Is it so bad to talk to oneself? It just says that one's own world is sometimes more important than anything else.
All of this took on a moral edge, as I grew up in a time
when boys were presumed to have a moral obligation to protect other family
members – girls and future mothers, and younger children – long before they
could understand sex and the responsibility that comes with it.
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