reading between the lines

Yesterday’s LA Times Magazine section had a profile of Craig Newmark, founder of the infinitely useful Craigslist(an online swap meet and more; I used it to buy my current computer). The reporter picked up on various personal idiosyncracies: Newmark doesn’t get interpersonal cues; he misses flirtatious gestures, doesn’t know what to say in social situations, has trouble dating. His hairdresser says he’s more comfortable with machines than people. He pays little attention to appearance. His desk faces the wall rather than a window. People don’t always get his jokes.

He seems like a nice guy and certainly he’s done extremely well for himself. I’m leaving out the descriptions of his philanthropy, his interests, and what’s clearly a big heart. My point is a bit more specific. The reporter clearly loved the irony that this man who has brought together so many people has trouble dealing with those same people, at least in the flesh. She also uses the opportunity to comment on the fact that the internet has been a boon for shy people like Newmark.

But here’s the thing: what she describes in this article sounds absolutely classic to me. Newmark sounds like he’s got Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism). God knows I’ve read enough descriptions. He fits the bill. Does he really have it? I can't say for sure. All I have to go on is a single article. She could be distorting some things, leaving out others that contradict the picture she paints. I’d know better if I met the man in person and maybe not even then. There are so many shades of autism, and it’s not clear when you step off the spectrum and into a shadow of it, a nerdy or quirky edge of normal. But it sure looked like AS to me. So the question then is: do I see it because I know the signs better than your average journalist? Or do I simply see everything through that filter now? And even if it’s the latter, does that make me wrong?

I'm so steeped in this stuff and it seemed so obvious to me that I was shocked that the reporter never mentioned it. Then again, maybe she did see what I saw and intended us to catch her subtext. I wonder if he knows. He must. he lives in the Bay Area, where that Wired article on AS was the talk of the town. But why then is it unspoken in this article? Am I reading in or reading what's really there?