Did Steve Urkel have aspergers syndrome?

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He was smart, unique, socially awkward and often did things that annoyed people in ways that he didn't predict. Furthermore, his voice patterns were unusual and he was often louder than he needed to be and he clearly didn't fit the "social norms". Did Steve Urkel have aspergers?

I think that he did have AS. He seems to be both physically and socially clumsy. He also wore the clothes that he liked and he didn't care what the trends were.

Another similar character that comes to mind is Austin Powers.

I'm sorry to break this to you, but Steve Urkel was a fictional character that was protrayed by an actor.

That means that Steve was not real, and that the character's behavior was all an act put on for the laughs. So any resemblance to any other person, living or dead, is all in the mind of the viewer.

Really.

What??? NO WAY! You broke my reality. HmmmMMPPPHHHhhhh...

Nah. I just thought it would be amusing to diagnose a fictional character. There's a reason why I chose to put hitler's post-mortem diagnosis in the autism forum, and Steve Urkel in this one.

At the time the show was broadcast the portrayal was intended as one of geek/nerd, unique at that time because it wasn't normally a stereotype associated with African Americans.

Could it have anything to do with stereotypical behaviors, and our normal tendency to categorize all things based on preconcieved notions?

It might. Categorization based on observable properties seems to be a fundamental evolutionary trait, for it's what largely enabled one to categorize that animal in the tundra with an orange body, a cat-like shape, and black stripes as a tiger, which then further enabled us to categorize it as a dangerous animal. It's also what allowed a man to categorize a figure with a person-like appearance with long-hair and a feminine face as a female, with the possible further categorization of a nubile female who might have mating value. Now looking at the fundamental reason for those categorizations (The first is "threat detection" and the second being "mate identification"), I wonder if there's a grand over-arching categorization for the set of fundamental categorizations that humans use to categorize?

But, also, I was thinking about the humorous aspect and the potential for fervent, silly debates. Like, maybe someone would say something like "No, Steve Urkel often expressed emotions quite well through his facial expressions, so he couldn't have aspergers!". I don't know what the primary underlying reason for wanting to be silly is... maybe, a display of imagination? *scratches head*

Last edited by swbluto on 17 May 2011, 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh. Sorry. I read the literal meaning, and didn't see the implied intent ... I must be an Aspie, or sumpin ...

Otherwise, I agree with the African-American Nerd/Geek assessment - unique because of the particular combination of stereotypes.

But, yeah, come to think of it ... if Urkel were a real person, he might be considered a high-functioning Aspie ... maybe.

It's a sad commentary, but we also categorize others as whether or not they are worthwhile genetic material to compete for resources. Humans are part of the animal kingdom and regardless of our attempt at civilization, we retain much our nature as just another creature in the animal kingdom.

Humans naturally torture the weak ones, particularly around the time of puberty, and conversely sometimes females torture the more attractive females seen as competition. Sometimes in a bar a bigger or more aggresive guy will get picked on from another aggressive guy to prove alpha male status.

This stuff happens all around us and we come up with rational civilized answers, instead of seeing the biological underpinnings of the behavior. Fortunately, though, we are domesticated and have the ability to control many of our "wild" instincts.

Some can't though, and that is a large part of the reason we have prisons; to tame the animal nature that remains.

Personally, I speculate that people with Aspergers are more domesticated than most and less likely to get into trouble with the law, but it is only anecdotal speculation on my part.

Ever look at the mug pictures of criminals; not too many domesticated looking people in there. Again though just speculation on my part.

I've thought before how he had more than a few Aspie traits.

My wife watches General Hospital and there is a guy called Spinelli, that gives me the feeling that how could he even fake it that good. But it is stated that there is no intention to represent him that way, and he himself does not have Aspergers. He certainly has a pedantic way of speaking though, even moreso than Erkul.

Erkul seemed clueless but so full of happy emotion. And awkward but full of confidence at times. I think a person with Aspergers can be that way if they are resilient. Notice though, that he is pretty well accepted in his fictional character, so he would have good reason to be happy and confident. It is also evident that he fully accepts himself; that perhaps was the best lesson to be learned from that show.

I used to like Family matters when it was on TV and I watched it again on Youtube.
I always felt sorry for steve he seemed to try to be liked by everyone but Laura (I think that was her name) was always shunning him.

He seems like a fictional character that was written to have some AS traits by coincidence. No one in the US would hear of AS for another 5 years after the show was created. He was just a really exaggerated caricature of a nerd.

And the archetypal AS person is just an exaggerated caricature of a nerd, no?

i think steve urkel has high functioning autism and he must of delayed purperty. i respect him as well and i want steve to be my friend and read harry potter books together.

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