Nine minds Inner lives on the spectrum

Memoirist and essayist Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) sheds fresh light on autism in these vivid profiles of nine people with the condition. Some subjects dismantle neurotypical assumptions, like Japanese researcher Kana, who recounts her own studies and feelings of isolation in college to prove that autistic people do experience loneliness (often stemming from attempts to "conform to neurotypical social behaviors," she finds). Exploring how autism affects self-expression, Tammet notes how Cédric Villani channeled "his passion for order and harmony, for taming an unruly world" into becoming a mathematician and then a politician, and how despite being deemed "noncommunicative" as a child, Billy Megargel was gradually able to make himself understood using speech enhancement devices. Tammet captures the unique modes of autistic thought with sensitivity and lyrical flair. Billy's "inarticulacy," for example, derives not from "any lack of intelligence or curiosity" but from an "inner world that is pictorial, musical," and filled with "the many meanings he is able to find in shape, colour, motion, tone and rhythm. Chess players, those with a facility for the game, access their own inner world--the chequered board and its pieces--somewhat like this." Throughout, Tammet remains clear-eyed about the systemic challenges autistic people face in a neurotypical society. The result is an intimate and illuminating glimpse into the neurodivergent mind. (Apr.)