The Creeps

There is disturbing though marvelous story by the Brother's Grimm of a boy who left home to find fear. He was unable to fear, unable to shudder, and had never experienced getting the creeps. In his traveling and his adventures, the boy continues to feel no fear over anything. Horror, fright, terror, and mishap are visited upon him, but to no avail. He cannot seem to ever summon from anywhere within the emotion of fear or the creeps. He does not know or understand the elements that cause fear and therefore is desensitized to the possibility. To shiver or shudder or quake over something is an unknown experience.

But at the end of the story, a bucket of wet minnows were poured all over him. He shuddered, and shivered and finally learned what the creeps were. He was thankful for this emotion and the story concludes rather humorously.

For Joel, autism has prevented him from having a natural acceptance of fear. His inclination is to be afraid of nothing and never experience the emotion of fear or the feeling of the creeps.

While it could be argued that many fears are learned fears either from socialization or from actual events, some fears no doubt are instinctual such as the fear of falling or getting run over or extreme heat or the danger of certain animals or even people. But for Joel, with his natural trust of all things and all people, he tends to rarely consider danger or even react with any kind of apprehension at all.

We have tried to teach Joel a healthy respect for animals, heights, heat, cold, and traffic. Over the years, we have wondered what would make Joel shudder, shake, tremble, or have trepidation. What would give Joel the creeps. So I asked him if I threw worms all over his body, how he would react. He found that to be very amusing (a positive emotion that we are glad he experiences) and said "I would say please remove the worms from my body, thank you." Unlike our protagonist in the Grimm Fairy Tale, Joel would not get the creeps from slithery, slimy creatures all over him.

Of course, it has all been rather funny and enjoyable, but it does point to the constant need for education and responses to stimuli. Joel's quest to find the creeps is not led by himself but rather by us. In the end, who would want the creeps anyway!