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“I think that almost all of us have been influenced by Fairy Tales. And that is particularly true in my case. There weren’t that many children’s books when I grew up and they were read to me again and again. Later on when I could first read I had a wonderfully illustrated book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which I treasured. I think they are the stories that give you a lasting sense of wonder. They let you experience unexpected events and often terrifying ones. And, fortunately, everything comes out right in the end. They are stark tales and written in very basic language. There are wonderful images to nourish your imagination for life, for example Snow White in the glass case. I see this as an image that chimes in with ideas that were current when we were just becoming aware of autism in the middle of the 20th century: the idea of a beautiful but unreachable child. What might be going on inside her mind? How can she be woken up? In the tale there was a simple cause, a poisoned apple, and a simple and totally accidental cure. The apple was only stuck in the throat and came out again. It is a completely false image, but a very striking one. Sadly, the causes of autism remain unknown and there is no cure.” Read more...
Uta Frith, Psychologist
