Was Emily Dickinson Autistic?

Post Reply New Topic

I want to know what others think, clearly we can never know for sure, but nothing wrong with speculation is there.

She had an extraordinary sense of smell, seemed to have a world of her own inside her head, she was very isolated from the rest of the world and not great with people, and was clearly a unique person.

It’s possible she could have had Asperger’s traits—but didn’t seem classically autistic to me.

She certainly had quite a wry sense of humor—but sometimes seemed to have trouble discerning humor in other people.

She had an idiosyncratic:experimental way of expressing herself in her writing.

She was very good as far as the household was concerned. She had a sense of propriety, though she was subtly rebellious at times.

Overall: it’s possible, but not definitive.

I have thought it probable for a very long time. I have liked her poetry for decades, the uniqueness of her creativity outside the conventional styles of the time appealed to me greatly.

We'll never really know, but I suppose it's possible. I love her poetry and find her life story very interesting.

But beware. I think there was a controversy some years ago where people were claiming she was a lesbian because she always wore white, or attached some other symbolic meaning to the white clothes. Later it was disclosed that she was simply allergic to certain dyes!

Dickinson took pains to live a very private life and leave few clues outside her poetry and the impressions of people who knew her.

IF Emily Dickenson was autistic, then she had an amazing grasp of the real aspects of romance and relationships -- something that most autistic people seem to have trouble with from the get-go.

She probably just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts....though she might have been secretly delighted with her eccentric status.

I feel like it’s possible that she had a physical affinity towards women—which she knew she must suppress.