Psychologists Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell (my father) coined the term ‘one track thinking’ to describe the typical thinking style of people who are ‘context blind’, such as individuals with autistic traits. Autism is not a condition like epilepsy, where you either have it or you don’t. It’s more of a continuum, and we are all somewhere on that continuum. The spectrum ranges from severe autism at one end – where meaningful social interaction and independent living are practically impossible – to what is considered ‘normal’ social functioning at the other. And there’s everything in between.

Two key features in autism are inability to prioritize in accordance with context, and inability to see things from another person’s point of view. An interesting consequence of this is that people with autistic traits tend not to lie. This is because the act of lying requires a clear understanding that another person has differing perceptions and viewpoints to you. Being truthful might be regarded as a positive aspect of autistic thinking, but there are also downsides. Autistic thinking tends to be ‘one track’ and woefully literal. So the question: ‘Can you open the window?’ may be answered with a simple ‘yes’, while its wider context (Open the window, then!) can be totally missed.

I once worked with a colleague who has the milder level of autism known as Asperger Syndrome (AS). I was giving a lecture to two hundred people about self esteem. My colleague had been asked to find out whether there were enough biscuits for the break. He went off to the kitchens of the hotel where we were giving the workshop to find out. Meanwhile, I was talking about the sensitive subject of child abuse to a hushed audience. My colleague rushed back in and called to me from the back of the conference room, at the top of his voice, “It’s okay! We’ve got biscuits!”

One track thinking leads to simple, unalterable, context blind rules and procedures. It’s normal to look for clarity and certainty in life, and we all do it, but the further along the autistic spectrum you go, the more terrifying ambiguity and uncertainty become. Fixed rules and rituals offer a way of negotiating and easing the chaos of life. Whatever happens, the rules won’t change.

Barry Schwartz points out that much of the social and economic crisis we are now facing is due to an apparent loss of ability to know when to step outside the rules – even when the rules are, on the face of it, good.

Schwartz’s account of the boy who was quite unnecessarily separated from his family for two weeks by the state authorities clearly shows that autistic thinking is not just a problem for individuals.

Autistic red tape

Can it be that whole societies can, to a greater or lesser degree, be autistic? Certainly, the crippling red tape, stifling bureaucracy and inflexible rule-following despite wider context that now seems endemic in the UK looks awfully like a plague of ‘one track thinking’. In individuals, it is recognized that autism and AS do not automatically preclude high levels of intelligence, but intelligence and wisdom can be worlds apart. And this is even more so at the societal level.

Context blindness can make life extremely difficult for the individual who suffers from it. But, at least sometimes, other people around them may come to their aid and provide the missing contextual information. When context blindness is endemic in society, embedded in rules and procedures which everybody has to follow – who is going to come to our aid?

Mark