The brighter side of autism

EarlVanDorn
Thu, 04 Feb 2016 23:14:51 +0000

Below is a link to a newspaper column by an old friend – or at least acquaintance – who I haven’t seen in years (we were never running buddies, but I always enjoyed visiting with him). It’s written by newspaperman Wyatt Emmerich about his son, who has autism, and let’s just say that this is one of those rare cases where autism has bestowed a great gift along with its limitations.

Wyatt, the columnist and father, is a brilliant guy, and there does seem to be some link between high IQ and autism. At any rate, here’s the link to the story. I’m glad for Wyatt and his family, and wish his parents were alive, as this would bring them a great deal of joy.

http://neshobademocrat.com/Content/EDITORIAL/Editorial/Article/EMMERICH-Autism-as-a-blessing/7/302/37803

You will note that the newspaper column mentions Donald Triplett, the first person ever to be diagnosed with autism. The Atlantic wrote a story about this some time back. Triplett is alive and well, and travels on his own quite a bit. He is without question an odd duck, but he is accepted as part of the Forest community. Here’s a link to the Atlantic article: