The Stranger in the Woods_ The - Michael Finkel

edspring could sound like fingernails scraping across a blackboard. To remain stable, Markram believed,
you’d have to regulate your life to the fullest extent possible, developing a rigorous focus on detail and
repetition.
Oliver Sacks wrote that autistic people, as an adaptation to an “uninhibited barrage of sensation,” often
needed to create a world of their own, one that was calm and orderly. Some autistic people fashioned this
world between their ears, but Knight built it amid the trees.
And yet according to Stephen M. Edelson, the executive director of the Autism Research Institute, in San
Diego, Knight’s behavior, however autistic-seeming, did not rise to the level of autism spectrum disorder.
Edelson believed that given the opportunity to meet with Knight, few experienced doctors would deem him
autistic. Knight’s ability to plan and coordinate his life, to survive for so long completely on his own without
therapy or treatment, is extremely uncharacteristic of an autistic person.
Catherine Lord, a professor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medicine, in New York, said that even the
most autistic adult or child she’d ever encountered usually had someone in their lives they would like to be
around. Many autistic people desire contact and hugs but don’t know when it’s appropriate. “For every
autistic trait he has,” said Peter Deri, a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York, “he has traits
that are the antithesis. Autistic people don’t steal. They’re not criminals.” Knight exhibited none of the
repetitive movements or recurrent speech patterns typical of those with ASD.
Another idea proffered by the state psychologist who did examine Knight was schizoid personality
disorder. This is not the same thing as schizophrenia, in which people characteristically lose contact with
reality and often experience hallucinations and delusional thinking. Schizoid personality is similar to autism
in that people with either disorder rarely have close relationships and tend to be logical thinkers. Those with
autism, however, often want friends but find human social interaction too incomprehensible. People with
schizoid personality disorder prefer to be solitary. They lack any general interest to be with others, even
sexually. They know the social rules but have decided not to follow them; they are indifferent to everyone
else. Jill Hooley, the head of the clinical psychology program at Harvard University, felt that Knight’s
behavior was consistent with many of the features of schizoid personality disorder.
There are good arguments why Knight both could and could not be diagnosed with schizoid personality
disorder. The evidence showed that he was apathetic to people, in a schizoid way, but his inability to interact
naturally with others and his hypersensitivity to sensory changes seemed classically autistic. “The temptation
to label Knight is so great,” said Peter Deri. “Was he depressed? Was he schizoid? Bipolar? Are there
Aspergian traits?”
Maybe there’s a brain abnormality—a damaged amygdala, a shortage of oxytocin, an imbalance of
endorphins. Stephen M. Edelson suggested several syndromes before giving up and quipping, “I diagnose
him as a hermit.”
“Nothing makes complete sense,” said Deri. “The complexity of this guy is so puzzling, you could go
anywhere diagnostically. There has to be grandiosity to go through with a plan like that, it is so exceptional.
Knight is like a Rorschach card. He really is an object for everyone to project onto.”
Knight expressed little interest in his diagnosis. “I only learned about Asperger’s here in jail. It’s just a
label slapped on a set of behaviors.” He admitted that therapy might benefit him, but was adamant that any
disorder assigned to him not be used as an excuse for his crimes. He said he was taking no medications.
“I don’t want to be in the position of victim. It’s not my nature. There’s not much, from what I’ve read,
that I can do about my diagnosis. I don’t think I’ll be a spokesman for the Asperger’s telethon. Do they still