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• 1 2017-11-14T20:10:14-08:00 Stephen Wiltshire’s Identity 13 By Cesar Arduino plain 2017-11-20T08:15:50-08:00 Despite Stephen’s success serving as an example to all ASD patients, many continue to be defined by their disabilities and are often confined to a life of disability, separate from the rest of society. While only about 10% of individuals who have ASD portray unique skills in the arts and sciences, named autistic savants, many, if not most, patients tend to be able to obsessively and repeatedly concentrate in one thing. Such an ability should also be considered a unique skill and such skills should be nurtured to allow for these individuals to integrate their disorder into their identity, demonstrating how ASD does not have to be considered a debilitating mental disorder but rather an opportunity to excel at specific endeavors. These skills bring out the positive aspect of autism. For example, a child may be academically challenged but is extremely skilled in drawing or music. In An Anthropologist to Mars: Prodigies, Oliver Sacks explores the life of Tom, a young blind black boy in the 1840s who was unable to talk and could hardly walk. However, he had an extraordinary ability to play multiple instruments, while singing at the same time, without even practicing any of the pieces he played. While in the 1840s the concept of ASD did not exist, many years later Tom was diagnosed with ASD. Like in the case of Stephen, Tom demonstrated special autistic cognitive abilities.
  
  For Stephen Wiltshire, he incorporated ASD into his identity by taking advantage of the incredible memory and obsessive concentration in drawing that came with the disorder. His talent was first discovered as a 13-year-old boy. At school, he would not concentrate and settle in class. He would often run around from room to room, looking at the drawings on the walls and later scribbling the same drawings almost perfectly on paper. Such a skill served as Stephen’s form of expression. For example, after a tour around London, he would sit and draw the building he saw. In fact, many of his drawings of London monuments and building have become renowned worldwide, and a gallery of his London works is published on his website. Furthermore, drawing serves as a way to communicate for Stephen since autistic people rely on their memory. They draw what is in their memory, and they do not rely on creative, cognitive functions. As it can be observed, all of Stephen Wiltshire’s works are art works of real-life buildings and monuments.
  
  Individuals are capable of creating unique, personal identities due to the memories they have gathered during their lifetime. People diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder tend to have outstanding memory recall and should incorporate their disorder into their identity, extracting the benefits and unique talents that come with such disorder and expressing themselves through them.
  
  By Cesar Arduino