Social interaction and communication are essential characteristics of the human experience. As humans, we desire to create and develop relationships with each other. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological developmental condition that impairs this ability to relate. The spectrum refers to the fact that there are multiple conditions characterized by similar features all grouped together under this one disorder. These conditions include “classic” autism, Asperger syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. There are also varying degrees of severity associated with ASD. So, depending on the disorder and degree to which a person suffers from this disorder, there is truly a wide spectrum of possible conditions created by ASD that many people around the world must deal with.

Autism is usually detectable within the first three years of life due to observation of cognitive symptoms common to most forms of the disorder. Biologically, researchers have found that autistic children often have enlarged cerebral and cerebellar volumes. There has also been some connection with ASD and certain chromosome variations. Autism is most commonly diagnosed through cognitive evaluation, though. The three symptoms that are noted most often are trouble with communication, issues involving reciprocal social interaction, and stereotyped behaviors such as obsession over specific interests and repetition of certain words or actions. Many severely autistic children do not develop speech and, if they do, it occurs at a significantly later time than a child without ASD. Eye contact is rarely made, emotions are not expressed, and there is a noticeable difficulty in understanding other’s feelings and thoughts. Any combination of these symptoms challenges a child’s development and many families are left trying to find an effective way to help their children learn and grow.

This is where the Ipad enters. Steve Jobs has invented some amazing technology. But it is even more impressive when this technology is able to help a child express feelings, words and ideas when this would otherwise be impossible. According to the Center for Disease Control, today 1 in 88 U.S. children in diagnosed with ASD. This is a 78 percent increase from data collected a decade ago. These numbers are astounding. The reason for such an increase is still being explored. Possible explanations include better diagnosis techniques or just a general increase in the number of people born with ASD. With such a high occurrence of autism in the United States and no known cure, more families are exploring different ways of assisting their children. With its sleek appearance and massive number of “apps” the Ipad has become one of these ways to help. In October of 2011 60 Minutes aired a segment about the potential use of the Ipad for teaching autistic children and providing them with a “voice.” I recommend viewing the piece below:

iPad and Autism Feature on 60 Minutes

Sources:

The Upside of Autism – The Wall Street Journal

Brain Abnormalities in Autism – American Academy of Neurology

About Autism – NIH

Some Genetics of Autism – American Journal of Human Genetics

In 2007, Albert Hofmann, the creator of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), wrote a letter to Steve Jobs on behalf of his friend Rick Doblin, who was the founder of the nonprofit organization Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).  Hofmann was with hopes, at the age of 101, that Jobs might want to make a donation to support Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser’s proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy.  The main mission of MAPS is to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription drugs that could be made available to treat people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain, drug dependence, anxiety, and depression.  Hofmann, a large supporter of the organization, pushed the idea that his creation has helped others and could provide crucial benefits in future health treatments and so asked Jobs for “help in the transformation of [his] problem child into a wonder child.” Many others who have had the opportunity to experiment with this psychedelic drug brought on an entirely different perspective of what LSD provides: an awakening of the Self and for many innovative thinkers an eye-opening journey in expanding their creativity.

An artistic portrait of a young Steve Jobs (source unknown). Could LSD have played a role in the creation of Apple computers?

In an interview with Jobs for John Markoff’s book, “What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry”, Jobs called his LSD experiences as “one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life.”  As a dropout from Reed College in Portland, Jobs did in fact pursue a counterculture lifestyle experimenting with drugs before and after co-founding Apple.  Jobs who recently passed away early October will always be remembered as someone who changed the high-tech world and someone to have always “maintained close emotional ties to the era in which he grew up”, which were the late 60′s-early 70′s.  Could LSD have played a role in the creative thought that lead to the creation of Apple computers? Does the use of LSD even make one more creative?

As I have learned from my Drugs and Behavior course, LSD has been noted to cause hallucinations, synesthesia, altered temporal perception and certain side-effects that include paranoid psychoses, depression, “flashbacks”, or intoxication-induced anxiety (otherwise known as a “bad-trip”).  The action of LSD is on the 5-HT-2A receptor where it works as a partial agonist just like many other hallucinogens. It is also extremely potent requiring as little as 20 micrograms to elicit an effect.  LSD is ingested orally, typically as a liquid drop, on absorbant blotter paper or a sugar cube, and the effects generally are normally reported beginning around 30 minutes later. Tolerance has been found to be profound and there have been no reported cases of LSD negatively affecting the brain after use.

Through the course of an LSD experiment, an artist compiled nine drawings.

In previous studies, LSD has been administered to subjects, particularly artists who were told to create a piece of artwork during the course of the experiment. Their artworks were then compared before, during, and after the intake of a tablet. Many studies have used similar methods. One art historian has observed these acid-influenced pieces to be “more abstract, symbolic, brighter, more emotional and aesthetically adventuresome, and non-representational, and they tended to use all available space on the canvas.”  Markoff describes in his book that people in the 1960′s “tried LSD neither for kicks nor therapy, but to gain glimpses of new and rich worlds of consciousness.” Perhaps it was these “new and rich worlds” which later inspired many of today’s massive success stories like Steve Jobs. LSD also seemed to be an inspirational favorite of Chemists: Sir Francis Crick claimed in an interviewer that he first imagined the structure of DNA under the influence of LSD, and Kary Mullis believed LSD helped him to develop the polymerase chain reaction, which later won him the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Steve Jobs recently passed away, but left behind a legacy.

Think

Did Dropping Acid Make Steve Jobs More Creative? – Slate.com

Nine Drawings – Cowboy Books

“What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry” By: John Markoff

Dr. LSD to Steve Jobs: How was your trip? – CNN Money

Read the Never-Before-Published Letter From LSD-Inventor Albert Hofmann to Apple CEO Steve Jobs – Huffington Post

The Pharmacology of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: A Review – MAPS.org