Autism
Although this is not my field today, many years ago, when studying to be a school teacher – although my scholars insisted, I had never learned how to be a teacher, which I considered a compliment, Autism was never addressed. Today it is very much a subject in the news. Since 1998 there has ben an 800% increase; it is mainly found in boys, and may be partly hereditary.
Isabella Tree, in her influential book “Wilding” - The return of nature to a British farm, has a section near the end looking at the important part played by being close to natural meadows and woodland, apropos mental health.
In an episode of “Gardening World” on the BBC, a guest stressed the importance of having a collection of House Plants, creating a micro-climate which would be conducive to good mental health.
In my own childhood, 1930's and 1940's, our village was surrounded by woods and fields, where we often went to to play, watch railway engines, and help with barges on the canal. Life for most children in the industrialised nations, today, is so very different. Is there some correlation here – for causation and help.
