Exploring the Mind: Seven StudiesMain MenuA Story of TempleArumpanayil,Megan; Lawson,Aliah; Woerdeman,Sam: An Anthropologist on MarsThe Truth Behind Tourette'sA Life Without ColorStuck in the '60'sSplash page. "The Last Hippie" is the second chapter in Oliver Sacks' /An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales./Psychic SeizuresArtistic ParadoxGrace Armstrong, Alexia Kim, Cesar ArduinoAbout the Authors
Everything Comes with Time
12017-11-14T19:08:41-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705253267(Alexia)image_header2017-11-14T21:21:52-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705 Although Stephen was unable to speak in full sentences to interact with other individuals when he was a young boy, his condition drastically improved with time, which illustrates how age and experience plays a significant role in developing social skills. This also shows how savants are not stagnant or stuck in social isolation, but rather, their familiarization with society is much more delayed than the typical individual. Sacks observed that Stephen “increasingly… showed a sort of pseudosocial conduct, talking to strangers in an indiscriminate and bizarre way” and that “his language had developed a good deal since the early times” (204). Just from this observation, it can be seen that Stephen was able to develop a relatively more sophisticated form of communication through small conversation, even “excited babble” (204), instead of being completely mute and refusing to communicate at all. As Stephen began to adapt to his surroundings and as his language developed, he started to realize the purpose of speaking how he felt or what he was passionate about, resulting in increased efforts to interact with others. In fact, Michael Tolleson, another autistic artist, is currently 58 years old and works as an artist, author, and public speaker, which supports the observation that skills become more developed with time, until eventually, a high level of sophistication and comfort in communicating is achieved. However, Michael was diagnosed with a very mild Asperger’s, which is a type of autism, at the age of 50 years old, so he was able to develop social skills at a relatively faster pace for an individual with autism. But nonetheless, Michael’s case provides insight on how Stephen may eventually accomplish the same level of active social involvement as a healthy adult, just with more time.
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1media/school-1063556_960_720.jpg2017-11-14T18:49:32-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705The Importance of Early LanguageAlexia Kim10(Alexia)plain2017-11-14T19:18:00-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705
1media/stephen drawing.png2017-11-14T18:45:33-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705Prodigies and Their Relationships with SocietyAlexia Kim5(Alexia)image_header2017-11-14T21:23:14-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705
1media/Flat_Iron_Building_in_New_York_by_Stephen_Wiltshire_MBE.jpgmedia/Flat_Iron_Building_in_New_York_by_Stephen_Wiltshire_MBE.jpg2017-11-13T09:46:43-08:00Grace Armstrong6decb7a3be8824e33ee44a7615c08131d7823d68Prodigies: IntroductionAlexia Kim20An introduction to Prodigies by Oliver Sacksplain2017-11-14T21:55:20-08:00Alexia Kim7f0f6530867d37cb6a2db22b275ee2324ec6d705