JAMIE STONE: Caithness pupil showed me how autism should be seen as a positive force
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Jamie’s Journal by Jamie Stone
Quite a few years ago, I visited a primary school in Caithness; for a reason that will shortly become obvious, I’m not going to say which one.
The class were all busy with their art, but over in the corner was a boy all by himself entirely engrossed in a construction kit of a World War II Lancaster Bomber.
Ever an Airfix kid myself, I wandered over to see how he was getting on. To impress him, I pointed at one of the engines and told him that it was a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. He looked up at me.
“Well, in fact, it’s a Merlin 66 with a two-stage and two-speed supercharger – 2050 horsepower.”
I was stunned. Before I could say anything further, his teacher murmured in my ear, “Aspergers”.
I’ve never forgotten that day and because of it, while I do not claim to be an expert, I have always taken an interest in autism.
Here’s a second tale for you! Much more recently, a constituent and her son came to see me. She explained that her son is neurodivergent and had passed his science and mathematics Highers with straight A grades. With these qualifications in mind, he had applied to the Ministry of Defence to be considered for employment in its cyber warfare department.
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“Ah no,” came the reply, “You see, your son is autistic and therefore could not be considered for this type of employment.”
Wait a minute, I thought to myself, Alan Turing, the man who cracked the Enigma Code and saved thousands of lives and thereby played a huge contribution in the Allies winning the Second World War, was autistic. He had the power of concentration that I saw in the boy building his model bomber all those years ago.
And yet, this lady’s son was not considered eligible to be employed by the Ministry of Defence. So what did I do next? I raised the matter in the House of Commons.
Curiously enough, the replying Defence Minister agreed with me that we were wasting a great opportunity by not utilising these people with these very special skills sets, and he agreed to look at the matter.
As I write this column, I am honestly not aware if the system has changed since then, but hopefully, I am wrong.
What I want to say, here and now, is that we can look at autism as being both a disability and a very special ability. When I think about the issue in the Highlands, I am not sure that this point of view has been fully taken on board yet. So let me make a suggestion or two.
At present, life can be challenging for families of neurodivergent people. I have had a number of constituents raise this matter with me.
What we surely need is a package that would enable and empower these families and individuals. We need more respite services, for instance – so that families don’t have to travel great distances to access support. We need a greater network of learning centres, with access to the outdoors, animals, kitchens, and workshops – where young people with additional needs can be trained up and develop their skills.
I think that this approach will enable us to both enrich lives and harness benefits, and would be a great improvement on where we are now.
In conclusion, I won’t ever forget that Lancaster Bomber, with its 2050 horsepower engine.
Encompass Caithness are looking for families who need additional support with neurodivergent conditions to participate in their survey. Take a look here.
• Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
