Famous Autistics/Aspies - more postive images in the media

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Can this thread include celebrities we think may be Aspergers? I've always thought George Lucas might be. If you hear Carrie Fisher talk about him, she said he showed no emotion, rarely spoke, and had no idea how to convey ideas about how lines should be delivered. He's also quite obsessive. I think he's a definite candidate for suspected Aspergers!

This is an odd one, but I think Oprah might be mildly Aspergers. Even though she seems very outgoing on her show, she readily admits that she rarely socialises, doesn't like functions, and only recently decided to do stuff like visit neighbours when she realised she never did. She also learned to read at three, and if you watch the Oprah and Gail road trip, she likes total silence and her real personality is nothing like her TV one. She also said she thinks a pen will be sad if it never gets to write - many Aspies often think inanimate objects have feelings (I do...don't even start me on trying to put a cereal box back on the shelf because I don't want to hurt its feelings...)

Again, that's what I like about that list--we can go to the sources, and read them and decide if they seem to have validity or are based on just one or two traits. The original list just stated these people were probably autistic, with no reason why they were thought to be. I noticed several people are not on the current list anymore--I'm guessing because maybe their reason for being on the list couldn't be verified. Several 60's and 70's rock musicians, for instance.

Really? Who? I'm trying to imagine . . .

If anyone has heard of a poet called Selima Hill, it says in this article that she has announced publicly she has AS. (Scroll down a ways.)

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/stor ... 03,00.html

Bob Dylan, James Taylor and John Denver are on this list:
http://www.geocities.com/richardg_uk/famousac.html

And while there are links to info about the people on this list (although the one to Denver is broken), there's nothing to say why these people are thought to be autistic, or who said they might be and on what basis.

I also thought I remembered John Lennon and George Harrison being on a list like this too, but I may have remembered wrong.

Sigh, I did ask. I should know better. John Denver???

At least richardg added this proviso to his list:

Thanks for the info and the link.

Roger Bannister, British runner and physician, first man to break four minutes for the mile.

I don't know.....clueless. But if John Denver is autistic I'm resigning from my neurology. I want my money back too. I'm suing my genetic ancestry. Curses.

I guess that's why the original post said:

Well good for them hopefully these remarkable individuals can pop out some wonderful children and thus produce more ovarian lottery winners (keep it in their family ), hopefully society can continue as it always will and will continue do so well in to the future direct the worlds resources to these higher beings even if it comes at the expense of the lesser beings who make up the great bulk of society.



Aspies don't care for success or money so I'm very doubtful of these lists.

The Scottish painter Peter Howson does have an Asperger's diagnosis and talks about how the condition has affected his life and work. His condition was aggravated by substance and alcoholic abuse and he continues to suffer from peroids of clinical depression. His work is full of torment and suffering and his troubled life gives out mixed messages but I still think he's a positive aspie figure because of his success, talent and hard work.

Thank for this information - I did not know about Peter Howson. I frequent a local and very worldly museum and a favourite of mine is the paintings of Cezanne. I eschew ever labelling anyone with Asperger's (and that's at least a leap of faith and pretentious) but I do know, from other factual sources, that Cezanne is regarded as an Asperger's individual. Fortunately there is a lot written about him and by him. For just one instance, he had struggles with "sensory issues" that were at once overwhelming for him plus a boon for him as an artist. Looking at his paintings, I can see his autism. Anyway, I'll check out Peter's work. Thank you, geedee.

Next, although I'm sure somebody's already mentioned, the female character "Bones" is the epitome of Aspie-ness and I like how she's portrayed - funny, smart, and pretty.

I saw Will Ferrell (sp?) on a BBC interview (he has a formal Dx and he's previously been open about his AS) and I think he's a great model too.

Mozart is suspected to have had it. He was a very deep and intricate composer. He ended up being buried in a paupers grave.

There’s some evidence to suggest that Mozart was influenced by Tourette's syndrome from the use of bad language in his letters – also from his tics, obsessions and impulsive behaviour such as abandoning his piano when playing for a royal court because he wanted to play with a cat that had walked into the room. He seems to have been a social person who enjoyed partying.

I haven’t seen any convincing evidence to suggest that he had autism.

Wait, when did he say that?

I feel suspicious too. it would be intriguing to know that it is true.