Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome

263 Pages·2018·2.723 MB·English

by  Dean Falk (author)|Eve Penelope Schofield (author)

Dean Falk and Eve Penelope Schofield
Geeks,
Genes,
and the
Evolution
of
Geeks, Genes, and
the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome
i
Frontispiece. Self-portrait Eve drew when she was eleven years old.
Geeks, Genes,
and the Evolution
of
Asperger
Syndrome
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University of New Mexico Press ■ Albuquerque
© 2018 by Dean Falk and Eve Penelope Schofield
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Falk, Dean, author. | Schofield, Eve Penelope, 1991– author.
Title: Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome / Dean Falk and Eve Penelope
Schofield.
Description: Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017026650 (print) | LCCN 2017047256 (ebook) | ISBN 9780826356932
(E-book) | ISBN 9780826356925 (pbk.: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Schofield, Eve Penelope, 1991—Health. | Asperger’s syndrome—Patients—
Biography. | Asperger’s syndrome—Research.
Classification: LCC RC553.A88 (ebook) | LCC RC553.A88 F35 2018 (print) | DDC 616.85/8832—
dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017026650
Cover photograph courtesy of Sarah Nichols
Cover designed by Lisa Tremaine
Interior designed by Felicia Cedillos
Composed in Minion Pro 10.25/14.25
Dean: In loving memory of Alfred and Jane Falk.
Eve: To all who were at the Kingsweston Centre at
Oasis Academy, Brightstowe, for helping me to grow
into my skin.

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Before Asperger Syndrome: Three Evo-Devo Trends
that Made Us Human 9
EVE: MY OBSESSIONS 28
Chapter 2. Sensory Experiences: A Missing Link for Understanding
Asperger Syndrome 33
EVE: SENSATIONS AND FEARS 43
Chapter 3. Social Naïveté and Advanced Cognition: An Aspie
Enigma 49
EVE: HOW MY MIND WORKS 69
Chapter 4. Sex and Gender in Asperger Syndrome 85
EVE: AUTISTIC BOYS AND GIRLS 102
Chapter 5. Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger
Syndrome 107
EVE: MY FAMILY 124
Chapter 6. Autism Rising: A World Perspective 129
EVE: ABOUT BULLIES 143
vii
viii Contents
Chapter 7. Asperger’s Garden: What Does the Future Hold? 147
EVE: HELPING YOUR ASPIE CHILD HAVE A BETTER
FUTURE 155
Notes 159
Glossary 193
References 199
Index 235
PREFACE
If you met my twenty-six-year-old granddaughter and coauthor of this book,
Eve, you would probably be struck by her large vocabulary and odd man-
nerisms. Perhaps you wouldn’t be able to put your finger on it, but if you
were familiar with Asperger syndrome (AS) it would not take long for you to
wonder if Eve has it, which she does. Like other people with AS, Eve had to
be taught how to make eye contact and engage in small talk. As a young adult,
she still has difficulty grasping the nuances of other people’s tone of voice (and
modulating her own) and understanding the thoughts and desires of others
(an ability that psychologists call “theory of mind”). Despite these challenges,
Eve read precociously as a child, and I am proud to say she recently earned a
bachelor of art’s degree in creative writing and publishing from Bath Spa Uni-
versity in England. As you will see, Eve has avid interests in Japan, anime, and
fantasy-based fiction, interests she will cheerfully share, more or less nonstop,
with anyone who will listen.
I am a paleoanthropologist who has spent the last four decades research-
ing the evolution of the human brain and cognition, and I have a longstand-
ing interest in how and why language, music, art, and science emerged in our
ancestors. I have been privileged to study materials ranging from the fossil-
ized remnants of the brains of our prehistoric relatives to the cerebral cortex
of Albert Einstein. The research, clinical politics, and controversy that con-
tinue to engulf AS have been on my radar since Eve was first diagnosed with
it when she was nine years old.
As is well known, Asperger’s Disorder was folded into Autism Spectrum
Disorder along with certain other developmental disorders in the most recent
revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders pub-
lished by the American Psychiatric Association.1 Consequently, many clini-
cians and researchers no longer recognize Asperger’s in its own right. This
change has polarized the autism community, as discussed in the introduction.
ix