Aspies in Office?

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I have been thinking about this for awhile. Even before Obama won the election. Back when it was Obama and Hillery for Democrats, I said to myself: What we need is a Black Female Lesbian president, that would shatter barriers!

But now back to Earth. I am wondering has there ever been an Aspie/ASD/Autistic person that was KNOWN as such AT THE TIME in office? I don't mean Abe or Washington or whoever they suspect now. I wonder if it is possible for an Aspie to win an election for Mayor, State Rep, Congress, etc (up to President).

I don't mean would the social aspects be a problem. Public speaking for most with AS is horrid from what I get. I mean barring social issues, do you think the majority would elect someone with AS? (And no, at that point people know about it, skeletons get surfaced by the media).

While being an Aspie by default does not make you good election material (same as NT's be default are not) I think somebody with AS, who was a clear thinker and could suppress many "issues" in public, would be invaulble to the government high office.

Thoughts?

I think being identified as being on the spectrum would completely derail any chance anyone had at a political office other than dogcatcher (and it might sink that as well). Being labeled can pretty much destroy you in an "office" office unless you are very careful as well - people are not particularly enlightened, regardless of what we'd like to hope. Sadly, I think that "the masses" would consider an aspie/autie as damaged goods, and they don't want that around - and certainly not in any position of authority/power. Even among those who were more highly educated, I think there'd probably still be some shadow of doubt as to what an Aspie/Autie would do under pressure, and people might not want to take the risk there.

A few elections back there was a gentleman who was nominated for Vice President. When it became known that he had been treated, years earler, for depression, it torpedoed him. He was asked to and did remove himself from consideration as "unelectable." He would have been very good, I think. Eagleton.

We may have already had an AS president. Some believe Thomas Jefferson had AS.

Asperger's Syndrome has only been a known issue in the States since 1992. That means someone would have to be DXed since. That mostly leaves adults that didn't know they had it.

Merle

Id like to run for office as a member of parliament but wouldn't disclose until AFTER I am elected and have been known to be a good MP.The opposing parties DO NOT DARE attack ones disability because that would be deemed unCanadian, but how the general electorate would vote would be something I would keep in mind, so I wouldnt disclose until I have proven myself and can use such to give aspies a good name.No opposing party or any member of the press can access anyones health records or such due to Canada's strict privacy laws.

If an Aspie is obsessed with politics and world issues and if that's their special interest, he should be president because he SPENDS HIS WHOLE LIFE RESEARCHING HIS INTEREST and that qualifies (maybe overqualifies) him for the job.


These people in office are so ignorant. They don't know s**t about world issues... like autism, for example. I can't believe people are dumb enough to elect them. They are all idiots at least sometimes, and they're supposed to know about issues if they are to be trusted in office, but they don't. It's, quite frankly, terrifying.

You'd be surprised how good many Aspies are at public speaking. Apart from that, as for political office, I'd say not. Life as a politician would be too intense for most Aspies, is something where there'd be an especial need for intuituve social skills and so is something where an Aspie's communication skills would be "found out" more. Stress levels in today's world of politics would be particularly high.

Here in Canada, the leader of the federal Liberal Party - Michael Ignatieff - may have AS. I have heard that when he converses with people, he rarely makes eye contact and has terrible interpersonal skills. It may explain why he is doing so badly politically.

Here, Gordon Brown is often suspected to have AS. The case is probably a lot stronger than for Ignatieff.

A Google search for "Michael Ignatieff Asperger" gives you around 1,000 hits. A similar search for "Gordon Brown Asperger" would give you a combined total of about 60,000, suggesting a stronger case for Brown even allowing for the UK's population being double Canada's, and being PM while Ignatieff is opposition leader.

In my honest opinion, however, Brown doesn't have Asperger's.

I have a friend who was the mayor of a small town in Iowa, whom was diagnosed with borderline autism as a child. It was a town of about 900 people, so the biggest decisons that were made had to do with renewing the tavern's liquior license every year, lot line disputes, etc.

I know that I have talked about this guy alot, but a flood hit his community in the summer of 2008. He seemed to do more for his community as a public official than our mayor and council here in Cedar Rapids, many of whom were highly educated and has previous political experience. He rolled up his sleeves and brought his town together, which in many ways rebuilt expeditiously and innovatively. He is in some ways a local hero.

I found a news piece on our local NBC affiliate, they did a nice interview with him, but the video now seems to be AWOL on their site.

http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8685496

I have read up on the biography of Canadian Prime Minister and Conservative leader, Stephen Harper.He was not very social and the press attacked him as being emotionless and being a "robot" and "nerd" and "boring" to the public.Sometimes I think he might be a on the spectrum.

New Enfield School Board Member With Autism Champions 'Neurodiversity

I've heard Vladimiur Putin is an aspie. If it's true we shouldn't be provoking him because we all know about aspie rage