Is Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory supposed to be

[sammythemummy]

Autistic?

[kinkyfuckery]

Many viewers think he may be Aspergers, but the writers have stated that this was never intended in his character development.

[sammythemummy]

Oh I see, I wasn't much of a fan but my dh got me into now and I must say he displays a lot of AS traits

[EllenJanesthickerknickers]

He's so definitely an Aspie! Don't care what the writers say.

[SauvignonBlanche]

It's ever mentioned but he has to be Aspie!

[Dinkysmummy]

I've been thinking the same since I looked into ASD/AS after my friend mentioned dinkys traits!

They dont mention AS/ASD and as kinky said it isnt meant to be a part of his character.

All that is mentioned is he is not crazy his mother had him tested! She might have been better with a developmental paed!

[OhYeaBaby]

I disagree - I think he does a lot of it deliberately - he knows the 'normal' response but chooses to be difficult - though doesn't explain everything...

[concretebox]

First heard of 'Big bang theory' at a carers' center course for parents of autistic children (teens) from other parents who sang it's praises (my child is pre-teen).

Never watched it till lately,watched a few episodes on tv, bought my near as damn it 9 yr old box set & he adores it. Laughs out loud at it. The child who never sleeps before midnight will take himself off to his room to watch it. (still never sleeps before midnight).

Haircuts...like Sheldon. (nightmare doesn't quite compute)
In so many ways - like Sheldon.

Helps in some way I suppose.

[concretebox]

Should have said - son diagnosed aspergers.

[kinkyfuckery]

I'd imagine if the writers say it wasn't intentional, then it wasn't intentional. They'd have no need to lie.
I guess what may have happened was it was based on 'someone' but that it wasn't realised that person had Aspergers/ASD, that it was just thought it was personality quirks?

[bochead]

Just about the only thing the ex, (AS), DS & I agree on is that Big Bang theory is total genius.

Sheldon deffo has "ASD traits",but so do several of his friends tbh. His Southern bible-bashing mother is a work of art. What's nice is that Sheldon & his friends all look out for each other & tolerate each others quirks despite the odd spat. So often people on the spectrum are depicted in the media as isolated loners and it can become a self-fufilling prophecy. Sheldon and his friends have found own their little place in the world, no how unconventional. They have value & their skills are appreciated iykwim. I can see that being of use to unhappy teens.

Certainly an infinite improvement on that sappy "friends" of a few years back.

[signandsmile]

I love it, dh (who only just missed the cut off point in one area of his asd assessment) hates it, but only because he feels sheldon.is being perfectly reasonable and can't see why it is funny ..

[BiddyPop]

DH and I started watching it as a science geeky thing (as a scientist and an engineer) - but then started to realise quite quickly that there were lots of things in Sheldon that were very similar to our household. Where we have an Aspie DD and both of us display aspie traits.

[MyAngelChuckles]

My DS and I love Big Bang Theory, it's one of the few things he will sit and watch as he's not really a big TV person (niether am I truth be told) and I do see alot of ASD traits in Sheldon whether they were intentional or not and DS loves that there is some one else on TV that thinks somewhat like he does :)

[hellsbells76]

My Aspie DS loves it too :) one of the girls in his class (a friend) affectionately calls him Sheldon (he calls her Penny right back ). He's totally Aspie, I don't care what the writers say. The scene where he hugged Penny when she got him Leonard Nimmoy's autograph was lovely.

[troutsprout]

We all love it too. Ds has ' soft kitty' pj's and a ' bazinga t- shirt .
It has been very useful for ds in being able to laugh at some of the quirks that he and sheldon share and at the same time seeing how those quirks might appear to the nt characters around him.
Also how sheldon dissects nt behaviour in a Spock-like manner as an outsider looking in. We have used similar techniques with ds and had some success.
Also... Sheldon is the funniest, the cleverest and the coolest
He is an Aspie hero

[troutsprout]

I also bought ds a clothes folder for Xmas . He loved it!

[buildingmycorestrength]

Favourite part recently was the secret room one...don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but it made me view my son (8, poss Aspie) quite differently. And made me cry.

[SauvignonBlanche]

My DS, who has AS, thinks Sheldon is cool.

[DiscoDonkey]

Oh building I cried at the secret room episode too (and I'm a hard faced mare!)

I suspect that it wasn't intended for him to be aspie but I think maybe they now write him with that in mind (what he says in the secret room episode rings so true it's hard to believe that it wasn't intentional)

[buildingmycorestrength]

Disco that's what I thought too. By this series, is it fourth?, they must have got advisers in.

[Sparklymommy]

Love love love the Big Bang Theory. Shelton definitely has ASD traits but then to a certain extent so do Leonard, Raj and Howard.

[alwaysinhiding]

love big bang theory i often think how asperger like sheldon is only from what ive read on here mainly. Ds 7 is not asd although has traits imo and is nothing like sheldon really in that sheldons happily a bit of a loner and extremely intelligent but the literal way he is often reminds dh and i of ds we often say 'thats ds1' when watching it

not sure if ive seen the secret room episode

[StarlightMcKenzie]

DS is nothing like Sheldon. But I still love BBT.

I like it more for the girls really. They rock.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Sheldon: Penny, while I subscribe to the "Many Worlds" theory which posits the existence of an infinite number of Sheldons in an infinite number of universes, I assure you that in none of them am I dancing.