Bill Gates states what has long been suspected
ASPartOfMe
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Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York
I do not see any meaningful difference between him saying he would be diagnosed if he were raised today and him believing he is Autistic.
The words “Admit to” has a negative connotation if it is interpreted as admitting to something one is guilty of. A less negative connotation or neutral connotation is admitting to something that is widely believed about you that you have not discussed before which is my interpretation of what AsAboveAsbelow was saying.
Also based in the location on her profile she is probably not a native English speaker.
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“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
Well I think Bill has handled that very well.
Since he is undiagnosed, he is very carefully not making any claims to being autistic, and not self-diagnosing.
At the same time, he is acknowledging that he probably would have been diagnosed according to current criteria.
It seems to me, he has done his homework on this.
Edited to add:
I do not subscribe to the view that he has been hugely successful, ergo cannot be autistic.
It's called a spectrum because of great hereogeneity between presentations. It is definitely feasible that there might be the odd autistic out there with a favourable cognitive profile, supportive parents / teachers / business partners, and a lot of good fortune, enabling them to achieve success.
Not many, but a few.
Since he is undiagnosed, he is very carefully not making any claims to being autistic, and not self-diagnosing.
At the same time, he is acknowledging that he probably would have been diagnosed according to current criteria.
It seems to me, he has done his homework on this.
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Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.
I do not subscribe to the view that he has been hugely successful, ergo cannot be autistic.
It's called a spectrum because of great hereogeneity between presentations. It is definitely feasible that there might be the odd autistic out there with a favourable cognitive profile, supportive parents / teachers / business partners, and a lot of good fortune, enabling them to achieve success.
Not many, but a few.
Sound observation, but wrong label again. Given that a criterion usually applied to Kanner autism is a below average IQ, then it does make success unlikely. Successful Autistics, on the other hand are abundant, particularly in science and technology (and art,according to Hans Asperger; Mozart, for example and Da Vinci) be it ancient Natural Philosophers like Isaac Newton, and the not so ancient ones like Einstein, and those hundreds who are now making Silicon Valley thrive. Yes, that "Geek" syndrome idea, due to the sort of work that attracts Autistics, which results in a higher incidence of kids with autism, as Kanner described it (but not the others that have been added, with no evident cause nor justification to the label).
Should anyone care to measure those valley denizens Autisitc strength (the Chandler & Macleod test can do this) then I wouldn't be surprised to find that there are more Autistic billionaires than in any other category.
