A main theme in the chapter Prodigies is Sacks and his colleagues making an effort to understand how Stephen thinks. There is a general lack of understanding within society to the processes of autism, which can lead to frustration, and a greater stigma attached to the disorder.
After traveling and getting to know Stephen in depth while observing him, Sacks  sensed he may have made a sort of relationship with him, but could not be sure. Sacks states “I had hoped, perhaps sentimentally, for some depth of feeling from [Stephen]” (221). Sacks was looking for a friendship in someone not readily available for emotion or human attachment, and was often disappointed at Stephen’s lack of acquaintanceship. He described the feeling “of how a parents of autistic children must feel when they find themselves faced with a virtuously unresponsive child” (221). Making relationships with and as an autistic person can be a cycle. The autistic person has difficulty making friends, and those who are not affected by autism may give up early in the relationship formation, leading to the affected with very little friends. The effect of the loneliness of autistics is also misunderstood and confused. A study done by Anne Deckers in 2017 survived children on the autism spectrum and a control group of children about relationships. The survey found that children on the spectrum did not show as much desire for social interaction as the control children did, but a greater eagerness to belong among their peers. (Deckers, Anne, 2017). This may suggest what autistic children want is not relationships, but to be treated as equals regardless of their deficits. Sacks' illusion of a relationship with Stephan was just an illusion, caused by the joy Stephen received by being treated equal.

By Grace Armstrong