There Is No Cat

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

A different kind of brain

I find this article in The New York Times (registration required) about a severely autistic teenager who can express himself through writing, if by few other means, fascinating. His mother basically took it upon herself to teach him, using a very labor-intensive method, with amazing results. The young man writes poetry, and is able to explain to doctors what it feels like to be inside his body. This is apparently the first time a severely autistic person has been able to explain what it's like to be autistic. And what the doctors are finding out is spellbinding. Tito, the young man in question, apparently feels disconnected from his body unless it's actually doing something. And he can only concentrate on one sense at a time. And his mother, whose techniques have apparently helped her son so much, is now teaching other severely autistic children as well.

Posted at 9:56 PM

Comments

Note: I’m tired of clearing the spam from my comments, so comments are no longer accepted.

This isn't entirely true. There was a woman years ago who wrote prose about what it was like to be autistic. Her name was Donna Williams and her book was called Nobody, Nowhere. However, the fact that the mother has been able to develop a teaching technique that works, woohoo. Incredible. :)

Posted by tara at 8:39 PM, November 20, 2002 [Link]

All autistic people aren't exactly alike, you know.

Posted by Wrath of the Cat at 3:58 AM, September 20, 2003 [Link]

I didn't claim that they were. All I said was "here's an interesting article that may provide some insight."

Posted by ralph at 4:02 AM, September 21, 2003 [Link]

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What do you mean there is no cat?

"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

- Albert Einstein, explaining radio


There used to be a cat

[ photo of Mischief, a black and white cat ]

Mischief, 1988 - December 20, 2003

[ photo of Sylvester, a black and white cat ]

Sylvester (the Dorito Fiend), who died at Thanksgiving, 2000.


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