Arrowheads, Perfection and Compassion

I lately came across an article in New Scientist which linked early technological advances with "maverick" ways of thinking. Autisim was mentioned along with bipolar and schizophrenia: What a surprise!!

http://www.orange.networkofcare.org/mh/news/detail.cfm?articleID=36999

A very brief précis is that emerging technologies thrive on difference, and that there is a little prehistoric evidence for compassion and caring for those individuals who are different.

Two weeks later I was watching Alice Roberts' excellent series "The Incredible Human Journey", when she showed us an arrow head, or Clovis point from the Neolithic period, about 11,000 years ago. It was stunningly beautiful with an elegant symmetry and minutely scalloped edges. From a purely functional point of view it need not have been so perfect, and from a time / outcome ratio a "rougher" job would have been much more efficient.

A collection of authenticated Clovis Points circa 11,000 BC

As readers of these meanderings will know, my wife, currently waiting for an Aspergers diagnosis, is a keen seamstress and knitter.

 At this very moment she is weaving in all the ends of yarns into the rows of a beautiful woollen sweater she's knit for me. It's taken nearly a year mainly because of the demands of our delightful children and the housekeeping she undertakes so rigourously. Also she has, on numerous occasions, undone rows and rows because of slight errors in either tension or stitches. The yarn weaving is to prevent the different colours from separating. This almost certainly would not happen but the weaving means it could not. Perfect, see, just like the seams on her Tudor costume, the cleanliness of the kitchen floor and the organisation of the log piles for the stove.

In another part of my life I was a carpenter and turner. I loved turning sycamore so thin you could see light through it and these were very popular pieces. I often wondered what the customers did with these as the function of the bowl was actually impaired by the thinness. Craftsmanship seem to still matter, but some of the neolithic pieces are breathtaking in their beauty and finish.

A few of the tools seem to be ceremonial and are precisely perfect as an offering of craft, but some are totally functional and have been obviously used.

If it can be done, it can be done perfectly!

I'm not sure if Penny Spikins' theory could be considered as anything more concrete than wishful thinking. I do know, however, that people with AS have unique talents and can bring joy and delight to any group prepared to look beyond the "normal". Compassion is NOT pity! To me, it is an acceptance of difference and an enlarging of our concepts of what our group is to encompass those differences

My job (and my passion) at my school seems to be that of celebration. Everyone is included, listened to and enjoyed! I try to show my pupils that they are all valued. This has enormous benefits for the productivity of the group as very little time is spent managing behaviour and we can all just get on and learn in whatever style and mode suits us.

And please, can we miss the D out of ASD (unless it stands for delight!)