The autistic spectrum, for instance, refers to a continuum of abnormality in social interaction and communication ranging from severe impairments at the “deep end”—those who are silent, mentally disabled, and locked into stereotypical behaviors such as head rolling or body rocking, for example—to mild interference at the “shallow end”: high-functioning individuals with active, but distinctly odd, interpersonal strategies, narrowly focused interests, and an undue preoccupation with “sameness,” rules, and ritual.
