Nobody’s Savant: The Mythic Fantasy of Autistic Genius

I knew I had to write this the moment I left the cinema. I felt so confronted by Nobody’s Sweetie, a documentary about the legacy of abstract painter Dale Frank (b. 1959), diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in his sixties. I am also an abstract painter, diagnosed with ASD at age sixteen, and now in my thirties. Any connection I have with Frank could appear arbitrary—I have never met him, I have no insight into his identity or experience, and I do not claim to speak for him. Still, I feel I have something at stake in the conversation about his legacy.