I decided to set down this brief post after speaking with my son, Andrew, who is a new blogger. He has a syndrome which both blesses and curses him, but in the end is an integral part of all he is. As he had spoken with me about wanting others to understand his "difference" - the notice of which has plagued him since childhood - I thought it would be appropriate, not only to ease his feeling of "subterfuge" on this blog, but also as a tie-in to the clinical syndromes which lend themselves to "daemonic proclivity" as it pertains to the Peakian dyad.
In his case, Andrew was diagnosed at age six with a sub-clinical seizure disorder complicated by features of autism. He was classified by the state of New Jersey and attended special education schools. He failed to learn to read or write, so at age 12 my husband and I took him from school and he was taught at home, where he did make rapid progress in reading and writing. A renowned pediatric psychiatrist made the formal diagnosis of Aspberger Syndrome, which is a high-functioning state derivative of autism. He is highly intelligent - his IQ borders the genius range - yet frustrated because at age 20 he lacks many of the skills which one associates with that age. He is handsome, well-built, and polite, but the "quirkiness" which marks his syndrome has led to some cruelty from strangers throughout his life, including an arrest by police in February who misunderstood his "manner".
What is interesting about his syndrome is its odd elegance, and the quasi-mystical depth which I believe Tony would attribute to "daemonic leakage" into the sphere of the eidolon. Clinically, the syndrome is predominate in males. It is marked by an "inwardness", extreme social "un-ease", and extremely high IQ: indeed, Asperger, the physican for whom the syndrome was named, called the young boys of his clinical studies "little geniuses". Other prominent and clinically-researched traits of the syndrome are formal and elegant speech; idiosyncratic use of syntax and grammar; excessive rigidity in thinking; extremely narrow focus ; right-brained mathematical obsessing, and a skewed or absent theory of mind. This last is the essential trait, and means simply that there is confusion as to what other minds may know or anticipate. All of the aforementioned traits are present in Andrew, and aid and glorify him even as they hinder and constrain.
What is most rewarding in terms of Andrew and I having found Peakian theory, is that the "epistemic privilege" ( a philosophical term denoting the intellectual advantage of the disenfranchised) which we always knew counter-balanced and compensated , has been given a far clearer and more robust contextual framework by the dyad theory (Tony's eidolon/daemon binary mind). There is indeed a propensity and predilection for "daemonic" cross-reference in the thinking of those with this syndrome. This I believe enriches thinking and feeling, and combines with the specific individual suffer in ways that make for an enchanting wealth and array of different types of intelligent and innovative communication. Andrew is quite proud to be a member of this blog, and has appreciated the kindness of all, especially from Karl, Martin, and Tony.
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42 comments:
Susan Marie.. Your wonderful Post has awed and humbled me considerably, thinking as I did that Andy was *just* a remarkably polite clever and well-bought up young man but he has many more facets to his shining diamond of a soul and mind...Andy... you are indeed a rarity in this world and hold your head high as you have overcome obstacles just as any true hero of Myth and Real Life has seemingly to do..I salute you both and consider myself the most fortunate of beings to have such as you two in my life to enrich and make me a more aware and educated person..Such details are never found out by the casual onlooker until personal information is required...
You go Andy!!! You would give Obama a run for his money indeed!!
Love, Respect and Admiration..
Jesamyn.
I have had the pleasure of knowing several individuals with aspergers as it seems fairly common in my part of the world. As we learn more about the variations in human brain function and perceptions we all become richer and more appreciative of our differences.
Thanks so much SM and Andrew for sharing your story. I imagine there have been struggles and pain as there have been for me, but I am so impressed with your intelligence strength and dignity. It's a pleasure getting to know you.
In my work I have had the priveledge to know many young people with Asperger's Syndrome. Although every person is an individual with their own personalities, I have always found their "differences" enlightening. Unfortunately they are understood by society, particularly when they are as bright and handsome as your son. The legal system is quick to assume that their "inappropriate" social responses, even something as basic as giving the wrong facial expression, comes from arrogance or perverseness. A typically blank expression is interpreted as lack of remorse, for example.
I find communication with young people with Asperger's to be a challenge for ME simply because they take everything literally and need total clarity, with no ambiguity, to be able to fully understand. But when I do take the time and pay attention to how I communicate I find I have always learned something from the encounter.
People with Asperger's syndrome are contributors to the society which alienates them. Their very special ways of thinking enable technological advances - I'm sure the world of computers would never have got off the ground without such people and their focus.
And here, on this blog, where it is the quality of thinking that is so highly valued, I know that Andrew is welcomed for his great contribution to the collective thought processes that help understaanding develop and grow. And in this virtual environment he is at an advantage - there are no social cues such as body language and tone of voice to misinterpret -and clarity of expression in other ways is paramount. So welcome Andrew, and I for one look forward to more contributions from you!
I'll send you both *hugs* - Andrew may be more comfortable with a virtual one *smile*
Susan Marie (and of course, Andrew):
I've been made fortunate enough by both of your kindness and trust in me to have been aware of Andrew's 'neuro-atypicality' for a while now and I applaud your decision to make public some of the discussions we've had.
One of my many circles of interests includes working and writing within the Mental Health sector and consequently I know, and am close to, many who live with Autism and Asperger's.
Indeed, my friend Aidan, *waves at Aidan*, visits this blog often and I still hope one day he will want to say his story, as it literally will blow everyone away. But I am enormously humbled by him as he has a deep mistrust for everyone and everything but says to me that I have a "clean soul blackboard" which I have come to understand means he sees in me no ulterior motives, just a desire to help understand him, and consequently I am probably the only person outside of his immediate family that he trusts.
The exact cause of Asperger's is unknown within official psychology, although research supports the likelihood of a genetic basis (paternal) and brain imaging techniques have not identified a clear common pathology.
It is debatable how effective pharmaceutical treatment is, but many do benefit from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Asperger's is just one of the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), which are a range of psychological conditions that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and communication that pervade the individual's functioning, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behaviour.
And I, for one, embrace all levels of neurodiversity, as spending any time with Aidan always shows me.
For 90% of the time I will have to work hard to truly understand him and follow his rollercoaster streams of consciousness, ebbing and flowing like the flotsam of consciousness, but then BANG, a moment of sheer unadulterated clarity and extreme brilliance of awareness, and in his words escapes a spine-tingling and empirical beautification of the realities of perception far beyond those of the "neurotypical"
I would strongly recommend the following website for anyone even remotely interested in what is being discussed through this important post of Susan Marie's regarding Andrew:
Wrong Planet
(a wonderful online community for those living with Autism and Asperger's with some exemplary writing)
And when Hans Asperger described his young patients as "Little Geniuses" or "Little Professors", I know, through my privileged and prized private emails with Susan Marie's dear son, that Andrew would most certainly be attributed with the same affectionate moniker.
Finally, and with a tacit apology for my overlong comment, but I have a deep personal attachment within this area, I hope we will hear from a fellow blog member Ed (aka It's Cool To Care) on this subject, given his remarkable stories regarding his own Son, Mark - I have taken the liberty of linking to some of Ed's previous posts (and the very first post I ever wrote on this blog) below:
Seizure...A Mulfunction? Or A Deliberate Reboot?
[by Ed]
Post Seizure Event
[by Ed]
What Once Seemed Just A Wall, Is Now A Door...
[by Ed]
Glutamate - The REAL Link Between Autism, Epilepsy and Psychosis??
[by Ed}
The Schizophrenic Influencing Machine in Relation To The Bohmian IMAX
[by Karl L Le Marcs]>
And whilst lolling in several pubs in Liverpool with Tony, I have met and enjoyed many a fascinating conversation with Ed, *waves at Ed*, and I hope he and I can work together soon on some joint ideas we have for writing on this subject.
Aldous Huxley’s "Doors of Perception" open on the spectrum of Daemonic leakage from Migraine sufferers, through Autism, Bipolarity and TLE to Schizophrenia and Dementia. It is my belief that the "neurotypical" are the ones who are blinkered, and that those who live within this Daemonic Spectrum are the ones whose eyes are wide open.
I salute you Andrew, your comments on my own writing always reward me, and thank you too, Susan Marie.
You know, i was watching "Shrink rap" yesterday. For those of you that aren't aware, Shrink rap is a wonderful programme in which clebreities are grilled by a rather demanding (blonde with a rather large chest, how hideous) Psychiatrist. I was watching an episode with Robin Williams who was talking about all the bad things in life that consequently lead to the good. Wasn't exactly a new or articulate revelation but he mentioned about how tough times can give us amzing tools and defense mechanisms that lead to us experiencing some amazing things in life (for him, fame fortune and the abilty to make people laugh)
Now talking to yourself and your good mother, i know that you are not an exception to this theory. Embrace who you are, the good and bad, you can't be one thing and not another when it comes to your whole personality. Growth comes from bad times much more than good. Anytime you go through a difficult patch, just remember, there's a reward waiting at the end for you and it's the development of "self" which is more rewarding that anything else in this world. You can't change the world but you can change how you see it and that's good enough.
I must stop now before before a greeting card company recruits me for my abilty to mock cliche.
I'll defeinately look you both up if my and My girlfriend head back to New York/Jersey later this year.
Martin.
Thank you for that, Hurly, you are a sweet love in every way and have always been a delight to me. My son has loved your film critiquing and looks forward to much more of the same from you.
Thank you for such enlightened and sensitive remarks as well, Jesamyn, Ruth, Woodsprite. Of course KLLM's remarks are sublime and weighty and I read them as one might read a treatise or manifseto. I do remember telling Ed about my son many months ago. I had told Tony as well. I think your friend's "blackboard " description is most apt, and mirrors also some of Andrew's elegant phrases about you (such as "regally stand offish but all sweetly undaunted"and "genius with a kindly lowish swagger" and "fugitive sir of postmodern chaos"). There is indeed a genetic component, and in childhood I displayed virtually all of the traits of the syndrome, but in the '70s classification had not come into its own in America. I was lucky in that I was pushed ahead 2 grades for my intelligence; the rest was ignored. My own father who was a scientist, professor of philosophy, and author most definitely was seen as "odd" by those around him, and odd in precisely the way these clinical traits would predict. There is an Asperger Network in the United States which has as members professors and research scientists who have been sucsessful though afflicted with the syndrome. I do find hope in that. I have managed to "fly under the radar" but I certainly passed this on to him through my genetic material. Those whom I descend from were orators and authors but were afflicted with all manner of eccentricity and moroseness. The loss of Andrew's father has complicated some but of course we press on. Thank you again.
I also wanted to add that although Andrew is away on a trip right now, I am certain that on his return, he will be much relieved and most appreciative that he has offended no one, and has been sensitively understood by all. As I said, I certainly have no advantage over him, and do myself bear not a few of the traits of the syndrome, but have been "undiagnosed" in any formal sense, and have learned compensatory techniques to disguise much of it. Of course it is my hope that maturity will allow him the same.
I have no idea why he would think he could possibley have offended anyone? Lovely gentle soul...
much like myself... ;0)
Well, he is overly sensitive as he has been misunderstood by others on previous occasions, though not here, of course. Yes, he is rather like you, Hurly, which is a compliment to you both from my perspective. And there is "daemonic" epistemic understanding which resonates between like souls, which Tony understands so fully in its Bohmian implications, much to his credit. Thank you, Hurly, you are greatly and affectionately regarded by both myself and my son.
Susan Marie,
Thank you for your trust in us in sharing Andrew's condition.
It's time society stopped labelling these things as malfunctions or illnesses and started recognizing the value and rich diversity that these alternative thinkers provide. Different is not wrong and yet it is a mind set that perseveres. I like the term neuro-atypicality.
I have found some of the support networks and available treatments sadly lacking in our care system. It also strikes me that once the label is applied, one is forever seen as 'ill'. 'We think this way, you don't, you are ill'.
Integration of minds should be our evolutionary aim and your son is a shining example of daemonic awareness and is special in very much the positive terminology!
It is obvious to me that you have grown Andrew holistically to embrace his whole self and recognize advantage even through struggle and faced with ignorance.
Have you read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon? it is written in the first person by a 15year old boy with Aspergers, I think you and Andrew may find it interesting.
Hurly - Loved your comments, heartfelt and sincere, couldn't have said it better!
Johar; What beautiful remarks from you. Your perception is very keen and penetrating, I see that more fully with the passage of time. No, I have not heard of that book, but will now certainly see if I can order it. There is much truth in what you have said about the limitations of the pervading social perspective: Andrew does feel "marked" in many ways, and his father was his protector and partner and they had planned on working together. So this untimely loss has been a calamity for us. Of course, Andrew has been exposed to the influence of my own hyper-sensitivity and eccentricity for his whole life, and I have some guilt as to how much I may have unintentionally contributed to the worsening of his "syndrome". But it is truly touching in what way Anthony's theories - which make him unbelievably liberal and lenient with others, for a man of science, which he certainly is, I think - have also led to such sensitivity and generosity from bloggers such as you, Johar, and the many others who have posted so kindly and astutely. Of course Andrew has been thrilled also by the attention he has received from KLLM , who has if anything been more excessive in sincerity than even Peake himself. All very pleasing and healing to our disress: Thank you, Johar , and all.
Susan Marie,
I can only begin to imagine the affect the loss of a beloved husband and father has had on you and Andrew but don't underestimate or denigrate the positive influence you have had in his life.
Your self awareness, genuineness, open mindedness and open heartedness will, without doubt, be the mainstay of Andrew's life. You too are his protector.
He is on this blog because of you. He has found a place where he can explore, through the interweaving of the philosophy you provide and the ITLADic concepts Tony engenders, his own awareness and uniqueness of self.
You are both home. *hugs*
Well, that is truly kindness which cannot go un-thanked or unnoticed. I take heart from your words. I was told by a clinical psychologist that although Andrew and I are a generation apart, of course, we are "too similar" in tastes, interests, and inclinations, and that I had surely been "too invasive " a maternal influence. Very upsetting to hear, but your words bring much comfort. I do think Anthony and his idea of "daemonic resonance" may also counter so weighty an indictment of my mothering, and there are genetic factors as well: How can we NOT be similar, sharing flesh and blood and ancestry as we do? You have added the poetic and spiritual dimension here: clinical psychology take heed! Thank you again, "JoJo".
Hi all,
(Thanks Karl for bringing me into this. I have been distaracted for several days - some of which has been connected with the chnages in my son's conditions.)
Much of what I can say on this topic are, indeed, included in earlier posts and comments, as refereced by Karl so it is well worth a review of them, i think.
I had no idea that you (Susan Marie) are also close to someone blessed in this way. Andre3w, i hope you don't mond me saying that it is a blessin,g, although i know that it doesn't I often feel like that!
In Liverpool, I do sonme voluntary work as an officer of a major Learning Disability charity known as Mencap. This brings me into contact with many many people with a variety of conditions. BUT what i always say to people is that our society has to stop talking of Autism and realted conditions as a learning miapirment or disability and START to talk about society as having a teaching impairment. It is down to society to observe more closely and understand the different ways that individuals live and learn (not just those with so-called recognised conditions) and become more fluent in communicating.
Think, perhaps, of someone like Andrew, as i do with Mark, as someone on, say, a student exchange programme from a country we have never visited with a language we do not understand and a culture that is alien. Would we treat them as disabled? Not at all. We would go out of our way to learn about them. Would we try to make them become like us? NO. We wouild value who and what they are and learn from them.
But the reality is that we, as a society, go out of our way to invent more and more ways to (a) make autistic people make eye contact (even though it can be fearful for them), (b) get e regular job (even though their skills are probably best used to teach us in philosophy or (c) herd them around in minibuses or set up residential homes for them and perpetuate theirs and everyone's belief that they are abnormal.
You can see that I am on a crusade. I think that one or two of you will be, too.
And if i ever see someone talk to a so-called disabled person as if they are a 2 year old, or stereotype them as needing to read and write in BIG LETTERS and PICTURES, I politely help them never to do this again. They would not DARE do it to Stephen Hawking.
Autistic people, in my view, are a special kind of human who is wired in a different way - perhaps through some divine design, their DNA, or an accident of birth. And this special 'gift' appears to enable them to touch their other self in a way that other cannot.
I think we would agree that, no matter what your ability, everybody on this planet needs to be educated and developed in one way or another, appropriate to who they are and where they are. Those with Autism, for example, usually find it hard to share our society and so we must do things to make that easier. But our real job must surely be to embrace this gift and learn from them, and avoid thinking of finding a 'cure'.
Food for though
Cheers
Ed
(PS My son also has seizures and psychosis - all of which I am convinced, are connected. I may still have a bit more to do to persuade the medical folks over here to think this way;-))
Don't you hate finding tpyos after you've potsed?
Ed: Your remarks are wonderfully aware, and your crusade the noblest. I also share the opinion that this syndrome need not be viewed as a state of child-like debility and impairment, but can also be seen as an aristocratic and philosophical variation of nature, which has much to add to discourse, and can inform as well as be informed. I think people like you and Peake and the others here have much to add in the way of aid to social and cultural evolution. I am in strong agreement as regards the forcing of eye contact - which Andrew finds terrifying and invasive - and the residential homes and minibuses which make a ludicrous circus of what should be left alone. Yes, my son has also had brief "psychotic" breaks with some schizophrenic features under extreme stress - which was usually CAUSED by the people in the so-called "helping" professions. Thank you so much for your sensitivity and reasonable attitude to our sons, and for your shrewdness regarding the general social failure. I think Anthony would do well to also seriously consider the way in which he might be called to enlist the aid of his dyad/binary mind theories for this purpose. Thank you again, Ed.
Ed,
A fantastic comment about society having a teaching impairment rather than those with neuro-atypicality having learning impairment, it goes straight to the heart of my frustrations about labelling and ignorance from the so called 'normal thinkers' and experts!
And the foreign exchange analogy - brilliant , I will be using that as part of my clinical practice from now on.
I wonder, sometimes, when hearing from people like you and Susan Marie, if your children were destined to be yours because of the people you are and the awareness raising and unique perspective you have of the world. Getting into metaphysics here rather - hey ho!
Susan Marie,
I dare not comment on my thoughts regarding the clinical psychologist who suggested your maternal influence was too 'invasive' - I'll get banished from this noble blog for profanity!
And for friends like you it is always JoJo
Ed - Yes , it is annoying to find 'tpyos' after you've posted - LOL
But it deos not mtater as lnog as the frist and lsat lteter are rgiht
you wlil udnertsand the wrods!
Well, Metaphysics is very important, and all too often dismissed and ignored. I am biased toward metaphysics and essentialist thinking, and am actually a Neo-Platonist in many ways, and not an empiricist, the latter being from whence most of the trouble is arising!
Oh, and "JoJo", thanks for taking my side on the clinical psychologist. I do not tend to like this group; I have encountered the very worst sort of hubris in them, and they ought to be supplanted by philosophers. This last idea has been much advocated by Professor Lou Marinoff of City University of New York. Another noble crusade, I think.
Susan Marie: Andrew is, first and foremost, his Mother's son, so he already has a wonderful base from which to flower.
Thank you as always for your kind words on my comments and I am proud and honoured to have you and Andrew read my words as enthusiastically as you do.
En Avant towards Marinoff I say!
*knowing smile*
Andrew: When you return from your trip young man, I hope you see how much you are welcomed and respected. You will always have a special role with me personally, and for all your emails to me, I say thank you.
Johar: And there was me thinking JoJo was just my name for you!
Tremendous comments, I'm glad you like my "neuro-atypicality". Writing within Mental Health you get to know all the horrendous euphemisms they use so I try and develop some nicer new ones.
And yes, the Mark Haddon book is very good, as it the follow up "A Spot Of Bother"
Thank you, KLLM: Your words are always kind and hit the mark with sureness as no other can hit; you are a "marcs man" for certain. Andrew will be very happy to read your comments, and his gravitation toward you has pleased me as it has been as natural and unimpeded as the best gravitations are; and Peakian, very Peakian, at its core.
Ed: Glad you got my email mate. I thought you'd be interested in Susan Marie's post here.
I agree that the previous posts I linked to in my initial comment are well worth reading through (plus the comments) and I will get across to Liverpool again to see you soon, (at the latest it will be in a couple of weeks when we see Tony anyway)
The Daemonic leaking across the Right-Left Brain, dual consciousness of the Daemon-Eidolon Dyad is extremely prevalent in those with neuro-atypicality, and I personally try to spend as much time in the company of those that Society does indeed mostly shun, for their eyes are open far wider to the greater realities. I wish Mark the best of health as always.
Thank you for your contribution.
Susan Marie: *giggles*
"Marcs-Man" - Fabulous!!
No-one could ever describe me as 'waif-like', but I was unaware that I exerted a gravitational pull!
*smile*
I'm glad that Ed placed such useful comment as I see much similarity in Andrew and Mark.
Ed: I have a twin sister with learning disabilities who lives with me, as well as working in the area of child mental health. I cannot agree more whole-heartedly with your comments. It's refreshing to hear from someone who does not view difference as a burden - although it isn't always easy. I live on the Wirral and would be delighted to help in any way (practical as well as moral support).
OOOH!!! GRRR! I seem to have lost a post for Susan-Marie! How frustrating!
When I feel less annoyed at losing it I will try to remeber what I wrote!
And I was really fired up too!
Please fire yourself up again, Woodsprite!!!
Susan Marie: I was having a rant about the outrageous way you were spoken to by the clinical psychologist. Of course Andrew shares your interests - you are on the same wavelength! Would it have been classed as "invasive" if his interests were football or cars, I wonder?
It reminded me of a workshop I attended about a way of working with aautistic children here in the UK (although I'm pretty sure it was developed in the US) where the focus is on preventing some of the behaviours that make autistic people noticeable. In particular, behaviours they classify as "self-stimulating" such as hand flapping, covering the ears, humming etc. are targetted and stopped. What the followers of this behaviourist approach do not seem to acknowledge is the purpose of the behaviours. Many autistic people are highly sensitive to stimuli, and sounds, bright lights, smells, touches etc can be so overwhelming it is painful. Often these repetitive behaviours are a way of managing this hyper sensitivity. They showed a clip of Rainman when the Dustin Hoffman character becomes hysterical in the airport. This was presented as an example of inappropriate behaviour. All I could see was a man in pain surrounded by other people who were making it all even more frightening. By the end of the presentation I was furious nd gave them a hard time at question time. To me it was an example of a mistaken focus. Surely it would be better to teach greater understanding on the part of the neuro-typical world rather than trying to shape different people into some warped idea of "normality"?
A thousand thanks Woodsprite !!! Truly, your remarks could be crafted into a very fine article/essay on this topic! They are most appreciated, as are those of all who have taken the time to set forth sensitive and astute comments here. Would that the mental health industry attracted such people! And you are on target about the behaviors: Andrew has always been a "hand-flapper", and he spent his childhood being bullied by psychologists who thought behavior modification was the answer, this is why I home-schooled him in the end ( and he FINALLY learned to read as soon as he was alone with me). Yes, I desire him to be like me, that is why I had him, and if I did not approve of my own interests and values, I would not have had a child. Brava to you for taking the time to be sensitive to all of this. You are a very fine woman, and I hope that Tony is inspired to perhaps use his dyad theory in support of changes in this area: He would be a true help, placed as he is, and I intend to write him about it. THANK YOU, Woodsprite.
Susan-Marie: Thank you for your comments - I appreciate them. This is a topic I am passionate about.
By the way, have you come across this book?
"Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence" by Luke Jackson
It's written by an amazing young man - I think he was 13 when he wrote it. He has Asperger's and he also has three other brother's who are also on the Autistic spectrum. His youngest brother also has ADHD. There are two sisters who do not seem to be affrected in the same way. He writes with candour and humour about what it's like to be autistic. Quite rightly, he views it as part of his personality and not as a disability. I saw him at a conference with his mother and they are both truly inspirational.
Another book I have missed, and I will be certain now to look for it. Thank you, and your passion is most welcome, most appreciated, and very admirable!!!
KLLM: I just went to your first essay regarding the Schizophrenic producing machine/misalignment of Bohmian IMAX. I was stunned, as I remembered that this was the first post I had read, when I was avidly researching Peake, and had not yet contacted him or become a blog member. I do recall thinking the essay had been written by some prominent man in the psychiatric sciences, and it brought to my mind Schopenhauer's "World As Will and Ideation". Jung has an essay where he assets that for Schopenhauer, the world appeared like a menacing fairy-tale picture book, which turned its pages all around him. What strange synchronicity you and Tony have! His theories are fleshed out into the empirical/scientific/ domains, with epistemological import of discourse! In the person of a blogger who came knocking. It is a wedding and a union which mesmerizes me; and it occurs in so many areas! A consummation is devoutly to be wished: I would love to involve Andrew's neuro-psychiatrist and some psychology professors in an open forum revolving around the nexus of Aspeberger syndrome and its social treatment and discourse: With Two British Midwives as the honored lords of innovative change. I am more and more gripped by this idea of you and Tony as true innovators: I almost view you as hi-tech sci--Emerson/Thoreau come to life. What fine texts could come from this union, and even to be taught in the Universities here. Poor, sweet, unsuspecting Tony: Upon his return, I will swoop on him yet again (if this is acceptable to you, of course).
Susan Marie: WOW! Thank You!
Yes, I remember the first time I met Tony (we had been in email contact for a while since a radio show he did in which I contributed) but the first time we met was at one of his Library Lectures and I put to him my "Misallignment Of The Bohmian IMAX" theory of Mental Health and his eyes almost popped out!
*giggles*
He still does that in the pub sometimes, either when I let lose a stream of consciousness or he realises it is his round!
*smile*
I would love to establish communications with American Psychology Professors as the UK Professors I see each month are hugely interested in my research and writing, so maybe we can do this off blog, on email and we can collaborate on something for your own blog perhaps as well.
From one Midwife, I thank you dearly.
Well, it is certainly all to my honor. Tony has told me that you are absolutely amazing to speak with; got me quite envious, in fact: but I am thankful for the two of you as you have been inspiring , and in a way which is not usual. And it is nothing but a privilege to even think of the two of you involved with discourse on my own blog site. I have much to think on and coordinate, for certain. Thank you.
Hi...
Lots of absorbing comments in this post!
Just wanted to thank a couple of the folks...
To SM: I constantly meet people who share things that I have experienced. It is a pity that you are so far across the globe - I feel that we could talk for many hours!
To Johar: Your words were very flattering, "I wonder, sometimes, when hearing from people like you and Susan Marie, if your children were destined to be yours because of the people you are and the awareness raising and unique perspective you have of the world."
For me, i think it is the reverse that is true... Mark was given to ME so that I would learn from him and then combine this learning with my other gifts, going on to open new doors and do something creative and helpful to others. There are MANY great things that i would never have done had it not been for Mark.
To Woodsprite: Perhaps we should meet sometime? If you can't find my email, let me know through the blog or maybe ask Karl or Tony?
Cheers
Ed
Ed: I certainly agree, we could engage in some very weighty conversation. If I could make it over there, I would be most happy to, and I would love for you to email me sometime because your perception regarding this entire syndrome and the attendant social discourse is truly remarkable. Thank you so much for your very special input about Mark, and all you have witnessed and learned.
Ed: Yes, I was thinking the same thing! When we see Tony in a couple of weeks it will only be for an hour (as you know), but afterwards we can go back into central Liverpool and if Woodsprite can come along I'm sure we can have a good chat re ITLAD within Mental Health on our usual comfy chairs in the pub........er, ITLAD meeting hall!
*smile*
Woodsprite: Email me and let me know what your availability is like during a normal week.
I just want to say that I came home from being away for 2 days. I just now read through this whole thread.Im very touched thaty all of the bloggers here took the time to comment on my messed up brain wiring! I thank all of you each for placing his and her ideas here,and you are all very well informed I see. I see that I have been understood and viewed sensitively and Im thankfull for it very, very much. Receptivity to difference is there with all of you as you are well read well educated and very liberal thinkers. I read all of them and give special thanks to each writer for being an independent thinker Its very nice to know that there are people who can view things with an eye on change like Senator Obama and flow out from expereince. and so much experience,and lots of information and books , more then I expected! Thank you very much and youve made me feel welcome and Im touched deeply by respect which I give back.
Andrew: Welcome back my friend.
That has to be the best welcome I was ever given thank you
*smile*
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