Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk —what unites these exceptional individuals? It is widely accepted that all were/are geniuses, but there is something else. Neuroscientists believe that all suffered/suffer from Asperger’s syndrome. Applying these characteristics to famous or historical figures may allow a better understanding of the significant positive impact great Asperger’s ancestors have left behind toward an enlightened and improved society and world.
The whole definition of the term “neurological disorder” implies that something is going wrong in the brain. However, there is a growing recognition of the fact that when it comes to the processes in our brain, “going wrong” does not necessarily mean “going bad”. Our brain is too complicated a mechanism to be interpreted in simplistic terms. Some neurological disorders produce a peculiar state of mind often associated with high artistic and scientific achievements.
A distinctive cluster of aptitudes, skills, attitudes, and abilities are part of autistic intelligence. They can see things and events around them from a new point of view. This ability can in favourable cases lead to exceptional achievements which others may never attain. Hans Asperger may have been the first clinician to notice that his patient’s imaginations occasionally anticipated developments in science by decades.
Asperger’s people may possess unique strengths which may help them thrive in their chosen careers later on. Some areas in which children with autism commonly have average or above-average skills are specialist knowledge in a particular area, good visual and spatial memory, methodical and organization, ability to understand abstract concepts, and problem-solving/logical reasoning.
Some people with Asperger’s are visual thinkers and others are math, music, or number thinkers, but all think in specifics. The Asperger’s mind enjoys and focuses on details, while the normal mind is more skilled at assembling whole concepts from details. Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome may do poorly in school, but their interests are likely very narrowed and focused.
Autistic children want to figure out how things work, rather than art, they study biology, chemistry, and physics. Kids formerly ridiculed as nerds and brainiacs have grown up to become the architects of our future. The tribe of industrious hermits invented the modern digital world.
These activities focus their minds and provide a sense of comfort for them. If they are forced to leave their projects, they may become distressed. Likewise, if their projects are failing. Fostering these narrowed interests is important for emotional and mental support.
Rather than being considered a normal child trapped within an “autistic shell,” waiting to be rescued, Asperger’s is “a way of being” that colours every experience, sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence.
FAMOUS ASPERGER’S PEOPLE IN HISTORY
Though autism did not become the mainstream diagnosis it is today until well into the 20th century, it is certainly not anything new. History is full of people who many consider to be or have been somewhere on the autism spectrum. No one would likely dispute that all of the following was or is a genius.
Asperger’s syndrome is a high-functioning developmental disorder that is part of the autism spectrum. Symptoms, such as difficulty with social interaction, repetitive behaviours, and trouble making eye contact, vary widely among affected individuals. Asperger’s may go unrecognized until a child or adult begins to experience difficulties in school, work, or other social settings. But Asperger’s often bestows unique gifts, too. Some of the most inspiring and influential people we know and love have Asperger’s.
Making a retrospective definite diagnosis of Asperger’s for someone who is no longer living is near impossible, but experts – both medical professionals and those who experience autism first-hand – agree that every person listed here probably shows or shows autistic tendencies. While some experts disagree with others, this list is meant to be helpful and inspiring to those who themselves fall somewhere on the spectrum.
Michelangelo 1475-1564. Sculptor, Painter, Architect, Poet
Dr. Muhammad Arshad published in the Royal Society of Medicine’s Journal of Medical Biography a convincing paper arguing that Michelangelo was almost certainly autistic.
The evidence: the artist’s singular interest in his work, a temper that could change at the drop of a hat, strict routines, and very poor communication and social skills. He was aloof and had few if any, friends. He was obsessive about following a repetitive work routine. If the routine was broken, it created a great frustration – interrupting his creative process. He has been described as being preoccupied with his own private reality.
Such characteristics, all of which were determined through dozens of contemporary notes and letters, are consistent with those with high-functioning Asperger’s with savant abilities.
Sir Isaac Newton 1643-1727. Mathematician, Astronomer, & Physicist
Thanks to researchers at Cambridge University, we have a pretty good idea that Isaac Newton had Asperger’s Syndrome. Newton isolated himself as much as possible, rarely spoke, and was notoriously awkward when it came to typical daily conversation. He had very few friends and was socially inept. He became so fixated and focused on his work that he went for days at a time without eating or sleeping. He relied very strongly on routines. If he was scheduled to give a lecture, that lecture was going to happen whether there was an audience or not.
Benjamin Banneker 1731-1806. African American almanac author, surveyor, naturalist, astronomer, inventor, and farmer
He lived as a free man in 18th-century America. Plenty of contemporary documents refer to Banneker’s “unparalleled brilliance” and “odd methods of behaviour,” lending credence to the common idea that Banneker had high-functioning Aspergers. He was known to fixate on certain objects, such as a friend’s watch until that fixation ultimately led to an experiment or invention of his own.
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826. Early American Politician
This is especially controversial. Despite being the third president of the United States, Jefferson was shy, was well-known to have been an uncomfortable public speaker, and could not communicate verbally or relate well to others. Alexander Hamilton noted that Jefferson seemed to have difficulty making eye contact.
Several contemporary documents reference Jefferson’s sensitivity to loud noises and his many strange routines. He had a fixation with birds, in particular, mockingbirds – a pet mockingbird named Dick was a constant companion who sat on his shoulder.
Despite the evidence, the best one can do when it comes to Jefferson is speculate, as most documents dating from his early life burned down with his childhood home.
Henry Cavendish 1731-1810 Scientist
Henry Cavendish is perhaps one of the most important scientists in history. A natural philosopher, chemist, and physicist, Cavendish is perhaps most famous as the discoverer of hydrogen. He is also thought to have been autistic. Besides his weekly meetings at the prestigious Royal Society Club, Cavendish did all he could to avoid company and social calls. Indeed, he was so reclusive, that he communicated with his servants in writing, ordered his meals via a note left on the table, and even added a private staircase to the back of his house so as to avoid the housekeeper. He also avoided eye contact and was described by a contemporary as the “coldest and most indifferent of mortals.” But he was also brilliant, though it was only after his death that fellow scientists went through his many papers and realized all he had accomplished.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791. Classical Composer
Most scholars agree that musical maestro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was somewhere on the spectrum. Mozart was allegedly extremely sensitive to loud noises, had a notoriously short attention span, and could fly through a cycle of facial expressions within seconds. In one well-documented incident, a bored Mozart began doing cartwheels and vaults over tables while meowing loudly like a cat.
Hans Christian Andersen 1805-1875. Children’s Author
The experts go back and forth over whether Hans Christian Anderson, the beloved writer of such fairy tales as The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling, was autistic or not. Most of those who insist that he appeared somewhere on the spectrum are those who are autistic themselves and therefore can relate to Andersen on a personal level. For example, Andersen’s diary describes to great length his many bouts of unrequited love for those who were, quite frankly, unattainable – a common personal experience, say those on the spectrum who can relate. They also cite the recurring theme of outcast characters in his stories. Most never achieve their sought-after happy endings.
Charles Darwin 1809-1882. Naturalist, Geologist, and Biologist
Trinity College professor Michael Fitzgerald, a leading psychiatrist, researched and published a paper concluding that Charles Darwin had Asperger’s Syndrome. There are records from Darwin’s childhood that state he was a very quiet and isolated child, had a fear of intimacy, and avoided interaction with others as much as he could. Like so many others with Asperger’s, he sought alternative ways of communicating, such as writing letters and notes. At times Darwin would become obsessed and fixated with various gadgets. He was ritualistic and compulsive. He had fixations with certain topics like chemistry but was a very visual thinker — all traits of someone on the autism spectrum.
Emily Dickinson 1830-1886. Poet
In her book Writers on the Spectrum: How Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome Have Influenced Literary Writing, academic Julie Brown includes classical poet Emily Dickinson. Brown is part of a large group who believe Dickinson showed plenty of signs of being autistic: she wrote poems that were extremely unconventional for her time period, she was reclusive, she got along best with children, she wore white clothing almost exclusively, and had a fascination with scented flowers, among other things. While Dickinson’s biographer, Lyndall Gordon, insists that Dickinson’s epilepsy is what made her so reclusive, medical professionals are quick to point out that those with autism have a much higher chance of also having epilepsy.
Lewis Carroll 1832-1898 Child’s author
There are few historical figures as controversial as Lewis Carroll, the author of the children’s classic Alice in Wonderland. While some of his behaviour, such as continuously seeking out the company of young girls, has made some wonder if the university professor was a pedophile, others use the same information to insist that Carroll was autistic. After all, Carroll lived in a different time and place, with far different social customs than what we are used to today. He was also known to be a poor communicator, and therefore likely found interacting with children much easier. His difficulty with communication was exacerbated by a severe stammer. Finally, Carroll showed great mathematical ability and even considered himself to be a minor inventor, both common characteristics of those on the spectrum.
Nikola Tesla 1856-1943 Inventer
The brilliant Serbian inventor’s wireless experiments preceded those of the “father of the radio”, Guglielmo Marconi. A former lab assistant of Thomas Edison’s and who reportedly stole many of his best ideas, Edison became his major rival. Edison championed direct current while Tesla thought alternating current was the best.
Tesla did trailblazing research in an astonishing array of fields, including robotics, home lighting, X-rays, proto-transistors, remote control, and alternating current. He even predicted 21st-century warfare, semiautonomous drones, which he called Telautomata. “When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain,” Tesla told an interviewer in 1926. “We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. We shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles. The instruments to do this will be carried in your vest pocket.
Whatever Tesla was, the word typical didn’t describe him. Eccentric genius ran in his family: his mother was an expert weaver from a long line of inventors who designed her own sewing. Tools. His older brother was a child prodigy who died when Tesla spooked the horse he was riding. He suffered as a boy from what would now be diagnosed as epilepsy. He could be honest to a fault when his two elderly aunts asked him to choose which one was prettier and he replied that one was “not as ugly as the other”. He felt compelled to calculate the precise volume of coffee cups, soup bowls, and morsels of food at the table, and counted the exact number of steps he took when he went out for a walk (like Cavendish and Dirac, he talked 8-10 miles every day in Manhattan in a rigid timetable). As a teenager, Tesla developed rigid habits and aversions, along with a fascination for certain shapes. The mere sight of a pearl made him feel ill, but the glittering of objects with flat surfaces mesmerized him. He suffered from a large number of phobias, was extremely sensitive to light and sound, isolated himself, and was obsessed with the number three.
He embarked on his career as an inventor when he discovered that he could visualize theoretical machines in minute detail and even set them running in his mind, tweaking his design as parts wore out. “I needed no models, drawings, or experiments,” Tesla recalled in his memoir. “I could picture them all as real . . . It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. (Temple Grandin’s account of her own design process is virtually identical: before I attempt any construction, I test-run the equipment in my imagination. I visualize my designs being used in every possible situation, with different sizes and breeds of cattle and in different weather conditions, Doing this enables me to correct mistakes before construction.”)
Tesla died in 1943 – impoverished and emaciated in his room at the Hotel New Yorker with a “do not disturb” sign permanently affixed to his door.
William Butler Yeats 1865-1939 Irish poet
He had extreme difficulty in school, where he was bullied for his lack of interest and awkward social behaviour. Yeats pined for years for Maud Gonne, despite her stated disinterest.
Marie-Curie 1867-1934. A scientist who pioneered research on radioactivity
She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner on her first Nobel Prize, making them the first-ever married couple to win the Nobel Prize and launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.
In 1891, aged 24, she went to study in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. In 1895 she married the French physicist Pierre Curie, and she shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with him and with the physicist Henri Becquerel for their pioneering work developing the theory of “radioactivity”—a term she coined. In 1906 Pierre Curie died in a Paris street accident. Marie won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium, using techniques she invented for isolating radioactive isotopes.
Under her direction, the world’s first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms by the use of radioactive isotopes. In 1920 she founded the Curie Institute in Paris, which remains a major centre of medical research. During World War I, she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals. Marie Curie died in 1934, aged 66, of aplastic anemia from exposure to radiation in the course of her scientific research and in the course of her radiological work at field hospitals during World War I. In addition to her Nobel Prizes, she has received numerous other honours and tributes; in 1995 she became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in Paris’ Panthéon, She is also known as Madame Curie.
Evidence of Aspergers. She graduated from the gymnasium in 1883 with a gold medal and had a collapse, possibly due to depression. At the University of Paris, she focused so hard on her studies that she sometimes forgot to eat. A month after accepting her 1911 Nobel Prize, she was hospitalized with depression and a kidney ailment. For most of 1912, she avoided public life. She was known for her honesty and moderate lifestyle. She gave much of her first Nobel Prize money to friends, family, students, and research associates. In an unusual decision, Curie intentionally refrained from patenting the radium-isolation process so that the scientific community could do research unhindered. She insisted that monetary gifts and awards be given to the scientific institutions she was affiliated with rather than to her. She and her husband often refused awards and medals. Albert Einstein reportedly remarked that she was probably the only person who could not be corrupted by fame.
James Joyce 1882-1941. Author of “Ulysses”
Ask any autism expert about James Joyce, and you’ll likely hear them argue that his writing itself is extreme evidence of Joyce possibly being autistic. After all, his two most famous works, “Ulysses” and “Finnegan’s Wake”, are brilliant, yet intentionally difficult to read and understand. As Joyce told Harper’s Magazine, “The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole life to reading my work.” Some claim that this intentional approach to his work showed Joyce’s desire to distance himself from society, a very autistic thing to do. These same scholars also reference Joyce’s youth, during which he was extremely intelligent, but also suffered from many phobias and had trouble keeping friends.
Albert Einstein 1879 – 1955. Scientist, Mathematician & Physicist
Was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass-energy equivalence, E = mc2. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Perhaps the most famous scientist and mathematician in history,
Albert Einstein had several interesting and possibly telling characteristics. For one, he had trouble socializing, especially as an adult. As a child, he experienced severe speech delays, repeating sentences to himself until he was seven. Later, he had echolalia or the habit of repeating words. He had difficulties with social interactions. Although he loved his children, he could not stand for them to touch him. He displayed fixations on one topic to the exclusion of everything else. And of course, there is the fact that Einstein was incredibly technical. Such characteristics have led many experts to conclude that he appeared somewhere on the autism spectrum.
Einstein had a brain abnormality that some researchers think made his genius possible. According to Sandra Witelson, a researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, the parts of his brain that processed visual and mathematical thought were fused together. He was in the right environment to express his genius, however; today, he might be shunted through the special education system. Not to mention that a young patent clerk today would have great difficulty getting published in a physics journal.
Albert Einstein’s Brain 2023
Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889-1951. Philosopher
The Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein is another inspiring historical figure who very likely had autism. Wittgenstein’s most famous work, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” has been cited again and again as a classical example of the autistic thought process. Contemporary letters and diary entries reference Wittgenstein’s persistent irritation, especially when it came to understanding and dealing with those around him.
Alfred Kinsey 1894-1956 Sexologist & Biologist
Alfred Kinsey was a famed sexologist and biologist who founded the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. As is just about anything in his line of work, Kinsey was extremely controversial. Though the controversy surrounding his work has died down since Kinsey’s death, a new controversy has since arisen: was Kinsey autistic? Many medical professionals seem to think so. A 1999 article in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders stated that Kinsey meets the criteria for Asperger’s Syndrome because of his “qualitative impairment in social interaction,” “failure to develop appropriate peer relationships,” and “lack of social and emotional reciprocity.”
Paul Dirac 1902-1984 Physicist
Paul Dirac has repeatedly been referred to as one of the most significant and influential physicists of the 20th century. The Cambridge professor greatly contributed to early quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. That Nobel, however, was almost refused by Dirac, who was so reclusive that he didn’t want the publicity. Such shyness is one of many reasons why a large number of people think Dirac may have had some form of autism. Besides his shyness, they cite his intense focus, extreme literal-mindedness, lack of empathy, and rigid patterns, among other things.
Barbara McClintock 1902-1992. Scientist and Cytogeneticist
Barbara McClintock was a famed scientist who made great breakthroughs in the study of chromosomes and how they change during the reproduction process. McClintock has long been thought of as autistic in some way. She had an extreme fixation on her work and was able to focus for long periods. She was also very particular about what she would and would not wear. Notably reclusive and one who went to great lengths to avoid any attention or limelight, McClintock nearly didn’t accept the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that she was awarded for her excellent and groundbreaking work.
Alan Turing 1912-1954 – Father of modern computing, mathematician, philosopher, theoretical biologist and logician, code breaker in WW2
Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. In 1938, he obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University. During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic.
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted chemical castration treatment, with DES, as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide. The “Alan Turing law” is now an informal term for a 2017 law in the United Kingdom that retroactively pardoned men cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts. He appears on the current Bank of England £50 note, which was released to coincide with his birthday. A 2019 BBC series, as voted by the audience, named him the greatest person of the 20th century.
Andy Warhol 1928-1987. Artist
Experts like Judith Gould, the director of the leading diagnostic center for autism in the United Kingdom, insist that it makes perfect sense that Andy Warhol was autistic. After all, much of the artist’s work focuses on repetition, on which those with autism usually fixate, have an obsession with consumer goods, and have great difficulty in social interactions. In interviews and when he did converse, Warhol almost always responded to questions with monosyllabic answers, possibly evidence that he had verbal dyslexia which is so common among those on the spectrum. He reportedly refused to wear anything but a certain kind of green underwear. His eccentric behaviour included extreme focus and obsession with detail.
Interestingly, the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has worked with the Cognitive Psychology Department at the University of Victoria, British Colombia, on a project that hopes to improve the communication skills of autistic children. The program uses Warhol’s portraits to teach facial recognition skills to students who have been diagnosed as on the autism spectrum.
Still, not everyone agrees that Warhol was autistic. Those who argue against this posthumous diagnosis suggest that Warhol’s different behaviour was calculated to “enhance a sense of mystery.”
Stanley Kubrick 1928-1999. Film Director
Stanley Kubrick is most famous as the innovative and exceedingly creative director of films like “A Clockwork Orange,” “Dr. Strangelove,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But could he also have had some form of autism? The experts are split on this one. Those who argue that Kubrick was indeed autistic cite the director’s reclusive nature and his habit of hoarding animals. He was a chess mastermind and said to be uncomplimentary and cheap. Still, there are plenty of reports that refute these allegations.
Glenn Gould 1932-82 Canadian classical pianist
Gould was very weird, and, as he grew older, his obsessions worsened. He was an intense hypochondriac, for example, and collected hotel keys. In many ways, a child who never grew up, Gould had an odd, stiff gait. Clumsiness and an odd gait are common in people with Asperger’s, probably as a result of immature development of the cerebellum and vestibular system (a finding of Bauman’s autopsy studies). Despite Gould’s oddities, Osborne writes that he had an “uncanny knack for instantaneously seizing the structure of complex musical pieces in their totality.”
Anthony Hopkins 1937 to present. Welsh actor, film director, and film producer. He has received many accolades, including two Academy Awards for Best Actor, four BAFTAs, two Emmys, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a British Academy Television Award. In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.
Hopkins is renowned for his preparation for roles. He indicated in interviews that once he has committed to a project, he will go over his lines as many times as is needed (sometimes upwards of 200) until the lines sound natural to him so that he can “do it without thinking”. This leads to an almost casual style of delivery that belies the amount of groundwork done beforehand. While it can allow for some careful improvisation, it has also brought him into conflict with the occasional director who departs from the script, or demands what the actor views as an excessive number of takes. Hopkins has stated that after he is finished with a scene, he simply discards the lines, not remembering them later on.
Richard Attenborough praised Hopkins for “this extraordinary ability to make you believe when you hear him that it is the very first time he has ever said that line. It’s an incredible gift.”
In Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), Hopkins astounded the crew with his memorization of a seven-page courtroom speech, delivering it in one go.
In 2016, Hopkins spoke of his ability to frighten people since he was a boy growing up in Port Talbot, Wales. “I don’t know why but I’ve always known what scares people. When I was a kid I’d tell the girls around the street the story about Dracula and I’d go ‘th-th-th’ (the sucking noise which he reproduced in The Silence of the Lambs). As a result, they’d run away screaming.” He recalled going through the script of Silence of the Lambs for the first time with fellow cast members. “I didn’t know what they were going to make of it but I’d prepared it—my first line to Jodie Foster was: ‘Good morning. You’re one of Jack Crawford’s aren’t you?’ Everyone froze. There was a silence. When he portrays deliberately scary people, he plays them quietly, emphasizing their sinister control.”
Hopkins has been married three times. He has a daughter, actress and singer Abigail Hopkins (b. 1968), from his first marriage. The two are estranged; when asked if he had any grandchildren, he said, “I don’t have any idea. People break up. Families split and, you know, ‘Get on with your life.’ People make choices. I don’t care one way or the other.”
Hopkins is a recovering alcoholic; he has stayed sober since he stopped drinking just after Christmas 1975. He said, “I made that quantum leap when I asked for help. I just found something and a woman talked to me and she said, just trust in God. And I said, well, why not?” When asked, “Did you pray?” Hopkins responded: “No, I didn’t. I think because I asked for help, which is a form of prayer.” In January 2020, when asked if he was still agnostic, he responded, “Agnosticism is a bit strange. An agnostic doubts and atheism denies it. I’m not a holy Joe; I’m just an old sinner like everyone else. I do believe more than ever now that there is a vast area of our own lives that we know nothing about. As I get older, I can cry at the drop of a hat because the wonderful, terrible passion of life is so short. I have to believe there’s something bigger than me. I’m just a microbe. That, for me, is the biggest feeling of relief – acknowledging that I am really nothing. I’m compelled to say, whoever’s running the show, thank you very much.”
In January 2017, Hopkins reported that he had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, but that he was “high end”. The actor said it has helped him get into roles as an actor.
Bobby Fischer 1943-2008. Chess Grandmaster
Bobby Fischer, the chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion is said to have had Asperger’s Syndrome in addition to paranoid schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Fischer was known to be extremely intense and did not relate well to others thanks to his lack of friendships and poor social abilities. His extreme focus on chess is another sign, as his track record for not being able to cope in an unstructured environment.
Temple Grandin 1947-present. Animal Scientist
There may be no autistic person alive today more famous than Temple Grandin. The author and Colorado State University professor didn’t begin speaking until she was almost four years old, and the doctors who diagnosed her recommended she be institutionalized. Fortunately, her parents did not agree with those doctors. Grandin has gone on to become a leading force in animal sciences, has been named one of Time’s 100 most influential people, and even produced an award-winning biopic about her life. She remains an outspoken advocate in the autism community, and has been unapologetic about her belief that the “characteristics of autism can be modified and controlled.”
Dan Aykroyd 1952-present. Comedic actor
Popular comedic actor Dan Aykroyd is best known for his stint as a comedian on Saturday Night Live (1975-1979) and movies like The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. A psychiatrist diagnosed him with Asperger’s after he consulted him about tics and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had already been expelled from two different schools by the time. Since then, Aykroyd has been pretty honest and up-front about his experiences with the autism spectrum. “My very mild Asperger’s has helped me creatively. “I sometimes hear a voice and think ‘That could be a character I could do.’” Akroyd has also said his obsession with ghosts and law enforcement helped him with his role in Ghostbusters.
Jerry Seinfeld 1954-present. Comedian
Jerry Seinfeld, one of the most popular comedians of all time, has said in multiple interviews that he believes himself to be on the autism spectrum. Though he has never been officially diagnosed by a medical professional, Seinfeld has defended his self-diagnosis by citing various social challenges that he has experienced since childhood, as well as his tendency to think literally. While Seinfeld may consider himself to have Asperger’s Syndrome, others in the autism community disagree. In fact, Seinfeld’s revelation has been quite controversial, with many feeling that his self-diagnosis has only served to make light of actual issues.
Steve Jobs 1955-2011. Former CEO of Apple
Those who associate Steve Jobs with autism admit that it’s pure speculation, but they are also quick to point out that that speculation has grown more and more mainstream since the Apple genius died in 2011. Those who believe Jobs landed somewhere on the spectrum cite such behavioural quirks as his obsession with perfection, his unorthodox ways of thinking, and his general lack of empathy when dealing with others.
Bill Gates 1955-present. Co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation
Could Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world be autistic? Quite a few autism experts seem to think so! While nothing has ever been confirmed regarding whether or not Gates falls on the autism spectrum, those who seem to think he is, cite things like the distinct rocking motion Gates displays when he concentrates, his shortened and monotoned speech patterns, and his habits of avoiding eye contact on the rare occasion he speaks directly with someone else. These are all common characteristics of those on the spectrum, and the evidence that Bill Gates may be autistic is quite persuasive.
Tim Burton 1958-present. Movie Director
Is Hollywood director Tim Burton autistic? His long-time partner, Helena Bonham Carter, seems to think so. At least, she once speculated that he was “possibly autistic” during an interview. While researching an autistic character for a film, Carter claims, she had an “a-ha moment” and realized that much of her research applied to Burton. Said Carter, “Autistic people have application and dedication. You can say something to Tim when he’s working and he doesn’t hear you. But that quality also makes him a fantastic father; he has an amazing sense of humour and imagination. He sees things other people won’t see.”
Daryl Hannah 1960-present. Actress & Environmental Activist
Daryl Hannah — the beautiful star of films like Splash, Blade Runner, and Steel Magnolias — only came out about her experiences on the autism spectrum about five years ago. Since then, Hannah has been nothing but inspirational as she’s told the honest truth about her challenges with Asperger’s Syndrome. As a child, she rocked herself to self-soothe and was so shy that once she began acting, she refused to give interviews. Asperger’s made it difficult to cope with some of the social demands made of Hollywood stars and never went on talk shows and never went to premieres. Though she has mostly learned to control and live with her diagnosis, Hannah has all but left the entertainment industry to focus on environmental issues and other passions. She’s learned to adjust. “These days I have little tricks that I do to help me cope.” As long as I remember to do them, then I am okay.
Susan Boyle 1961-present. Singer
Most people know Susan Boyle as the shy Scottish introvert who sold more than 14 million albums after her 2009 Britain’s Got Talent audition when she sang a perfect rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Broadway show Les Misérables. She toured the world and gained a following by producing music that brings listeners to tears.
Boyle, 47, didn’t realize she had Asperger’s syndrome, though the clues — trouble with eye contact, anxiety, and sudden and emotional withdrawal in uncomfortable situations — were everywhere. It made sense when Boyle’s doctor told her she had the disorder. More people found Boyle inspiring when she announced she had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a diagnosis that Boyle said, “felt like “a relief.” Boyle was anything but thrown by the diagnosis. “Asperger’s doesn’t define me. It’s a condition that I have to live with and work through, but I feel more relaxed about myself. People will have a greater understanding of who I am and why I do the things I do.” Boyle is still learning about the autism spectrum and how it affects her, but as long as she keeps singing, people are sure to continue to be inspired by her.
Courtney Love 1964-present. Singer, songwriter, and actress
A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. Love has drawn public attention for her uninhibited live performances and confrontational lyrics, as well as her highly publicized personal life following her marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In 2020, NME named her “one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years.”
Her mother maintained an unconventional home; according to Love, “There were hairy, wangly-ass hippies running around naked [doing] Gestalt therapy,” and her mother raised her in a gender-free household with “no dresses, no patent leather shoes, no canopy beds, nothing”. In 1972, Love’s mother moved the family to Nelson, New Zealand. Love was enrolled at Nelson College for Girls but was soon expelled for misbehaviour.
At age 14, Love was arrested for shoplifting from a Portland department store and remanded at Hillcrest Correctional Facility, a juvenile hall in Salem, Oregon. She was intermittently placed in foster care throughout late 1979 until becoming legally emancipated in 1980, after which she remained staunchly estranged from her mother. Shortly after her emancipation, Love spent two months in Japan working as a topless dancer but was deported after her passport was confiscated. She returned to Portland and began working at the strip club Mary’s Club, adopting the surname Love to conceal her identity; she later adopted Love as her surname. She worked odd jobs, including as a DJ at a gay disco. Love said she lacked social skills and learned them while frequenting gay clubs and spending time with drag queens.
In July 1982, Love returned to the United States. Love returned to working abroad as an erotic dancer, briefly in Taiwan, and then at a taxi dance hall in Hong Kong. By Love’s account, she first used heroin while working at the Hong Kong dance hall, having mistaken it for cocaine.
After 2004, her life was marked by publicity surrounding Love’s legal troubles and drug relapse, which resulted in a mandatory lockdown rehabilitation sentence in 2005 while she was writing a second solo album. Love has also been active as a writer; she co-created and co-wrote three volumes of a manga, Princess Ai, between 2004 and 2006, and wrote a memoir, Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love (2006).
The singer revealed that she was diagnosed with a mild form of autism at age 9 in her biography Courtney Love: The Real Story.
Satoshi Tajiri 1965-present. Creator of Nintendo’s Pokémon
As a child, Satoshi Tajiri was fascinated by insects and was even nicknamed “Dr. Bug” by other children. As an adult, Tajiri turned that interest into the worldwide phenomenon that is Pokemon — which itself makes him an inspiration to millions of children (and adults!) around the world. But Satoshi Tajiri is also on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. Though he confirmed that he does indeed have Asperger’s Syndrome, Tajiri does not talk about it in public, choosing instead to let his many accomplishments speak for themselves.
Elon Musk 1971 to present. Entrepreneur and business magnate.
Musk may be the best-known person with Asperger’s syndrome. His first big deal was the founder of PayPal. He is the founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer at SpaceX; CEO, and Product Architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; and co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI. A centibillionaire, Musk is the richest person in the world as of September 2021. Around three-quarters of Musk’s wealth derives from Tesla.
His life story reads like a genius fairy tale with many Asperger’s traits. He frequently tweets inappropriate comments and ends up in conflicts in his business dealings unless he is the boss.
Around age 10, Musk developed an interest in computing and learned computer programming using a manual by age 12, An awkward and introverted child, Musk was bullied throughout his childhood and was once hospitalized after a group of boys threw him down a flight of stairs. After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk mostly lived with his father in Pretoria and elsewhere, a choice he made two years after the divorce and subsequently regretted. Musk has become estranged from his father, whom he describes as “a terrible human being. “Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.”
Musk has been the subject of criticism due to unorthodox or unscientific stances and highly publicized controversies. In 2018, he was sued for defamation by a British caver who advised in the Tham Luang cave rescue; a California jury ruled in favour of Musk. In the same year, he was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for falsely tweeting that he had secured funding for a private takeover of Tesla. He settled with the SEC. Musk has spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and has received criticism from experts for his other views on such matters as artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and public transport.
Musk’s managerial style and treatment of his employees have been heavily criticized. One person who worked closely with Musk said he exhibits “a high level of degenerate behaviour” such as paranoia and bullying. Another described him as exhibiting “total and complete pathological sociopathy”. Business Insider reported that Tesla employees were told not to walk past Musk’s desk because of his “wild firing rampages.
In July 2020, Musk tweeted “Pronouns suck” to significant backlash on Twitter, and has been perceived by some as transphobic after an attack on non-binary identities.
Personal life. Musk first married in 2000 and used IVF to first have twins and then triplets. The couple divorced in 2008. In 20010, Musk married English actress Talulah Riley, were divorced in 2012, remarried in 2013, and in 2016 were divorced for the second time. In May 2018, Musk dated Canadian musician Grimes and gave birth to their son in May 2020. He was named X Æ A-12; however, the name would have violated California regulations as it contained characters that are not in the modern English alphabet, and was then changed to X Æ A-Xii. This drew more confusion, as Æ is not a letter in the modern English alphabet. The child was eventually named “X AE A-XII” Musk, with “X” as a first name, “AE A-XII” as a middle name, and “Musk” as a surname. Musk confirmed reports that the couple is “semi-separated” in September 2021.
On the night he hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2021, Musk said he was the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL — something he hasn’t said publicly before. It did not appear he was joking, but it was a bit difficult to be sure how sincere Musk was being, given his history as both an internet troll and someone who doesn’t always know how to deliver a joke.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO joked that people sometimes don’t know what to expect from him. “I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship,” Musk said. “Did you think I was going to be a chill, normal dude?” Musk said his famous appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast where he smoked weed wasn’t his usual habit. And he appeared to relish the live audience: “I could say something truly shocking like ‘I drive a Prius.’” He also said the name of his youngest child, spelled X Æ A-12 is “pronounced ‘cat running across the keyboard.” Musk’s mother Maye also made an appearance during the monologue. “I’m excited about my Mother’s Day gift, I just hope it’s not Dogecoin,” she said. To which Elon replied, “it is.”
Dan Harmon 1973-present. Writer, producer, actor, and comedian.
Harmon is a multi-talented artist. He created and produced the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), co-created the Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty (2013–present) and its subsequent franchise along with Justin Roiland, and co-founded the alternative television network and website Channel 101. Harmon published the book You’ll Be Perfect When You’re Dead in 2013.[3] He also hosted a weekly podcast, Harmontown (2012–2019).
While producing the NBC hit comedy television series Community, Harmon made an astonishing discovery during his research and character development. “I started looking up these symptoms [of Asperger’s], just to know what they are. And the more I looked them up, the more familiar they started to seem.” Following more research into the syndrome, Harmon was self-diagnosed as having Asperger’s.
Greta Thurnberg 2003 to present. Environmental activist
A Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation, Thunberg initially gained notice for her youth and her straightforward speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she criticizes world leaders for their failure to take what she considers sufficient action to address the climate crisis. She was in Time‘s 100 most influential people, the youngest Time Person of the Year, included in the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (2019), and three consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (2019–2021).
Thunberg says she first heard about climate change in 2011, when she was eight years old, and could not understand why so little was being done about it. The situation made her depressed and as a result, at the age of 11, she stopped talking and eating much and lost ten kilograms (22 lb) in two months. Eventually, she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism. In one of her first speeches demanding climate action, Thunberg described the selective mutism aspect of her condition as meaning she “only speaks when necessary.”
Thunberg struggled with depression for three or four years before she began her school strike. Her diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome was made public nationwide in Sweden in 2015, in order to help other families in a similar situation.
While acknowledging that her diagnosis “has limited me before”, Thunberg does not view her Asperger’s as an illness and has instead called it her “superpower”. She was later described as being not only the best-known climate change activist but also the best-known autism activist. Thunberg commented in 2021 that many people in the Fridays for Future movement had autism, and we’re very inclusive and welcoming. She thinks that the reason for so many people with autism become climate activists is that they cannot look away, and have to tell the truth as they see it: “I know lots of people who have been depressed, and then they have joined the climate movement or Fridays for Future and have found a purpose in life and found friendship and a community that they are welcome in.” She considers that the best thing that has come out of her activism has been friendship and happiness.
She is an excellent student. Much of her behaviour shows autistic ways of expression – very straightforward, factual, and scientific – she doesn’t mince words.
In 2019, at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, she said “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”
You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
Thunberg used many of the themes contained in her previous speeches, but focused on one in particular: “Our house is still on fire.” Thunberg joked that she cannot complain about not being heard, saying: “I am being heard all the time.” “They invite cherry-picked young people to meetings like this to pretend they are listening to us. But they are not.”
Thunberg said that climate experts are not being listened to despite the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the importance of using science to address such issues. She added that the COVID-19 crisis had “shone a light” on how “we cannot make it without science.”
In May 2021, she urged a change in the food production system and the protection of animals and their habitats. Thunberg criticized the promotional campaigns the fashion industry uses to appear sustainable without “actually doing anything to protect the environment” and called the campaigns “greenwashing.” On the same day, she used Twitter to criticize the fashion industry as “a huge contributor” to the climate and ecological “emergency” and “not to mention its impact on the countless workers and communities who are being exploited around the world in order for some to enjoy fast fashion that many treat as disposables.” Thunberg’s wearing of wool garnered criticism from fellow vegans.
Thunberg has met with many politicians and world leaders but said that she could not think of a single politician who has impressed her. Asked about widely respected New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Thunberg commented “It’s funny that people believe Jacinda Ardern and people like that are climate leaders. That just tells you how little people know about the climate crisis.” Thunberg ignores words and sentiments: “Obviously the emissions haven’t fallen. It goes without saying that these people are not doing anything” (in fact New Zealand’s greenhouse-gas emissions had increased by 2% in 2019).
Addressing her critics: “It’s quite hilarious when the only thing people can do is mock you, or talk about your appearance or personality, as it means they have no argument or nothing else to say.”
In September 2019, Trump shared a video of Thunberg angrily addressing world leaders, along with her quote that “people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of mass extinction.” Trump wrote about Thunberg, tweeting: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” Thunberg reacted by changing her Twitter bio to match his description, and stating that she could not “understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead.” In December 2019, Trump again mocked Thunberg after she was named Person of the Year for 2019 by Time, tweeting: “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her anger management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” Thunberg responded by changing her Twitter biography to: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old-fashioned movie with a friend.” During the 2020 United States presidential election, Thunberg commented on Trump tweeting “STOP THE COUNT!” with the text: “So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!”
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro responded: “Greta said that the Indians were dying because they were trying to protect the Amazon. It is impressive how the press gives voice to such a brat.” On the same day, Thunberg changed her Twitter description to pirralha, the Portuguese word for “brat” used by Bolsonaro.
“Being fat-shamed by Chinese state-owned media is a pretty weird experience even by my standards. But it’s going on my resume.”
Glamour Woman of the Year Award 2019, 12 November 2019, by Glamour magazine. Accepted by Jane Fonda, quoting Greta as saying “If a Swedish, teenage, science nerd who has shopstop, refuses to fly and has never worn makeup or been to a hairdresser can be chosen a Woman of the Year by one of the biggest fashion magazines in the world then I think almost nothing is impossible.”
OTHER FAMOUS PEOPLE THOUGHT TO HAVE ASPERGER’S
Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770 – 1827. Composer, pianist
was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music and remains one of the most respected and influential composers of all time.
Jane Austen 1775 –1817. Author
Was a British novelist whose realism, biting social commentary, and masterful use of free indirect speech, burlesque, and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and best-loved writers in British literature
Mark Twain 1835 – 1910. Author & humorist
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which has since been called the Great American Novel and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted. During his lifetime, Twain became a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain enjoyed immense public popularity. His keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. William Faulkner called Twain “the father of American literature”
Thomas Edison 1847 – 1931. Inventor, businessman
Was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and the long-lasting light bulb. he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE 1899 – 1980. Director and producer
Was an iconic and highly influential director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. After a substantial film career in his native Britain, he moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen in 1956, although he also remained a British subject. He ultimately directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of talkies, to the colour era. Hitchcock was among the most consistently successful and publicly recognizable world directors during his lifetime and remains one of the best-known and most popular of all time.
George Orwell 1903 – 1950. Author
Was an English writer and journalist well-noted as a novelist, critic, and commentator on politics and culture, George Orwell is one of the most admired English-language essayists of the twentieth century, and most famous for two novels critical of totalitarianism in general (Nineteen Eighty-Four), and Stalinism in particular (Animal Farm), which he wrote and published towards the end of his life.
Charles Monroe Schulz 1922 –2000. Cartoonist
Was a 20th-century American cartoonist best known worldwide for his Peanuts comic strip. Schulz’s drawings were first published by Robert Ripley in his Ripley’s Believe It or Not!. His first regular cartoons, Li’l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in the sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post; the first of seventeen single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li’l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li’l Folks was dropped in January 1950
Woody Allen 1935 to present. Actor, writer, director
Is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. His large body of work and cerebral film style, mixing satire, wit, and humour, have made him one of the most respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Woody has said the following in an interview I am a neurotic more benignly. I mean I have a lot of neurotic habits,” the quirky American director and actor told Reuters Television. I don’t like to go into elevators, I don’t go through tunnels, I like the drain in the shower to be in the corner and not in the middle,” Allen said in an interview after showing his new comedy “Anything Else” at the 60th Venice Film Festival.
James Maury “Jim” Henson 1936- 1990) Puppeteer
Was the most widely known puppeteer in American television history. He was the creator of The Muppets and the leading force behind their long creative run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Dark Crystal (1982). He was also an Oscar-nominated film director, Emmy Award-winning television producer, and the founder of The Jim Henson Company, the Jim Henson Foundation, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Henson is widely acknowledged for the ongoing vision of faith, friendship, magic, and love which infused nearly all of his work
Michael Edward Palin, CBE 1943 to present. Comedian, actor, traveller
An English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report, and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including “The Dead Parrot”, “The Lumberjack Song”, “The Spanish Inquisition” and “Spam”. Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Anne Hegerty 1958 to present TV game host
Anne Hegerty is one of the chasers on the ITV game show The Chase known as “The Governess”. She made appearances on many other quiz shows, including Mastermind, Fifteen to One, Today’s the Day, Are You an Egghead? and Brain of Britain. In an interview, Hegerty stated that she has Asperger syndrome with which she was diagnosed in 2005 in a candid interview on This Morning Tv Show She has since finished 7th on the reality tv show I’m a Celebrity… Get me Out of Here.
Gary Numan 1958 to present. Singer and composer
Born Gary Webb, he is an English singer, composer, and musician. Numan has Asperger syndrome. In a 2001 interview, he said: “Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I’d got a mild form of Asperger’s syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn’t understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense
Peter Howson OBE 1958 to present. Painter
Is a Scottish painter. He was an official war artist in the 1993 Bosnian Civil War. He has produced some of his most shocking and controversial work detailing the atrocities which were taking place at the time. One painting in particular Croatian and Muslim, detailing a rape created controversy partly because of its explicit subject matter but also because Howson had painted it from the accounts of its victims rather than witnessing it firsthand. Much of his work cast stereotypes on the lower social groups; he portrayed brawls including drunken, even physically deformed men and women.
His work is exhibited in many major collections and is in the private collection of celebrities such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Madonna who inspired a number of paintings in 2002
Howson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honour
Michael Jackson 1958 – 2009. Musician, songwriter
Known as the King of Pop, was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time. His unique contributions to music and dance, along with a highly publicized personal life, made him a prominent figure in popular culture for over four decades.
Michael Jackson certainly shows signs of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). His unusual behaviour has often been blamed on his upbringing, however, his siblings are relatively normal, with a similar upbringing, so I do not feel this is the cause. Michael is often seen as shy and has difficulty relating to many people. His friends are a few people with whom he has common interests, especially the background of being a child star. He mostly seems to be able to relate to children, however, perhaps reflecting the social immaturity which may be seen in Asperger’s. Regardless of maturity level, people with Asperger’s seem to be more comfortable with those older or younger than their peer group. This has never been confirmed but many sources feel there was a possibility he might have had Asperger Syndrome.
Chris Packham 1961 to present. TV presenter
Is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter, and author, best known for his television work including the children’s nature series The Really Wild Show in the late 1980s. He has presented the BBC nature series Springwatch since 2009
Chris has talked about his Aspergers and how he deals with the condition in many of the UK papers.
Gary Mckinnon 1966 to present. Computer hacker
Is a Scottish hacker facing extradition to the United States on charges of perpetrating what one US prosecutor claims is the “biggest military computer hack of all time” McKinnon had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome? His diagnosis was made in August 2008 by the Cambridge University psychologist Prof Simon Baron-Cohen. The computer networks he is accused of hacking include networks owned by NASA, the US Army, the US Navy Department of Defense, and the US Air Force. If he is extradited to the US and charged, McKinnon faces up to 70 years in jail and has expressed fears that he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
Patrick George “Paddy” Considine 1973 to present. Actor, musician.
Paddy Considine is an English actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, and musician. He has starred in films such as In America, Dead Man’s Shoes, The Cry of the Owl, Le Donk & Scor-zay-zeeHot Fuzz, as well as in television films such as The Red Riding Trilogy, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, and PU-239. In 2010, aged 36, Considine was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. In a candid interview with The Telegraph, he revealed that he suffered from “a debilitating sense of detachment; from both the people around him and his surroundings and that he struggled on a practical level too certain noises, bright lights, and even wallpaper and fabrics presented problems.” Of the diagnosis, Considine revealed that discovering that he had Asperger’s was a relief
Craig Nicholls 1977 to present. Singer, songwriter
Is an Australian Singer, Songwriter, and Guitarist of the alternative rock group the Vines. During a promotional show for Triple M radio, bass player Patrick Matthews walked off stage after Nicholls bleated at the audience and demanded that the crowd not talk during the performance. Nicholls said to the crowd, “Why the fuck are you laughing? You’re all a bunch of sheep. Can you go baa?” Nicholls was even accused of kicking a photographer and charges were pressed. As a result, Patrick Matthews never played with The Vines again (he has since joined Youth Group and Triple M banned The Vines from being played on their radio station indefinitely. Nicholls was accompanied by his brother Matt, and his manager and friend Andy Kelly in Balmain Local Court in Sydney on 19 November 2004. There it was revealed that Nicholls has Asperger syndrome
Ladyhawke 1979 to present. Singer, songwriter
Phillipa Margaret “Pip” Brown, better known by her stage name Ladyhawke, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Brown has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. She believes that a large amount of her childhood she spent absorbed in music, be it listening to the radio or to her mother’s Beatles and Pretenders albums, was attributable to this syndrome
Guy Martin from 1981 to present. Motorcycle racer, TV personality
Guy Martin is a British lorry mechanic better known publicly as a motorcycle racer and a television personality. Martin started racing in 1998, debuting on road circuits at the Isle of Man TT events in 2004, where he gained 17 podium finishes. He has broken his back twice in racing accidents. After struggling to come to terms with the fame brought about by his media work, Martin was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome
Adam Young 1986 to present. Musician, songwriter
Adam Young is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, vocalist, and the founder of Owl City. Adam has mentioned he has Asperger’s syndrome and he has often referred to himself as being deeply shy and socially introverted.
Heather Kuzmich 1986 to present. Model
Heather Kuzmich is an art student and an American fashion model. Heather is best known for being a contestant of America’s Next Top Model, where she was the fourth runner-up of the show. During the show, it was revealed that Kuzmich has Asperger syndrome and ADHD. Kuzmich was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when she was fifteen years old. Heather signed to the women’s division of Elite Model Management in Chicago and Hong Kong. She has also appeared on the cover and inside of Spectrum Magazine, a magazine for families and individuals who have autism.
Just shows people with Asperger Syndrome can have both Beauty and brains…
Luke Jackson 1988 to present. Author
Luke Christopher Jackson is an author who rose to fame at the age of 13, when he wrote a book from first-hand experience about what it is like to have Asperger syndrome. The book, titled Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence created a sensation and greatly increased general awareness of the condition
Robert White Comedian
Robert stars appeared on the UK’s biggest television talent competition Britains Got Talent 2018 and finished in 2nd place. Robert White is the only gay, Aspergic, quarter-Welsh comic on the British comedy circuit (as stated on his website) and is known for his brilliant timing and performance style, Robert’s chaotic stage presence, improvisational skills, and delivery won him the 2010 Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality. In the same year, he wrote one of Dave’s Top Ten Jokes of The Fringe.
SPECULATED TO HAVE ASPERGER’S
George Washington, 1732-1799, US Politician
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, US Politician
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, US politician/writer
Kaspar Hauser, 1812-1833, German foundling, portrayed in a film by Werner Herzog
Henry Thoreau, 1817-1862, US writer
Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900,German philosopher
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish playwright, writer of Pygmalion, critic, and Socialist
Ludwig II, 1845-1886, King of Bavaria
Alexander Graham Bell, 1847-1922, Scottish/Canadian/American inventor of the telephone
Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896, Austrian composer
Oliver Heaviside, 1850-1925, English physicist
Richard Strauss, 1864-1949, German composer
Gustav Mahler, 1860-1911, Czech/Austrian composer
Wassily Kandinsky, 1866-1944, Russian/French painter
Erik Satie, 1866-1925 – Composer
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868-1928, Scottish architect and designer
Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British logician
Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychoanalyst
Bela Bartok, 1881-1945, Hungarian composer
Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941, English Writer
Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Czech writer
L S Lowry, 1887-1976, English painter of “matchstick men”
HP Lovecraft 1890-1937, US writer
Howard Hughes 1905-1976, US billionaire
Isaac Asimov 1920-1992, Russian/US writer on science and of science fiction, author of Bicentennial Man
Tony Benn,1925-2014, English Labour politician
Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962, US actress
Garrison Keillor, 1942-2001, US writer, humorist, and host of Prairie Home Companion
John Denver 1943-1997, US musician
Andy Kaufman 1949-1984, US comedian, subject of the film Man on the Moon
Robin McLaurin Williams 1951 – 2014. US Actor
Carl Sagan – Astronomer (C)
Francis Galton – scientist, mathematician, and discoverer of fingerprints
Dr. Vernon Smith – Professor of Economics, Chapman University, practically invented the field of experimental economics — an achievement for which he won the Nobel Prize in 2002. Credits Aspergers for his success. (C)
CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE
John Nash 1928-, US mathematician (portrayed by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind,
Oliver Sacks 1933-, UK/US neurologist, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings
Bob Dylan 1941-, US singer-songwriter
Jeff Greenfield 1943-, US political analyst/speechwriter, a political wonk
John Motson 1945-, English sports commentator
David Helfgott 1947-, Australian pianist, subject of the film Shine
Al Gore 1948-, former US Vice President and presidential candidate
James Taylor 1948-, US singer/songwriter
Charles Dickinson, 1951, US Writer
Jamie Hyneman 1956-, Co-host of Mythbusters
Genie 1957- US “wild child” (see also L’Enfant Sauvage, Victor)
Paul Kostabi 1962-, writer, comedian, artist, producer, technician
Crispin Glover 1964, US actor
Joseph Erber 1985-, young English composer/musician who has Asperger’s Syndrome, subject of a BBC TV documentary
Seth Engstrom 1987-, Magician and World Champion in Sleight of Hand. The best man with a deck of cards that the world has ever seen.
Bill Gross – successful investment manager (C): See his video about his diagnosis.
Adrian Lamo, an American computer hacker
Carl Soderholm, a speaker on neuropsychiatric disorders
Clay Marzo, an American professional surfer
Daniel Tammet, the British autistic savant, believed to have Asperger Syndrome
Dawn Prince-Hughes, Ph.D., primate anthropologist, ethologist, and author of Songs for the Gorilla Nation
James Durbin, a finalist on the tenth season of American Idol
Jerry Newport, American author, and mathematical savant, the basis of the film Mozart and the Whale
John Elder Robison, author of Look Me in the Eye
Judy Singer, Australian disability rights activist
Liane Holliday Willey, author of Pretending to be Normal, Asperger Syndrome in the Family; Asperger syndrome advocate; education professor; and adult diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at age 35
Lizzy Clark, actress, and campaigner
Raymond Thompson, New Zealand scriptwriter, and TV producer
Richard Borcherds, a mathematician specializing in group theory and Lie algebras
Tim Ellis, Australian magician and author
Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, and author
Travis Meeks, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for acoustic rock band Days of the New
David Campion – champion snowboarder
Michael Burry – USA physician, investor, and hedge fund manager: The movie “The Big Short” is based on him (C)
Ulysse Delsaux & Cody Ware – Racecar drivers (C)
