Autistic Savants January 10, 2008
Posted by jewaira in Children, Health, Inspiration, Life.trackback
When I heard about Stephen Wiltshire, an architectural artist and autistic savant, and saw his beautifully intricate work, I could not help but wonder about other autistic children who grew up facing a different fate. Stephen did not speak a word until he was nine years old and he was put into a school for children with special needs in London. But within the right environment, his artistic talent was recognized and nurtured into an awesome career.
I thought about another autistic child I knew. His parents were at a loss with how to deal with this precocious, yet mute child. Their first thought was that he had been struck with someone’s “evil eye” and it had been attributed to “7assad”; he was taken to practically every religious healer who read verses of the Quran over this young child head in an effort to heal him and remove the effects of those persons who had cast upon him an evil eye.
I have no doubt that this child could comprehend everything being said but because he was autistic, and did not speak, everyone including his family thought he would not understand. Imagine the stress of hearing people talk about you and your disabilities in your presence as though you were an inanimate object that would not understand (I will not say animal because animals surely understand when we talk about them).
The child grew and his “condition” did not improve and he was not assessed properly by the medical establishment. His parents struggled at home to accommodate their special child but he clearly needed professional guidance from an early age. Finally one day, when he grew too tall and too big to be controlled, he was institutionalized and I never saw him again. I heard that he was sedated to keep him under control and then one day, I received news of his death at a young age. There was no probe into the reason for his death in the institution (from over-sedation no doubt); his family just prayed that he had finally found peace. It was a tragic ending.
Not all autistic people are savants or have outstanding capabilities. But clearly, there needs to be more awareness than already exists in our minds towards people who are different. Some people are quick to react superstitiously, attributing psychological conditions to the evil eye or black magic and will not resort to medical diagnoses till all efforts of spiritual healing are repeatedly exhausted. While I endorse spiritual healing in the correct context, I find that it does not help to be ignorant about conditions such as autism either.
I volunteered to go see the disabled, and in one of the rooms there were autistic men sitting in isolated rooms with lots of machines. At first I thought these machines were installed for their health condition but when I walked closer I saw that one of them was actually working on something. It turns out he has a talent for fixing machineries I was told.
I also have a close friend who’s disabled and mashallah Jewaira, despite her blindness and disabilities in speaking properly, her memory is remarkable tabarak Allah, and she is able to do many interesting things with her thinking and memory that normal people cannot. Now she graduated from University and is employed!!
Another girl in a conference I attended gave out a long presentation on phonetics but from the point of view of a blind woman. It was really interesting to know how she views words and things without seeing them.
It’s a miracle how disabled people because of what they lack, they compensate in another area. Add to that their intricate special gifted perspective to look at life differently.
I always wanted to do an art gallery for the blind where they can touch things and express what they feel and let other normal people experience what ‘different’ people see too. Maybe that would help society understand these ‘gifted’ people instead of giving up on them so easily.
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Sushi
Thank you very much for your comment and for sharing your experiences and insight.
Jewaira
Funny, I was just talking about autism with friends today. I don’t know the statistics for Kuwait, but in the States 1/150 children have autism.
I know for a fact that with early intervention, many autistic children come out of their own world and are able to function on a “normal” level. I once tutored an autistic child when he was two, and nine years later bumped into him and his mother on a plane from London to Kuwait. Because of the early intervention (she had to take him to the States for a few years because there were no resources for him here in Kuwait) doctors would have a hard time labeling him as autistic now. He went from being non-verbal and hard to reach to a brilliant, outspoken, well-mannered child.
There’s the Kuwait Center for Autism. Is that all there is in Kuwait? I would really really like to know if there are more resources out there, especially support groups for parents of autistic/PDD children.
I was going to ask about this on my blog but for some reason my posts no longer show up there.
My son has Aspergers, which falls in the autism spectrum. He’s able to attend private “normal” school but as a parent, well, it would be nice to connect with other parents of Aspie children – in real life, here in Kuwait.
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Stinni
Thank you for your comment and also for sharing your experiences on this important but little discussed subject.
I think Kuwaiti bloggers, including you, should blog about autism in Kuwait as well as related issues. There is a need and people will find you; don’t worry about being on Safat.
I hope that we can find out more about the facilities/groups here in Kuwait. I think it’s important to network with people of similar needs . Please Stinni and anyone else don’t hesitate to share information that could help others with the same situation.
Jewaira
Jewaira,
I have a lot to say.
ماني قايلة غير إن احنا نعيش بزمن متخلف متخلف متخلف
وبشع
What else can we say when we look at examples such as the one you mentioned?
نحن نعيش بزمن لايزال مسمى “مستشفى المجانين” يتداول فيه بكثره
In such an environment, how else do we expect parents to treat their mentally challenged kids? I will not dare delve into more details; the truth hurts too much ya Jewaira.
I am sorry
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More education and more awareness is needed. Thank you for your comment, Kuwaiti
I am pleased to see that Al-Qabas newspaper have regular features highlighting the accomplishments, news, and problems of the physically and mentally challenged in Kuwait.
Jewaira
Jewaira,
When we saw our country being invaded, we could not stop trying to let the world know of the wrong that was happening.
When we saw Sheikh Ali AlKhalifa AlSabah getting his big chunk of the country’s possessions, we couldn’t keep quiet about it.
When we see girls and children molested and raped, we don’t suppress our outrage and never hesitate to speak our minds.
BECAUSE IT IS PLAIN WRONG AND MUST NEVER NEVER HAPPEN!
Why is it that when it comes to the disabled, everybody seems to accept the wrongdoing that is being made towards them? How is the case of the disabled any different from the other wrongs that everybody acknowledges? Why is this unfairness not acknowledged?
Above all, WHO ARE WE to judge that the mentally-different individuals deserve less of a life than we do?
AND who are we to judge that they cannot be as productive as other members of the public do?
Jewaira,
In our country, I have witnessed parents live miserably the minute they discover their child’s illness. As a result, you have a scarred individual: low self-esteem, uneducated, unmotivated, and suicidal.
بالله عليكم قولولي
ايهما اللي سيهدم هذا الانسان؟
النظرة الغبية من قبل الوالدين، ام طبيعته اللي لقى نفسه فيها بهالدنيا؟
This IS ABUSE taking it’s toll over the course of a lifetime.
This is the wrong taking place in the midst of daylight, witnessed by tens and tens of families and friends.
ولا احد يحرك ساكنا
ماني قادرة اكف عن التفكير بمقالج
الوضع مزري فعلا
اعذريني جويرة
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Thank you Kuwaiti for your moving comment.
People cannot be blamed if they are not made aware or educated about issues.
I think it is important to have good support groups for parents/families and also to have proper networking channels so that the group members can be contacted easily.
More grassroots movements are needed and people need to know how to find these groups where they can share ideas, problems, solutions, and campaign for the rights of their children or those who are disabled.
Although government agencies may be available, I think that private groups can be more active especially if there are organized hardworking individuals involved in the group and if they can be funded by the private sector and businesses.
Jewaira
*I meant to say that my posts are no longer showing up on Safat. They’re still showing up on my blog, obviously.
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Stinni
Thanks for the clarification :p
Jewaira
Acropolis Review Kuwait
http://acropolisreview.com/2008/01/january-11-2008-guantanomo.html
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Thank you Jake for the link.
More from the ACLU
Jewaira
Just read this and thought you’d be interested !
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20035/
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Thank you Grey Shorts for the interesting read.
Jewaira
Readers might be interested to see this link regarding autism and related conditions that increasingly appear in the computer “geek” population in the USA Silicon Valley, CA.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020506/scaspergers.html
People fear what they don’t understand. I hope the compassion and indignation that fellow bloggers feel will be the first step in increasing public knowledge and understanding.
I agree with the need for family to family support groups. They help!.
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Thanks for the link Melody. It was quite an interesting read.
Jewaira
[...] thanks to Jewaira for writing about autism and giving me the tiny push I [...]
there is a problem in Kuwait , only very small percentage of people give because they have the idea that to give is good
most give either
A) they know the one who they are giving to
B) its Cool to give to those
Sadly Autism hasn’t achieved B yet , they are working on A but its not easy
For example ” Abdullah House ” it didn’t take seconds for the Kuwaiti Banks to drop Thousands on it , why ? because Naser Alsayer sponsor it and everyone want to be close to him
not only that but ِKuwait Awqaf public foundation gave them also a donation of 1/2 million dinnar no question / string attached to it
I have posted before about Autism related activity in kuwait
http://www.forzaq8.net/index.php?s=autism
i don’t know about you , but i watched terry fox marathon , and went to autism Walkathon and there were a lot less people in it
because its cool to run for terry fox with foreigners , and not with Kuwaiti marathon with Kuwaiti women wearing hijab
Oh and i’m a Member of Kuwait Autism Society , we just started ( first meeting 2 weeks ago
) but we hope we reach places
Forzaq8
Thank you for alerting me to all the posts related to autism on your blog.
Perhaps when there are events such as charity bazaars or marathons, you can send out an email to all Kuwaiti bloggers and we can make the effort to post about it or mention it on our blogs.
I’m glad that you have commented here and that together we can all work to create more awareness and share more information for the benefit of all concerned.
Again, please don’t hesitate to contact me about any related events or posts on the subject of autism.
Dear Jewaira,
I see where you have written about savants and the nature of intelligence on your blog site. I recently posted a piece that examines why the topic of intelligence is so complex:
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/01/10/infants-and-savants-bringing-new-meaning-to-the-idea-of-intelligence/
As a new blogger I would welcome your feedback on the post and if you think it would be relevant to your readers I would be grateful if you would share it with them.
Thank you and have a great week.
Tom Hanson
Editor
OpenEducation.net
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