The Surprising Advantages of Being Autistic

I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

2015-10-22 - The Surprising Advantages of Being Autistic

The Surprising Advantages of Being Autistic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/

(The AtlanticOlga Khazan) In The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, Oliver Sacks describes meeting a pair of 26-year-old twins, John and Michael, in a state hospital. The two men had been institutionalized since childhood and written off as mentally disabled.

One day when Sacks was with them, a box of matches fell off the table, spilling its contents onto the floor. Almost immediately, the twins cried out, “111!” and then, “37, 37, 37, 111.”

John and Michael couldn’t explain how they counted the matches so quickly or why they broke the figure into thirds spontaneously…

(Read entire article here…)

My Commentary: As an Autistic lyricist, I definitely agree with much of this article. My pattern-recognition abilities directly relate to the elaborate rhyme-schemes I create.