Convoluted Connections

Ever wonder how any of us can take a little piece of information and extrapolate that  to create our own unique answers to the mysteries of life? Imagine that process in the mind of a person with autism. Here is a case in point: years ago, Jeff, like so many people with autism was fascinated by maps. So, one day he and I were looking at a map of the world. Jeff asked me why England was sometimes called Britain.  I briefly explained that the Romans had conquered much of Europe, and that at one time there was a saying "all roads lead to Rome." And that was the end of our geography discussion. Jeff's interest in maps continued and apparently so did his thinking of how countries could be connected. Several years later, Jeff would randomly announce his conclusions, which were many and quite convoluted. Since I spoke with him daily, I began to see the thread of his thinking though it has taken many twists and turns over the years.

Here is an example of one of Jeff's unusual conclusions and how he seems to have arrived there: we once had a staff person from Australia, which Jeff knew was part of the British Commonwealth. He also was aware that Tasmania was close by, and so from that bit of knowledge he decided that people from the British Isles were 'Tasmanian Brits' as he would say. From that, he went on to talk about how a true Tasmanian is a combination of Mexican and British, this based on another tidbit of knowledge about the Spanish Armada running aground in England. If you remember your history, you'll know that some of the Spanish sailors sought refuge on the shores of England. Hence the Latin connection in Jeff's mind. Its all a stretch and very convoluted, but it is not impossible to see how he comes to his conclusions. However, if you were meeting Jeff for the very first time, you would be baffled by his  garrulous conversation about nationalities and his very definite statements about what is what. You could certainly not be criticized for thinking his conversation made no sense. But there is a logic to his thinking, but it does take a bit of explaining!