ABSTRACT
No-one really knows what causes autism. It is not a modern phenomenon. There are the old tales of changeling children who are stolen by the fairies and replaced with an identical child who screams and behaves 'badly'. Frith describes the Holy or Blessed Fools of Russia, who she believes may have been autistic. They had no social awareness. Some roamed around naked, having a lack of sensitivity to pain, cold or hunger. Treated with tolerance because of their isolation and physical hardship, they were considered touched by God and their bizarre behaviour given significance in legends as lessons in life. Today the most famous people with autism are Dr Temple Grandin, Professor of animal science, inventor, author and lecturer in autism education; Stephen Wiltshire, artist; and Carly Fleischmann, author and non-verbal autistic, who in 2013 at the age of 18 started her degree at the University of Toronto.
