'Who do you think made the first stone spear?" asks Temple
Grandin. "That wasn't the yakkity yaks sitting around the
campfire. It was some Asperger sitting in the back of a cave
figuring out how to chip rocks into spearheads. Without some
autistic traits you wouldn't even have a recording device to
record this conversation on."  As many as one in 110 American
children are affected by autism spectrum disorders, according to
the Centers for Disease Control. Boys are four times more likely
to be diagnosed than girls. But what causes this developmental
disorder, characterized by severe social disconnection and
communication impairment, remains a mystery.  Nevertheless, with
aggressive early intervention and tremendous discipline many
people with autism can lead productive, even remarkable, lives.
And Ms. Grandin—doctor of animal science, ground-breaking cattle
expert, easily the most famous autistic woman in the world—is
one of them.  Earlier this month, HBO released a film about her
to critical acclaim. Claire D