Power from Autism

[FireWitch]

Anyone else think that if someone doesn't know that boundaries exist, that they don't have such power, that nearly anything would be possible in this series? I seem to get that from the fact that younger wizards have more power. would that also mean that those people who live more in there own worlds would have more power? ( people with mental disorders and such). I know people like this are often the greatest of artists, writers, etc.

--Rhiow-chan

I read this in the A Wizard's Dillema section and it got me thinking. Maybe some of Darryl's power comes from his Autism, but just his abdals powers....

Thoughts? Comments?

Hillary Wan Kenobi
The first-ever Jedi Ewok
And proud of it...

[TheClone]

Exactly!

Well... I would consider that to be highly unlikely.

Darryl's Ordeal was saying the Oath, accepting the /concept/ of "otherness".

They don't know boundaries exist, granted. But they wouldn't care about getting to whatever's past the boundaries...they would have to "come out" of themselves to even try to get past the boundaries.

And if they did come out, they'd probably see the boundaries, and they'd be right there with the "normal" (hah!) wizards/people. See, it all goes in circles...

Of course, there's the idea that SomeOne could use their [an autistic person's] power/innocence to do things, but that would be belying wizardry:

"Wizardry is choice--all else is mere mechanics."

I can't remember which book, and I probably misquoted horribly, but that was the gist of it.

I'm getting the awful sinking feeling that what I just wrote was a load of nonsense...you decide.

"...Not old enough to love as yet
But old enough to die, indeed
The death-fear bites my throat and heart
Fanged cousin to the Pale One's breed
But past the fear lies life for them
Perhaps for me; and past my dread
Past loss of Mastery and life
The Sea shall yet give up Her dead..." /Song of the Twelve, Deep Wizardry./ (c) Diane Duane

[the dark lady MEGAN *evil cackle* mmuaha]

Maybe when Darryl accepted the Oath when he was (im just guessing i lost my book somwhere and im looking for it so bear with me) maybe when he was 8 he used to much power somehow and as the result he Autism. but studying all his worlds. he is very bright and clever nd such. it bothers me that most ppl ( some i have the misforitant of knowing would think that ppl with Autism or other mental disorders are...just... wats the nicest way put this... candies? *shrugs* i guess they think that ppl like Darryl are candies... *shrugs* Earth is one of thw many planets i frequently venture in.. so i pick up a few knowledge.

but yeah Darryl Rocks the huose, Man!

[Myownmind]

First of all, who says autistics don't see boundries? Limits and boundries are placed on htem every day! we can verry rearly be ourselves.

seccond of all, Yes Autistics have more power than NT's. Why? Because they are better than you. {smirk} they have power because they are constantly being forced in to poinfull situations and they must learn to bear them at an early age.

[Fox]

I have worked with autisic children and their power is observation nearly in all the cases. They observe everything in such detail! And as spells are there most powerful when they are described in full maybe this is why he was picked to be the conduit of power to the one?
Fox

[Nightwingrox]

I've got a mild form of Autism called 'Asperger's Syndrome' and I personally can't imagine living without it. It's part of who I am. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't be me.

While I can see why Darryl may have considered his more severe case fairly crippling, a part of me still can't comprehend his giving up a part of himself. I suppose he had little choice...

And I guess the autism is still a part of him, it's just sort of...in another place.

I guess him 'getting rid' of his autism was supposed to be a way of leaving a part of him behind without really losing anything, but to me, Darryl's losing an important part of himself, even if it was a hassle at times...

[Lazy Leopard]

A while back I read "Speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon, which also takes a fictional look at autism and the dilemma presented by the possibility of a "cure". I found it a rather harder read than AWA, and there's a lot more ambiguity in the costs and benefits. An interesting story, though.

[SaxySullivan]

I have worked with autisic children and their power is observation nearly in all the cases. They observe everything in such detail! And as spells are there most powerful when they are described in full maybe this is why he was picked to be the conduit of power to the one?
Fox

I don't think autistic wizards would be more powerful because they're younger in mind. The more power comes from youth and being young. Though I agree that a spell cast by someone with autism would probably be a more powerful spell because of the detail, not necessarily the power of the wizard him/herself.

[kk]

My mom worked with autistic and deaf children for years at the Michigan School for the Deaf, and she says that it just depends on the degree of autism that the child has, that shows how observant of the world around them they are. She said that she worked with children who always seemed to just be in their own worlds, and not paying attention to anything at all, but reacting as if sometimes enjoying the 'worlds' that they were in. I think that's interesting...

Also, my friend's brother is autistic. It's not severe, he can do a lot of things, but you always know that he's just not entirely there. But he seems really alert, really intelligent. He's amazingly quiet, he'll hardly speak to anyone (and it's shaky when he does). But it's just the way he looks at people, it's amazing. He just has this powerfully innocent look on his face (even though he's in his twenties), and it feels as if he's looking straight into you and examining every part of you. He just stares at you intently for a few minutes, and it almost makes you feel self-conscious about what you're thinking; like he could read your thoughts. I don't know... but he reminds me of what Darryl might be, if he was younger.

[SaxySullivan]

My friend's brother is also autistic, and he is obsessed with the weather channel. He knows more about the weather than anyone I know.

[Zergplex]

I just finished this book for the first time and I think I made a connection. I don't think Darryl was ever meant to be autistic.

Try to follow my logic here. Darryl mentions twice in the book (I can look up the quotes later on for the exact wording) that the Lone Power did this to him, and it seemed implied to me that the Lone One did it to prevent Darryl from becoming a wizard, or at least an effective one. I don't think Darryl would have been affected by the illness naturally, and that it was a way for the Lone Power to try to limit him (which backfired in a lot of ways). After all autism struck him at 8 (just under the age that kids start to be given the choice to become Wizards, which seemed to be 10/11 at the earliest).

I think that might be why it was easier for him to leave that piece of himself behind then others might, that it was something that was added and not natural to him. It was still part of him (just as all the 'gifts' of the Lone One are) but not something that would have occurred without interference.

-Ronny

[smile]

That is really insightful : )

Though it didn't work out for the Lone Power... If Darryl wasn't autistic, It wouldn't be locked up in the world Darryl made. And Darryl gained something from his autism... I do not think anyone wants someone to be autistic, but he was so innocent and... so willing to do anything to stop even one part of The Lone Power. Maybe that was just him, like other wizards, not his autism.

An abdul can be in multiple places at the same time. Maybe when Darryl became autistic, he couldn't focus on the other place. He was still in multiple places, but couldn't function in more than one place.

[Caitlin]

I think there's also something to be said for the changes the mind makes when it doesn't function properly. There's usually some sort of compensating going on to make up for whatever imbalance is present- so many truly gifted people have some form of developmental impairment, it's enough to suggest that the two are related in some form.

It follows then, that one who is exceptionally gifted at wizardry would have something else to equal them out (Darryl's autism). Thoughts?

[dorotheia]

I think there's also something to be said for the changes the mind makes when it doesn't function properly.

So Darryl's mind influences the way he thinks about wizardry and approaches it. It's a gift and a curse, because it defines him and hinders him. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I made it up on the fly. If it's so, I'm not sure if it applies after the events of AWA. But I think what happened then is perhaps limited to how much Darryl allows the autism to influence him.

Another thought... could Darryl's autism keep him from recognizing his abdal state in the first place? Like a self-protection. If you're strange already, you don't question other parts of your strangeness that may come from other places. Or your condition keeps you from recognizing them as strange. "It's normal to be that way; it must be because of the autism..." So he never suspects. Unless someone tells him. I wonder if all human abdals have the same situation? Maybe different disorders? And what do alien races do to cope? DD hasn't disproved it, so maybe it's true. *raises eyebrows* Darryl would never know about that side of his autism, so he'd never think to "protect" himself from it.

But I'm not sure if every powerful wizard would have such an equalizing balance. Except, if they got that powerful, would they even be wizards?