Moheb Costandi is a molecular and developmental neurobiologist, author and freelance science writer. He writes the blog Neurophilosophy, and his latest book is Neuroplasticity (2016). He lives in London.
I couldn’t help feeling a little apprehensive before my meeting with Thomas Clements. The British 30-year-old has what used to be called Asperger’s Syndrome, and describes himself as ‘slightly autistic’. Until our meeting in London, I’d had few close encounters with autistic people, so I wondered how to act, and how he might respond to my actions. Would he make eye contact with me? Should I try to shake his hand?
Despite my apprehension, the meeting went well. Clements gets extremely confused in a group of people, and avoids those kinds of situations, but has no problem with one-on-one interactions. We met in the West End, had chicken katsu curry for lunch, and then walked into nearby Chinatown, his favourite part of town.