Link Between Autism and Creativity

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Yesterday I was watching an interesting interview with renowned photographer, Jay Maisel. Among other topics, he was talking about how photographers don't look at visual details like other people. While most people might look at an old building for example, and note that it's interesting or pretty and quickly move on, a photographer can spend hours studying and photographing all kinds of details about it. This is why, Maisel says, you never want to go on vacation with a photographer.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the truth of that statement - I'm always holding up progress when I'm carrying a camera. And I'd imagine the same could be said of other kinds of visual artists who find fascination in the details. A key thing Maisel said (and I'm paraphrasing here), is that that creatives aren't good at filtering out what other people consider to be inconsequential details. That struck me because it's also a key trait for those of us on the spectrum.

I'm not sure what that all means, but it made me wonder if there is some kind of a link between the visual arts and ASD.

I have Aspergers and I'm into painting and drawing. I fully believe my Aspergers is the reason for my abilities and creativity. Heck I believe it is the reason I am pursuing a bachelors degree in graphic design.

My daughter's visual processing is definitely related to her artistic skills. I think she and I are an interesting juxtaposition. I can draw--really well--but I cannot draw anything from memory or without looking at something. She can draw, and does draw, everything without looking at a sample.

She, in fact, draws many things that she could have never seen before, because they don't exist. She is into drawing chibis and has created 1000's of distinct characters. I asked her how she did it and she said she just copied the imagine she sees in her head. When I told her that I cannot see images in my head, she was amazed. She cannot imagine what it means to not be able to see things--down to the most discrete detail--in her head. But I can't. If I try to pull an image of "dog" into my head, I see random pieces...a muzzle, a tail, vague images related to running around, sleeping...but they are all fleeting and I cannot catch the detail.

She definitely takes visual information in differently than most people do, and she understood things like perspective way before a kid normally would. When she was 4, she was sitting at a floor sized piece of paper across from her therapist and her therapists boyfriend. Her therapist asked her to draw Sponge Bob. She drew it...oriented to the people across from her! She can also start at one "corner of her drawing" and draw, in detail, from that corner to the opposite corner, without first sketching in the main elements of the drawing. She is quite amazing.

I come from a family of artists. Some are on the spectrum, others are "spectrummy" and some are NT, but even in my mom, someone I identify as strictly NT, I think her visual processing is different than other people's. I feel like I am a "fake" among the real thing because I can't do it without looking at something.

I think people with autism can definitely be very talented artistically. I've heard of several autistic people with savant artistic skills. Unfortunately, I did not inherit that trait. I'm terrible at painting and drawing.