Geniuses with Autism

They help us understand ourselves

“I think, therefore I am”

Thank You

The idea for these slides came from a series of books number books by Professor Michael Fitzgerald. In particular the information for the slides on L.S Lowry is based on a chapter in his book marks "The Genius of Artistic Creativity”.

Goals

• Learn about Interesting People

• Identify with them

• See how they used their Autism to become famous
  
  

Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976)

• Spent almost his entire working life as a rent collector

• Lowry was a highly underrated Artist

• Lowry loved football

• Lowry was a massive fan of Manchester City Football Club

What attracted me to Laurence

• His pictures reflect what I often feel

• The people seem lone individuals, even though there are crowds of them in a lot of the pictures, they do not seem to connect to each other

• The colours used always realistic and do not try to make seems more colourful than they really are

• After his mother fell asleep, Lowry started to paint, often finishing at 3a.m

• Lowry’s paintings often featured industrial Pendlebury and they captured scenes of life in industrial Engalnd

• His landscapes are often populated by stylised “matchstick men” figures

Can Laurence inspire us?

• What sort of person was Laurence like?

• What contribution did Laurence have?

Sociability

Laurence said: Others said

My temperament made me a very silent man A loner
Could not give himself to do so would have unmasked him
He felt their praise was excessive or insincere
He achieves intelligence only to realise he cannot communicate with others or himself

Questions?

• Is there a difference between being alone (having quiet time by yourself) and being lonely?

• Is there anything to suggest that Lowry was unhappy being alone?

• When we are alone how can we make sure we are not lonely?

Using his Interests & Compulsiveness?

• Great capacity for visual observation

• Thought about painting when he was not painting

• Almost enslaved to his special style of payment even though ridiculed - he was convinced it was worthwhile….eventually everybody saw it was and they wanted to give him a knighthood

• His ideas for paintings were original, he said “Never, never get ideas from books or other artists”

• His students said, “He made me”. In fact, all his students had similar characteristics

Comments

• I think Laurence is using his special gifts ability’s wish it was just not necessarily have in a very special way

• I think Laurence is saying it is OK to be a little bit different from the crowd

• I often think about things long after they are finished. Do you?

Question

• If you were going to move away somewhere or you we’re leaving a job or club, would you want to party?

• Would it be fair to sneak off quietly to the people you’re leaving behind - wouldn’t they feel sad?

Cold Fish

“I usually like to be by myself”
”The figures in Lowry’s paintings do not seem connected to each other”

“When he stopped painting at 80 - he was running away from the world which he made a hero of him - because he couldn’t understand why they did make him into a hero”

When he retired he didn’t want a party - he merely said “I won’t be in tomorrow”

Appearance & Mood

• His hands and feet were disproportionately large

• He had difficulty co-ordinating his limbs

• Children mimicked his lolloping gait

• He found it very difficult to get up in the morning

• He had a unique approach to the “battle of life”

Question

• Does it matter if somebody walks funnily?

• It does not make them a worse person does it?

• Seeing things differently - does not mean we are seeing them wrongly - does it?

BUT

• Even though he had loads of difficulties

• In his own unique way

• He contributed to the World