Aren't we all a bit autistic?

Reading this article about the autistic savant who inspired Rain Man made me think...

"Well, aren't we all a bit autistic? Or is it just me?"

I'm not saying I have the ability to see complex mathematical equations as abstract shapes and colours -- but I can imagine that if I did -- simple tasks like driving or telling left from right might be impossibly hard. Or -- "make me uncomfortable" -- as the autistic savant says.

He in fact is a genius that can not only master numbers but languages as well. The sort of right-brain-speak-to-left complexity that can barely be put in words (by him).

In Japan, I had the experience of sitting quietly in a serene park and for a moment could feel everything about my surroundings. The birds in the trees, the lake -- everything.

Needless to say, it was difficult to re-integrate into the mundane experiences of daily life after that. But it can be done. And I think he could do it, if people would stop telling him he's "autistic" and "that's why" he can't do the normal tasks.

We don't tell babies, "well -- you're not meant to tie your shoes." They have to learn how. And sometimes, we have to learn again.