Famous People Who Might Have Had AS

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I'd say he devoted as little time to socializing as could a man of his stature in those times. He essentially refused to give public speeches and would rather stay in and read books or play the violin. In fact, he often did just that. He issued his State of the Union addresses in writing only, and in his initial inaugural address was so quiet the crowd had to seriously strain to hear him (he also had a lisp). In addition to that, he was a noted eccentric. He was known for constantly singing to himself under his breath, even in what can be called polite company. At the Second Continental Congress he remained so quiet that not few of the others thought him mute, though he already had a sterling reputation as a writer. On top of all that, he was obsessed with architecture and mechanics, designing his own home and inventing many things. As Minister to France he spent a great deal of time wandering around Paris staring at architecture and art.

I would not go so far as to say he had AS, but it wouldn't shock me if he did. In fact there's a book out on this very subject, called Diagnosing Jefferson, though I haven't had the opportunity to read it.

Wittgenstein's on my list too. I was so pissed off when I bought that book "The Genesis of Artistic Creativity" and the author kept mentioning Wittgenstein with no actual chapter on the man himself.

I think the author of that book (can't remember his name) probably has it.

You mean Michael Fitzgerald himself!

Sula Wolff gave Wittgenstein as an example of someone who seemed to qualify for schizoid/schizotypal PD (they were one category at the time). He seems to be on everyone's list (don't know anything about him myself).

Eccentric presidents . . . Wonder what the diagnosticians would think of two of Canada's most popular prime ministers, Trudeau and Mackenzie King. They were definitely eccentric (but no signs of autism that I can see).

First the list in the article is quite strange:

Catherine the Great of Russia played very well the social game on the Russian Court under her mother in Law, Elizabeth and her short-lived husband Peter. She learned very quickly how the power game worked. J. W. Goethe: It is well known that he hated dogs, but he was a very socializing man and known also to well the social games. a.s.o. - A lot of the people named were famous for their social skills - how otherwise a little corporal could become the ruler of Europe?

You can't just make a conclusion from one "tick" may have to a complex condition like Autism or Aspergers.

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I am more surprised that in respect more likely candidates as Alan Turing are missed out.

http://www.ijpm.org/content/pdf/175/Turing.pdf

The list is a sloppy piece of work!

Learning how the rules of a social system work, the causes and effects, doesn't disqualify you from having AS.

Could be. It certainly wouldn't surprise me. On an unrelated note, my favorite anecdote about Turing (outside his arguing with Wittgenstein during some of Wittgenstein's classes at Cambridge on the foundations of mathematics) is his riding on a bicycle around Bletchley Park in mid-summer wearing a heavy suit and a gas mask.

1st: There is difference between learning some rules and mastering those without using your reason. The three examples I picked out were the master those rules; otherwise their position in society wouldn't be able to explain.

2nd: If a diagnostic on a dead person should be done, the author must look very close in all reports, letters etc. regarding the particular person to gain picture of constant trails, unusually behaviour pattern, etc. Fixing such diagnose on one single tick really does not do the job; it just sloppy work.

Yeah, this really is a sloppy list. I checked out some of the links off of that site, to see who they listed as having tourettes or mood disorders. It's all a bunch of crap like that.