It is now known that autism is a pre-birth neurological dysfunction. A cacophony
of cant has surrounded the disease for many years, not least of which was the
prevalent myth that these children developed withdrawal symptoms as a result of
an unfeeling mother, commonly referred to as 'the refrigerator mother'.
Emotional trauma was yet another diagnosis, together with the view that these
children had been brought into a hostile, alien universe. Nothing could be
further from the truth. It is an established medical fact that primary autism
is congenital and not acquired.
Stephen, like many other autistic children, was mute as a child. From the age of
five years old, he communicated to the world by drawing on scraps of paper.
Children normally draw, not an aerial view, not the rear or the side elevation,
but a simple front view. This is because children draw those normal symbolic
forms which are essentially conceptual. Stephen was different. His inability to
draw those normal symbolic forms might suggest that he draws not what he knows
but what he sees, although it must be stated that Stephen's early drawings
which illustrate two-dimensional representation in three-dimensional space, are
symbolic in themselves. His drawings of buildings or cars are not photographic
images despite his attempt, with automobiles, to represent graphically what is
seen. The psychology of perception is such that the attempt for any artist to
reproduce 'what he sees' is at best, an equivalence.
I should also like to suggest, albeit tentatively, that autistic artistic
savants 'see' everything without necessarily focusing upon anything in
particular The vision of lesser mortals is unconsciously highly selective.
Stephen's powers of observation bear an uncanny resemblance to that of Dickens.
Peter Ackroyd, in his biography of Dickens, sates: '...and there are many pages
in his journalism or fiction where he unveils incidents and passages from his
childhood with a clarity that seems extraordinary. It is a point to which he
draws attention, all the time emphasising the natures and powers of his
observations. 'I was a child of observation, ' he says: 'I look at nothing that
I know of, but saw everything...' he says again, and he makes the same point in
part of the autobiographical fragment he once wrote of his childhood, 'Their
different peculiarities of dress, of gait, of face, of manner were written
indelibly upon my memory.'
In Memoriam: Margaret Hewson 1947 - 2002
Margaret Hewson was introduced to Stephen Wiltshire at Queensmill School just before one of the most famous Q.E.D film was aired
on BBC in late 1987. The film was called 'The Foolish Wise Ones' and it featured the extraordinary gifts of three autistic savants, one musical
, one mathematical and one artistic. Stephen, the youngest of the trio, was shown drawing of London's iconic St Pancras station hotel from memory and the television audience was captivated.
Over five houndred letters and seven publishing offers were forwarded to her office; it was the beginning of an extraordinary relationship which continued
until her death in 2002.
She frequently described it as a journey without maps and admitted that at its outset that the little she knew about autism was gleaned
from one novel written by her mother-in-law published in 1955. But she was blessed with such a profound creative spirit that she merely regarded
her own ignorance as a starting point from which the two of them could find solutions. From then on she set herself to examine many of the received opinions about autism in order
to demonstrate how Stephen's achievements could disprove so many established theoretical parameters. If she was told that Stephen could not ever cross a road on his own, change buses,
integrate with his fellow man or even distinguish between Venetian gothic or Renaissance buildings she refused to believe it and time and time again she was proved right.
She travelled with him to Europe, across America and to Japan and together they created four published books, one of which topped the Sunday Times bestseller listings.
She discovered he was pitch perfect and encouraged him to have weekly music lessons which continue to this day. She persuaded the Architectural Association to enrol him on their foundation course and
she chose City & Guilds Art School to continue his tertiary education. Although Stephen graduated in 1998 he continues to spend time in their print room making prints and etchings for sale in the Stephen Wiltshire Gallery.
She was fascinated by the reserach into savanitsm by Professor Lind Pring's department at Goldsmith College, the University of London and enjoyed observing their work with the graduate students at her home on Sunday mornings...
the way Stephen finished upside down jigsaw puzzles she found unforgettable. Together they made a dozen television programmes which were shown the world over and Margaret's contribution was always centrally explanatory and conveyed the awe she felt
for Stephen's great gifts. She would be so happy to know how those gifts continued to flourish with Annette's and Zoltan's constant care and encouragement. The journey continues apace, but now there is a map and one which Margaret Hewson did so
much to draw.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: MARGARET HEWSON
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