Thread: Autism and Georges Seurat's Dot Painting

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

There is another aspect to the Georges Seurat's style of imagery within Autism. One of the chats I had was with an Associate Professor about their daughter who had a diagnosis of Autism. The daughter had gone to the refrigerator and could not find something. There was a lot of loud calling out about where the object might be. The Prof.. could not understand it. So, I went back through my mental pool of resources and thought about how I have been in similar situations.

It has been noted by luminaries such as Dr. Temple Grandin within the Autism field that a significant amount Autistic people 'think in pictures'. .........

Originally Posted by Tins

............... I knew the number plates of every regular car in there. Until I got my first iPhone I could remember every phone number I had ever known.

Invariably, if I put something down I will be unable to find it 60 seconds later. For this reason I possess more 10mm spanners than any man should, but I guarantee that if you were to ask me for one I wouldn't be able to lay my hands on even one.

Certain things have strange places in my mind. For example, I once owned a novel called Onionhead. I know exactly where it is on my bookshelf. It doesn't matter that I have not owned the book, the bookshelf or for that matter the house for over thirty years. One day the universe will align and the book will be there...

I have more, but that will do for now.

I actually think in pictures a lot and all the aptitude tests I've done come back as I'm very visual and very logical. I'm also very good at remembering things like phone numbers, a useless skill now with phones that can remember numbers, which was something I didn't realise till in my 20's when I shared an office with a guy who had a pin board with business cards near my desk and he would ask me for different numbers until one day he said "Wow, you are not even looking at the cards". I think there are all sorts of memory types and mine is not photographic, but more like a video tape that is recording and playing in the background, as I can be at work and think, "you know what I didn't turn the light off in the garage when I left this morning" and when I get back home I'll find it on. I can also visualise projects in my head and problem shoot them before I even start on them physically, thinking things like, "if I do that, that piece will hit the other piece so I'll have to make it smaller, but then the screw won't be able to go in from that side, so will have to go the other way round" etc. I can also find my way back to places I've only been once, or look at a map and remember how to get there without looking at the map again, another useless skill now with GPS.

Originally Posted by AlWorms

I was diagnosed with Autism (Aspergers) in my early 40's, only a few years ago, after some "issues" at work.

I struggle to constructively contribute to discussions like you may want, because I tend to be very (VERY) black-and-white and factual, rather than being eloquent and coming across "right"... While I *can* relate to your writings, it's difficult to formulate a reply that really portrays what I think or feel! But I like much of what you write.

(Massive, time consuming, over-sharing response deleted, and trimmed to the just above )

Hello AlWorms,


Thank you for taking the time to post a reply - even an abridged version. A diagnosis of Autism does not mean a homogeneous state. One hundred people with Asperger's are one hundred different individuals. Then again... massive, time consuming, over-sharing response .... to delete or not to delete??? Yes, that bit is very familiar to me. I was diagnosed within a week of my turning 40. I have since had twenty years to work out some of the subtleties of how the condition influences life. I subsequently have those years of practice to sometimes be able draw upon so I can attempt to formulate some interpretations of the spectrum. Just like everyone else - some things I write might relate to your own experiences or some may not.

Kind regards
Lionel