Published on 12, July, 2020
”What if we are not odd, but Aspergers is the next step in evolution for humans?”
We are no less loving or empathetic than other humans. As someone once said, we perhaps feel too much.
So perhaps we evolutionary firsts!
I wonder how long autism has actually been occurring in humans. There seem to be more cases diagnosed now, but that's because it's more frequently recognised. And according to Google, the word autism was first used in 1908, so it would have been called something else before then. There might have been autistic cavemen, for all we know.
I'd agree. If you think about the skills and dedication needed for the first flint-knapping, I think those of our ancestors were probably autistic.
Can I be pedantic about 'according to Google'? Google is not a source. It's a way of finding a source that happens to be online. Although the word 'autistic' may have been used in 1908, that was a very early conception partly related to schizophrenia. Then in the 1940s and 1950s it became more associated with learning disabilities. It's only really in the last 20 years that it's been used in the way it is now to mean lifelong problems with social connection.