Norm Ledgin

[Guest guest]

In the cold English rain, Anas inquired:

> No! I give in. Who???

Norm Ledgin isn't an expert, but he is the author of the book " Diagnosing

Jefferson. " He was able to recognize a number of autistic traits within

Jefferson, and he published not only a list of Jefferson's traits,

but a list of the all the common autistic traits, in the aforementioned

book.

I found his Hotmail address, but I doubt he checks it, as I haven't gotten

back to him. I'm going to attempt paper-mail contact through the publishing

company.

I've archived the List of Traits in my Livejournal:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/staircase_wit/166549.html

As noted in the Comments section, many of the traits on the list don't seem

that autistic, or at least that uncommon. Doesn't everyone pace or fidget

when nervous, if allowed to?

The thing about autism is that unless it's blatant, it's very easy to say

" everyone's like that, " at least from time to time. Especially with

parents, who may have Broader Autistic Phenotype. " I was just like that

when I was a kid " is pretty common, from what I've read ( " Hitchhiking

through Asperger's Syndrome " - Lise Pyle).

The real question, unfortunately, is the DSM criteria. I say

" unfortunately " because while autism is a life-long phenomenon, the criteria

for it are *innate* behaviors that we can *learn to stop.* Like, not making

eye-contact, for instance. I can make it... I'm not sure if I'm doing it

right, but I can make it. The question is one of doing it right. I'm never

sure if I'm doing it right or not. My cousin is very good at compensating

around this with me... whenever we meet we usually walk for up to an hour,

talking to each other but both facing the same direction. It doesn't feel

odd, because that's how people talk as they walk.