Stephen Wiltshire’s Identity
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