The autobiographical writings of three Asperger syndrome adults: problems of interpretation and implications for theory

Abstract

'How far can autistic children go in matters of social adaptation?' This question formed the title of a paper by Kanner in 1973. It is a question still asked by parents and professionals, and in a sense it is the question we ask when we look at the writings of the more able autistic or Asperger syndrome individual. Surely the self-expression of writing, and especially of writing about oneself, must put to the greatest test those social, imaginative and communicative skills thought to be crucially impaired in autism? There can be little doubt, then, that those autistic adults who manage to produce autobiographical works are among the most successful cases – in terms both of their degree of social adjustment and of their intellect.