In The Politics of Autism, I discuss autism history. Some speculate that many famous innovators and scientists were on the spectrum. Elon Musk identifies as autistic. And now, so does Bill Gates. Watch the first two minutes of this WSJ interview:
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/bill-gates-memoir-410d7ff5?mod=itp_wsj,djemITP_h
If I were growing up today, I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum. During my childhood, the fact that some people’s brains process information differently from others wasn’t widely understood. (The term “neurodivergent” wouldn’t be coined until the 1990s.) My parents had no guideposts or textbooks to help them grasp why their son became so obsessed with certain projects, missed social cues and could be rude and inappropriate without seeming to notice his effect on others.
What I do know is that my parents afforded me the precise blend of support and pressure I needed: They gave me room to grow emotionally, and they created opportunities for me to develop my social skills. Instead of allowing me to turn inward, they pushed me out into the world—to the baseball team, the Cub Scouts and other families’ dinner tables. And they gave me constant exposure to adults, immersing me in the language and ideas of their friends and colleagues, which fed my curiosity about the world beyond school.
Even with their influence, my social side would be slow to develop, as would my awareness of the impact I can have on other people. But that has come with age, with experience, with children, and I’m better for it. I wish it had come sooner, even if I wouldn’t trade the brain I was given for anything.
