Indeed - the painter whose head injury left him unable to see colour, so he started painting in shades of grey (hundreds, not fifty ;-)); the fellow who only really came to life when listening to the Grateful Dead (do I have that right?); the surgeon/pilot with Tourette's syndrome, and major tics; the autistic abattoir designer whose autism made her the best darn abattoir designer around...all these people came alive for us as multidimensional people, not the sum total of their disability. And it was like a punch in the gut this afternoon to read that New Yorker article by Oliver Sacks in which he shares his own condition. I suppose it must have been well-known in Sacks fandom, but indeed, like you, I suspect that could have given him an extra special empathy towards his patients. Glad you enjoyed the post!