It was more than two years ago that Willie first donned his now trademark Nemes, a striped headcloth fashioned after the pharaohs in ancient Egypt. The remnants of a Halloween costume, it is
a reminder of his obsession with Ancient Egypt, though now Willie says he wears it more out of habit than anything else.
Catching a
snowflake
A photo story of
Asperger’s Syndrome
by Leah Nash
Above, left to right, Willie, Dale, Tobi and Jacob Rates
outside their Portland home. Though Tobi and Dale
are not on the autism spectrum, Tobi has a twin sister
whose children are, laying credence to the generally
accepted belief that autism is a genetic disorder. In fact,
there is no one certain cause for autism because autism
is not a medical condition. Instead, it is a definition
given to those that exhibit a specific set of behaviors. It
is those behaviors that define autism, not a specific
medical condition.
Left: Four are better than two. “I remember right before
fifth grade, Willie asked me if he had to walk bipedally
at school or if he could walk quadrupedally,” says mom
Tobi about the time Willie first started walking on all
fours. In late 2010, Willie morphed his interests in
ancient Egypt and dinosaurs to create his own
creature, the Phananosaraptorosaurus (Species:
Marinus Subspecies: Domesticus) which he imitates by
walking on his hands and feet.
See Aspergers, page 8