In An Anthropologist on Mars, the differences between Stephen Wiltshire and Temple Grandin are numerous, yet we consider them both to have autism spectrum disorder. Looking at these differences shows us not only the wide range of the autism spectrum but the fact that autism can manifest itself in a multitude of different ways.
Temple Grandin, who already worked as a professor and owned her own business when this book was being written, seems to have talents that have helped her greatly when creating and envisioning humane industrial farms but also holds talents that have helped her excel in the world of academia. Stephen’s talents, on the other hand, seem to have only lent themselves to art, earning him the title of a savant. His drawing seems to rely solely on mimicry, and it seems doubtful to Sacks that Stephen will improve at his craft. In the essay "Prodigies,"...
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Sacks writes,
Stephen’s drawings may never develop, may never add up to a major opus, an expression of a deep feeling or theory or view of the world. And he may never develop, or enter full estate, the grandeur and misery, of being human, of man.
But this is not to diminish him, or to call his gifts small. His limitations, paradoxically, can serve as strengths, too. His vision is valuable, it seems to me, precisely because it conveys a wonderfully direct, unconceptualized view of the world. Stephen may be limited, odd, idiosyncratic, autistic; bit it is given him to achieve what few of us do, a significant representation and investigation of the world.
It should be noted that while Stephen’s career seems to be uncertain in the book, he has indeed gone on to be quite successful in the world of art. He now holds an MBE, an honorary FSAI, and an honorary FSSAA.