Books worth reading #21: 'Drawing Autism' by Jill Mullen

I've long been a fan of what some people call 'Art Brut' and others call 'Outsider Art'. It's artwork made by people outside of the art schools and galleries system. It's made by ordinary people - and sometimes extraordinary people who are living with forms of disability and/or neurodiversity. And, in almost every instance, they make art for themselves, with no thought of sales or pleasing anyone. In that respect I see it as the purest form of self-expression. Consequently I subscribe to Raw Vision magazine which is annoyingly difficult to obtain in the UK but is a quarterly showcase of all that's best in this often overlooked genre.

And I do pick up the occasional book that celebrates these wonderful creators. This is my latest acquisition - Drawing Autism by Jill Mullen. It's just wonderful from cover to cover.

I once read a fascinating article in which the author - whose name I annoyingly have forgotten - proposed the idea that what we call 'autism' is actually a normal function of evolution and natural selection. The argument went something like this: 

Evolution is a long, slow process of tiny incremental changes that happen in order for an organism to (a) best function in a particular environment and (b) procure a mate. The mechanisms that drive this are Natural Selection and Sexual Selection. It's these that will eventually lead to a cave-dwelling animal losing its eyes and the pigment in its skin ... but will also lead to magnificent nonsense like the peacock's tail. 

However, every so often, a random mutation enters the gene pool. Sometimes it's harmful. But sometimes it's advantageous. You all know people, no doubt, who are taller than you or shorter than you. Their height is dictated by genes inherited from parents, grandparents etc. But sometimes an exceptionally tall child can be born to parents of average height. This kind of thing happens all the time. Now imagine you're a short-necked ancestor of the modern giraffe called Discokeryx xiezhi living in China around 17 million years ago. And let's say that you were born with a neck a little bit longer than the other Descokeryx in your herd. That might mean that you get to harvest leaves that are out of reach of your fellows. It might also mean that you see a predator coming just a tiny bit sooner and can make a break for safety. Consequently, you get to survive and pass on your genes when some of your shorter-necked mates didn't. Meanwhile, scientists now believe that a longer neck may have been advantageous in head-butting fights between rival males - Discokeryx actually had a large iron-shaped bone on top of its skull. So, again, you have the advantage and your long-necked genes are passed on. You only have to multiply that scenario by a few hundred instances over 17 million years to arrive at the modern giraffe.

A reconstruction of Discokeryx’s skull and vertebrae. Credit: Wang et al., Science

So what if what we call 'autism' (and other forms of neurodiversity) is Nature throwing a potentially advantageous mutation into the genetic mix? Many people on the spectrum exhibit extraordinary - occasionally seemingly superhuman - skills such as prodigious memories, or an ability to learn new languages in days. In less sensitive times it was common to hear people say that 'Genius is close to madness' and many of our greatest scientists and innovators lived with forms of mental 'illness' ranging from depression to psycopathy. But that allowed them to explore ideas without restraint. As Arthur Schopenhauer once said, 'Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.' 

As the article I read asked, could it be that this is how humans have so quickly (in geological time) risen above the rest of the biosphere to dominate the planet?'

It's an interesting thought.