The Other Side of Autism: Tito Mukhopadhyay’s Short Stories
Keywords:
Autism, cognitive abilities, mentalizing impairments, developmental disordersAbstract
Autism is always talked about in terms of weak cognitive abilities, mentalizing impairments, lack of social communication and other developmental disorders. This paper presents the study of the working of a mind with Autism which defies, to an extent, all the preconceived notions about autism. For this purpose, Tito Mukhopadhyay’s short stories, “Impressive People” and “The Calendar” have been taken from his short-story collection The Gold of the Sunbeams and Other Stories. Mukhopadhya has severe Autism but in spite of his low-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, he shows extraordinary talents and these positive changes are the pain-staking results of his own and his mother’s efforts. This paper aims at bringing awareness about the deficits as well as possibilities in children with Autism.
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