Autism and Creativity: Is There a Link between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability?

by Mich Fitzgerald

Autism and Creativity is a stimulating study of male creativity and autism, arguing that a major genetic endowment is a prerequisite of genius, and that cultural and environmental factors are less significant than has often been claimed.
Chapters on the diagnosis and psychology of autism set the scene for a detailed examination of a number of important historical figures. For
* in the Indian mathematician Ramanujan, the classic traits of Asperger's syndrome are shown to have coexisted with an extraordinary level of creativity
* more unexpectedly, from the fields of philosophy, politics and literature, scrutiny of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Sir Keith Joseph, Eamon de Valera, Lewis Carroll and William Butler Yeats reveals classical autistic features. Autism and Creativity will prove fascinating reading not only for professionals and students in the field of autism and Asperger's syndrome, but for anyone wanting to know how individuals presenting autistic features have on many occasions changed the way we understand society.

Genres: Psychology, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Science

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2004

Reviews

[Garrett Dunnington · Rating 3 out of 5]

From most accounts I do fit the criteria, so I haven't developed to the point that I am not autistic anymore. I didn't start talking until I was 2 is what my mom said, and it was full sentences and engaged speech. But besides that, this book has a very valuable introduction, and I wish that it didn't have to make the book consist of biographies of speculative cases. I did not like that I had to read 50 pages about Ludwig Wittgenstein, and I felt that the author said the same thing over and over which was very superfluous. No-one forgets what one has read unless they have been distracted by something exciting. No, but each account is like a monotonous monologue. By the time I finished the section on Wittgenstein I decided that I got the idea entirely and that I did not need to waste my time reading about Keith Joseph. Again, the introduction and the diagnostic issues is the meat of the text. They both introduce the text and educate the lay-person of autism on the criteria, but I wish that the author talked about the subject itself "autism and creativity" instead of cases themselves.
The diagnostic issues chapter contains very valuable statistics, as this book is not very old. So I liked it, but it didn't engage me the same way that I hoped it would.