I forget which, but a comedian has a bit that goes “sure, autism didn’t exist in the past, and my neighbor just had $1m worth of train sets in his basement because he was “eccentric.”
I know this is just a meme but autistic people were probably less seen as eccentric, cute and quirky; more likely put in mental institutions where they were abused and in some cases killed. :/
Unfortunately, its impossible to know. We can point to severe cases with non-verbal ASD, and those with uncontrolled violent meltdowns, and others combined with other mental disabilities, but given that JFKs sister was lobotomized for being too promiscuous and California had a mass eugenics program until the 50s we won’t know.
But I can tell you my uncles and ancestors who were farmers, engineers, etc (extremely conservative men too) - dont like how ASD is a disorder. “Back in our day we called that an engineer.”
But I can tell you my uncles and ancestors who were farmers, engineers, etc (extremely conservative men too) - dont like how ASD is a disorder. “Back in our day we called that an engineer.”
Yes, that’s a bit like my aunts resist putting ASD and my grandpa into one sentence.
Also they are too somewhat conservative, and the reaction to a single F-word in a good article was textbook autistic. Similarly to how I buy a bottle of some soda, not seeing the “pieces of something” small text (pieces themselves are almost invisible), and then try to drink it and spit it out.
but given that JFKs sister was lobotomized for being too promiscuous and California had a mass eugenics program until the 50s we won’t know.
I’ll dare suggest that RFK himself seems autistic a lot. With the absolute idiocy my father believed about ASD, I think RFK’s ideas might be a result of some childhood trauma connected to that diagnosis.
It’s very important to give context on the diagnosis. Any psychiatric diagnosis is heavily tied to its historical context. Autism as a diagnosis was not the same in the 1970s with the first DSM as it was in 1994 with DSM-IV and we didn’t talk about spectrum until 2013 with DSM-V. “Back in our day we called that an engineer” that’s because some things that are listed as disordered were not a disorder back then.
But yes, I get your point that while some would be put in institutions, others wouldn’t be seen as disordered. I should have given it some thought before my comment.
I think that some of my reluctance with OP is that not all autism in the past was the “quirky engineer” one, there were already people being severely abused for a condition that didn’t even have a name yet.
I think my grandma’s eternal obsession with Elvis Presley, plus some of her other social quirks like coercibility, would be seen as reflective of autism by a professional diagnosis
Yes, In the 1970s I was just a weird kid. Super bright but eccentric. Didn’t get along with peers…or anyone really. Was often the target of bullies.
Also very very sad all the time. But that was major depression diagnosed in my twenties. I was around fifty when I got an ASD diagnosis from my therapist.
I am pretty sure I was the thesis for her PHD.
