He said, “Of course. If we couldn’t, we’d be classified as fully autistic. That’s the criterion which defines ‘partial autism’: we can survive in ordinary society. Our deficiencies aren’t overwhelming – and we can usually fake a lot of what’s missing. Sometimes we can even convince ourselves that nothing’s wrong. For a while.”

“For a while? You have jobs, money, independence. What else does it take to function? ”

“Interpersonal relationships.”

“You mean sexual relationships?”

“Not necessarily. But they are the most difficult. And the most … illuminating.”

He touched a key on his notepad; a complex neural map appeared. “Everyone – or almost everyone – instinctively attempts to understand other human beings. To guess what they’re thinking. To anticipate their actions. To … ‘know them.’ People build symbolic models of other people in their brains, both to act as coherent representations, tying together all the information which can actually be observed – speech, gestures, past actions – and to help make informed guesses about the aspects which can’t be known directly – motives, intentions, emotions.” As he spoke, the neural map dissolved, and re-formed as a functional diagram of a “third person” model: an elaborate network of blocks labeled with objective and subjective traits.

“In most people, all of this happens with little or no conscious effort: there’s an innate ability to model other people. It’s refined by use in childhood – and total isolation would cripple its development … in the same way as total darkness would cripple the visual centers. Short of that kind of extreme abuse, though, upbringing isn’t a factor. Autism can only be caused by congenital brain damage, or later physical injuries to the brain. There are genetic risk factors which involve susceptibility to viral infections in utero – but autism itself is not a simple hereditary disease.”

I’d already filmed a white-coated expert saying much the same things – but VA members’ detailed knowledge of their own condition was a crucial part of the story … and Rourke’s explanation was clearer than the neurologist’s.

“The brain structure involved occupies a small region in the left frontal lobe. The specific details describing individual people are scattered throughout the brain – like all memories – but this structure is the one place where those details are automatically integrated and interpreted. If it’s damaged, other people’s actions can still be perceived and remembered – but they lose their special significance. They don’t generate the same kind of ‘obvious’ implications; they don’t make the same kind of immediate sense.” The neural map reappeared – this time with a lesion. Again, it was transformed into a functional diagram – now visibly disrupted, overlaid with dozens of dashed red lines to illustrate lost connections.