Posthumus diagnosis of ASD: Michaelangelo, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, the politician Eamon de Valera, the poet WB Yeats and Pop Art giant Andy Warhol.

[Twiglett]

interesting

It is interesting.

It makes me think about the evolutionary advantages of having Asperger's and you can see that the focussed, detail orientated individual would have advantages over those without this genetic make-up.

When I read about Aspergers I really think that I might have it but have learnt socialising and empathy rather than it being innate to me.

I think we have to be careful not to assume that clever, work obsessed people are on the ASD spectrum. I also think it's important that the general public don't have an automatic perception that autistic people, even those with AS,are 'brilliant' in some form oranother. I'm pretty sure that people with ASD range across the IQ distribution just like those of us who are NT.

FWIW, I don't think Lisa Simpson seems at all autistic.

I have run across the theory that Mozart had Tourettes syndrome. There is no real agreement though.

Just sounds to me like somebody wanting a new, quirky angle in order to sell a few research papers. Like the woman who "proved" that Jane Austen was certainly a lesbian etc etc - speculation masquerading as intelligent research.

But I tend to get v touchy at anything that tocues on jane Austen, so feel free to ignore me!

"Focuses" even!

Yes, I didn't actually mention JA because I couldn't find her name in the article.
My understanding is that one of the problems facing people with HFA, is their inability to decipher irony and sarcasm and their tendency to apply a literal meaning to what is being said. JA's entire books are an ironic look at the tedious conventions of the time. I'd say she had a hightened social awareness if anything!

there is a big list of bipolar creative geniuses too

i dont think you can diagnose anyone posthumously, and certainly not with something as complex as ASD.
BUT having a son with ASD myself i wam gratefull of anything that shows a child with autism can make a valued contribution to society. and indeed can have a genius of their own.