Pattern (dis)order #2

Pattern (dis)order #2 aims to explore a theme of pattern thinking and also a theme of order and disorder in relation to autism. Autism has historically been studied and portrayed as a disorder. The word autism was originally used by Eugene Bleuler (1911) to describe one group of related schizophrenic symptoms. Repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests, and activities have been considered central to autistic disorder since Leo Kanner’s ‘Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact’ (1943) paper. Hans Asperger’s ‘Autistic Psychopathy’ (1944) can be translated to mean autistic personality disorder. Many autistics themselves, are expressing their own unique perspectives on autism. This activity has led to a wider neurodiversity movement which challenges the autism as disorder narrative, with an autism as difference narrative. Temple Grandin describes autism as a behavioural profile that has strengths and weaknesses. According to Grandin, pattern thinking is one of three cognitive styles of specialised thinking often found in autistics, alongside visual and verbal logic. Although each person falls predominantly into one category, one can have a mixture of two or three. Pattern thinking is a more abstract form of visual thinking; thoughts are in patterns instead of photo-realistic pictures.

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