Autistic Obsession/ Our Saving Grace
Concerning Autistic Obsession our once Saving Grace.
Posts and quotes from the book: ALAN TURING: The Enigma By Andrew Hodges
Simon and Schuster New York. Copyright 1983
Related Item PBS-BBC show entitled Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitmore, based on The Enigma.
From Page 25 and 26
In Mathematics and science the master (of the school) wrote more approving reports, but there was always something to complain about. In the summer of 1927, Alan showed to his mathematics teacher, a certain Randolph, some work he had done for himself. He had found the infinite series for the 'inverse tangent function', starting from the trigonometrical formula for Tan 1/2 X. Randolph was appropriately amazed and told Alan's from Master that he was 'a genius'. But, the news sank like a stone in the Sherborne pond. It
{-1/x=x3/3 + x5/5 - x7/7 ...
"It was a standard result in sixth form work , But the point was that he discovered it with the use of elementary calculus. Perhaps the most remarkable thing was his seeing that such a series should exist at all.} to page 26
merely saved Alan from a demotion, and even Randolph reported unfavorably:
Not very good, he spends a good deal of time apparently in investigations in advanced mathematics to the neglect of elementary work, A sound groundwork is essential in any subject. His work is dirty.
The Headmaster Issued a Warning:
I hope he will not fall between two stools. It he is to stay at a Public School, he must take aim at becoming Educated. If he is to be solely a Scientific Specialist, he is wasting his time at Public School "
From Rich
Remember this took place in the 1920's long before Autism was an identifiable trait of any kind. These were the years when a high school education equaled a college education of today.
Alan clearly had an obsession with math and numbers. Like many autistic people before and after him the obsession was our learning hallway. Thankfully there were no autism 'experts" around screaming get him out of his obsession mode! His teachers rather seen it as something special and even thought he could go on in life just doing his math. He essentially did just that and like many of us also made connections "backwards" and was able to be come social and more well rounded. While our anthropology clearly did the obsession or splinter skill first the knowledge we realized from that gave us the foundation to learn the social things in life. If only the 'experts' of autism would care to learn from our experience a whole new world would open up not only in Autism but education and psychology as well.
Perhaps without the benefit of his intense Social Skills training, (coming out and connecting) he still might have invented/fathered the computer but he would have been only seen as "Rain Man" and not a human. Just how many great autistic minds of today are being squelched by some 'expert' ideal that prevents us from accessing our learning hallway? Does this account for the reason why today autism is seen as a horrible "behavior-less" group home condition? Only since Rain Man has Autism 'hit it big' so to speak has autism become too well known for the wrong reasons. I'm not at all against the sucess of autism but not the autism the world has come to know so well as the hopeless and helpless. Modern Autism seems to have been more work than help.
Rich Shull,,,, http://prerainmanautism.blogspot.com/
Posts and quotes from the book: ALAN TURING: The Enigma By Andrew Hodges
Simon and Schuster New York. Copyright 1983
Related Item PBS-BBC show entitled Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitmore, based on The Enigma.
From Page 25 and 26
In Mathematics and science the master (of the school) wrote more approving reports, but there was always something to complain about. In the summer of 1927, Alan showed to his mathematics teacher, a certain Randolph, some work he had done for himself. He had found the infinite series for the 'inverse tangent function', starting from the trigonometrical formula for Tan 1/2 X. Randolph was appropriately amazed and told Alan's from Master that he was 'a genius'. But, the news sank like a stone in the Sherborne pond. It
{-1/x=x3/3 + x5/5 - x7/7 ...
"It was a standard result in sixth form work , But the point was that he discovered it with the use of elementary calculus. Perhaps the most remarkable thing was his seeing that such a series should exist at all.} to page 26
merely saved Alan from a demotion, and even Randolph reported unfavorably:
Not very good, he spends a good deal of time apparently in investigations in advanced mathematics to the neglect of elementary work, A sound groundwork is essential in any subject. His work is dirty.
The Headmaster Issued a Warning:
I hope he will not fall between two stools. It he is to stay at a Public School, he must take aim at becoming Educated. If he is to be solely a Scientific Specialist, he is wasting his time at Public School "
From Rich
Remember this took place in the 1920's long before Autism was an identifiable trait of any kind. These were the years when a high school education equaled a college education of today.
Alan clearly had an obsession with math and numbers. Like many autistic people before and after him the obsession was our learning hallway. Thankfully there were no autism 'experts" around screaming get him out of his obsession mode! His teachers rather seen it as something special and even thought he could go on in life just doing his math. He essentially did just that and like many of us also made connections "backwards" and was able to be come social and more well rounded. While our anthropology clearly did the obsession or splinter skill first the knowledge we realized from that gave us the foundation to learn the social things in life. If only the 'experts' of autism would care to learn from our experience a whole new world would open up not only in Autism but education and psychology as well.
Perhaps without the benefit of his intense Social Skills training, (coming out and connecting) he still might have invented/fathered the computer but he would have been only seen as "Rain Man" and not a human. Just how many great autistic minds of today are being squelched by some 'expert' ideal that prevents us from accessing our learning hallway? Does this account for the reason why today autism is seen as a horrible "behavior-less" group home condition? Only since Rain Man has Autism 'hit it big' so to speak has autism become too well known for the wrong reasons. I'm not at all against the sucess of autism but not the autism the world has come to know so well as the hopeless and helpless. Modern Autism seems to have been more work than help.
Rich Shull,,,, http://prerainmanautism.blogspot.com/
posted by Pre Rain Man Autism | 6:12 PM
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