Autism Soccer: Autism Was Once a Virtue

100.000 years ago or so, people within the spectrum were championed and treated with upmost respect.

It is no secret to anyone that for many decades people living with autism have been victims of rejection and discrimination of many types because of their condition, from being denied jobs, education and services to ridicule by their peers; Today we know that autism is not a disability or a defect, but what was life like for an autistic person in past ages? and we do not even mean the last century, we are talking about more than a millennium ago or even more, at the beginning of human civilization.

Attention to detail, analytical capacity, rational thinking; While the behavior of people within the spectrum is considered unusual for most people, it is undeniable the amount of mental abilities that can develop these individuals, which would make them very useful and productive members of society, to live and develop in a receptive community where they are heard and treated appropriately; the ancient civilizations knew this, and as we will see in this article, they took advantage of the knowledge and way of thinking of those we consider today different and that some have moved to anonymity.

When one reads of ancient civilizations, there are many mysteries that come up along the reading. One eternall question is how societies with (supposedly) no technology, no alphabet, and no known system of calculation managed to develop the mathematical ability to accuratly calculate movements of stars and planets. There are overwhelming proofs that many early civilizations did this with great precision; one we did not surpass until quite recently, as ironic as it may seem.

Did those first people with a virtue for calculus and Mathematics had Autism by any chance?

If we look in retrospective, there’s a good body of evidence to suggest that churches have been home to autistics for thousands of years, and even that they may have had a hidden helping hand in the matter of shaping many of the world’s religions.

For example, Isaac Newton is widely believed to have been autistic, based on accounts of his behavior and his own writings. Nowadays we know Newton for setting down a description of calculus, which helped us to make huge advances. Some even say he invented calculus, but there are many autistics who can manipulate waveforms mentally, and the written calculus may just be a way to share that ability with others. In that sense, he didn't invent anything. Instead, he described his unique t way of thinking, thus expressing himself.

But in his time, Newton focused considerably more on theology and religion than he did on science. In his day he was more known as a theologian than a mathematician. In retrospective, we find most scientists and deep thinkers were supported by churches. Prior to 1800, churches were the world’s centers of logic, reason and scientific thought.

Knowing this, we can find many descriptions of autistic behaviors alongside the achievements of early religious leaders. We even find evidence of accommodation. For that, look no farther than the silent orders of monks, or the reflective orders that spent their days in cool shade, meditating. Today we’d call that sensory-friendly activities.

New York University archaeologist Penny Spikins argues that sustainable autistic traits made their appearance in the human genome some 100,000 years ago.

It is known that we humans are social animals. The lifestyle we know today, with all sorts of technological and artistic advances, is only possible because generation after generation, we’ve worked together, joining our abilities to improve our collective lives. But this hasn’t always been the case (which would be ideal). A study now estimates that this attitude towards amity and union, known as collaborative morality, developed through a slow and sublte evolutionary shift around 100,000 years ago. Collaborative morality opened up a social niche for a minority that was much likely ostracized before, that is people with autism.

Rather than being rejected, the team (constituted by academics from the University of York) concludes after a long study that they assumed an important role in their social groups due to their unique traits. This, in the long run, allowed them to play a major part in human society development and evolution, thus proving that they were embraced as specialists of sorts in their groups for their unique abilities, allowing them to play a central part in human evolution.

As you have read, here at Autism Soccer, we care about our past so we can understand our present better and prepare for the future ahead, please follow us on our social networks and don’t hesitate to leave your comments at the comments section below.