Here is some interesting new autism research. The website Spectrum News (spectrumnews.org) reports on the findings of neuroscientist Baoji Xu at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida re microglia, a protein in the brain that they say 'prunes' excess synapses in the brain. They engineered mice to overproduce a protein called EIF4E that is essential … Continue reading Autism | Mice and Microglia
Autism | Weak Central Coherence | Who can’t see the forest?
In her 2008 book, Autism – A Very Short Introduction, psychologist Uta Frith discussed the "weak central coherence" theory. This is related to the tendency of autistic people to focus on detail. Walking through a forest an autistic person will see the trees and things on the forest floor – ferns, horsetails, fungi, insects, tiny … Continue reading Autism | Weak Central Coherence | Who can’t see the forest?
The Big Five Personality Traits | Where did the introverts go? What about autism?
Recently I re-examined the 'Big Five' personality traits. This was in a 2007 online article by psychologist Nathalie Nahai (A Large-Scale Personality Research Method, also published in the 2017 anthology, Know This, edited by John Brockman, published by Harper Perennial and the Edge Foundation). They aren't new. The idea began in United States Air Force in … Continue reading The Big Five Personality Traits | Where did the introverts go? What about autism?
Loners | Introverts, or ‘auties’ on the spectrum?
Some years ago I discovered that there was no website devoted to solitary people. So I created one and called it Loner's Highway – my previous blog that concentrated on the nature and life-experience of loners. But most loners are shy, and I began to regret leaving other shy people out, so I returned to … Continue reading Loners | Introverts, or ‘auties’ on the spectrum?
Alternative World |New perspectives on autism, shyness, literature and history, psychology and science, life, the universe and everything
Yes, this is the new title of this site. Though I'm still fond of 'Shy Highway', the title I've used since 2007, my interests obviously are too far-ranging. Since I was a boy entering school, my view of the world around me has been different from that of anyone I've met. That wasn't always positive. … Continue reading Alternative World |New perspectives on autism, shyness, literature and history, psychology and science, life, the universe and everything
Autism and Love-Shyness | A message to the Incels
Yes, this is a message to the Incels from my younger self. When I published the recent post, Toronto Van Rampage III | Alek Minassian and the Incels, I didn't explain that when I was 17 yrs old I was well on my way to being one of them. Based on psychologist Brian Gilmartin's research … Continue reading Autism and Love-Shyness | A message to the Incels
Autism’s lost loners | James Michener
Because the deceased author James Michener will be a major character in my next novel, now wandering the world alone as a ghost, I've been thinking a lot about him. I realized today that he is another candidate for these lists of people who might belong on the spectrum. For he was a loner among … Continue reading Autism’s lost loners | James Michener
Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Somewhere I’ve said that I think most loners are on the ASD spectrum. Enough has been written about famous loners who, in ‘real life’, have or probably have or had Asperger’s syndrome/ASD - Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Vladimir Putin, Abraham Lincoln, etc, etc - in this series, I’m going to look at forgotten ones, … Continue reading Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Autism |Toronto Van Rampage III |Alek Minassian and the Incels
Recently the Toronto police released their post-arrest videotaped interview with Alek Minassian, accused of driving a van down Yonge Street on April 23, 2018, deliberately targeting pedestrians, killing eight women and two men, and injuring 16 more. The Toronto Star published an extensive review of the released tape, and Minassian's case generally, in their Friday, … Continue reading Autism |Toronto Van Rampage III |Alek Minassian and the Incels
