Monty in Mardin – on the Silk Road with Autism
Mardin is a city in Southeastern Turkey on the overland Silk Road (in red) Today’s post does not have any science. Just after the new year Monty went to southeast Turkey to visit Mardin, an old city that was on the Silk Road linking Asia to Europe and then to see more of Istanbul. Travel can be difficult for people with autism, even fully verbal people with above average IQ. Some people with Asperger’s refuse to fly because they fear the plane is going to crash. Exaggerations and distortions of normal perception are actually examples of psychotic behavior, in the extreme these are the "positive" symptoms of schizophrenia. This loss of touch with reality does feature to varying degrees in some Aspies. Monty started to fly while still a baby and, in spite of a few glitches along the way, has become quite a seasoned traveller for a 16 year old. The latest trip was a little off the beaten track for western tourists, in fact we did not see any other western ...