ABSTRACT

Encountering so-called 'classic' children on the autistic continuum is a rarity. They display such a striking demeanour that Kanner described them as being particularly beautiful children. The facial morphological studies by Aldridge and colleagues agreed that the classic autist's facial features are often finely featured, some with pale, translucent skin and luminescent eyes. Children on the autistic end of the spectrum express their relatedness in unexpected and contradictory life forms, such as with humanoid creative expressions. Previously, Ebie's life-drawing endowed a wooden mannequin with human-like animation, while Devin created a pair of engaging dolphin friends and Ike anthropomorphized an auspicious encounter with a crocodile. These are cases when once again; a social encounter became a moment of enchantment. It was Devin who assumed animal personas as self-identifications, which perhaps eased the stress of interpersonal relating given his tenuous self-identity.