- Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
- A lack of social or emotional reciprocity.
- In individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others.
- Stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language.
- Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals.
Based on this, I think it seems pretty obvious that Mary had at least some mild form of Autism or Asperger's, as we discussed in class.
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I wonder if Mary's "condition" was more a result of her age. The narrator mainly wrote about older boys in the neighborhood, so maybe there were not girls of her age. Also, she was too young to go out by herself, so she was entertaining herself at home. She seemed to almost act like an only child — one who didn't need others to have fun, while still being more mature in ways. I like to think Mary was just too smart to be understood.
ReplyDeleteOr, I never argued that she was not smart, Autistic people, especially those with Aperger's, are often very smart.
ReplyDeleteI see your point, but it seems like she would have had girls her age in school at least. And also, I think the narrator writing only about older boys was likely a matter of perspective.