the big bang theory - sheldon

[roundcornsilkvirgin]

anyone else seen this? Is Sheldon supposed to have ASD by any chance....

Yes I think so...

Don't you think they all have traits? Except Penny of course.

he is very funny and sweet I've only just discovered it.

I think he has asperger's syndrome. I bought it for my DH whohas AS and even he noticed that he had a lot in common with Sheldon.

oh yes they all have traits

I watched the episode last night where his friend bought thousands of empty cartons from the take away so that Sheldon thought that his food always came from the same place...can relate to that one!

Wikipedia:

Sheldon is a Caltech theoretical physicist, who shares an apartment with his colleague and best friend, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki). They live across the hallway from Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Sheldon exhibits a strict adherence to routine, a total lack of social skills, a tenuous understanding of irony, sarcasm, and humor, and a general lack of humility or empathy. He is vocal about his own superior intellect compared to those around him. These characteristics provide the bulk of his character's humor and the center of some episodes. He has been described as the show's breakout character.[3][4][5][6] Reviewers and fans have speculated that Sheldon's personality traits are consistent with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and/or obsessive?compulsive personality disorder and asexuality.[5][7]

that's it in a nutshell then!

Yes, but it makes me mad that it's not more widely recognised.

Everyone loves Sheldon; everyone loves all the characters to a greater or lesser extent.

Yet Aspergers is seen in a very negative light; lots of people, including on here, talk of its proximity to narcissistic personality disorder, shame on them.

So I would like the Aspergers connection with Big Bang Theory to be out and proud.

Often seen, I should have said. Too sweeping in my generalisation...

My son and his dad (both prob aspie) ADORE this show.

Apparently Sheldon "tells it out load how it is, cos it's the tell he gets away with it, whereas in real life you have to edit what you say out loud".

Both really relate to his gaming addiction, the ex with his chess & DS with pokemon. The ex especially loves how Sheldon is about the inferior intellectual capabilities of those around him. DS loves all his social faux pas and the fact that his friends are pretty loyal to him despite his verbal "oh, ohs".

Our autism outreach teacher and specialist SALT were talking about this show during our earlybird course at ds special school. Both though it was great. Haven't seen it yet myself but will watch it with dh now as I've just found series 1 is on virgin choice.

Brilliant show! My favourite US comedy since Frasier. Sheldon pretty obviously has Aspergers but sadly it seems that the producers don't want to say that explicitly

I LOVE BBT

Cant see the producers/writers explicity saying he has asd though

There was a conversation about this on an asperger facebook group I've joined, apparantely the show are denying that Sheldon has ASD, but I think it is pretty obvious that he is. Maybe the show are concerned about receiving complaints if they make it known that he has ASD, as they are making a comedy at the expense of someone with sn? He is my favourite character too, I think he is great.

There was a thread that turned into this not long ago

We love Sheldon in this house.

The very first Big Bang Theory I saw was the one where Sehldon was at the cinema, testing the acoustics before he could find somewhere to sit. That oen had me in hysterics because that's exactly what DS1 used to do in various buildings. As soon as he detected the slightest bit of echo or reverb, he'd be shouting so he could hear it!

DS1 also forbids whistling, in exactly the same way as Sheldon!

Best ever episode - the one where Leonard tells Sheldon that sometimes you have to lie to spare people's feelings, and Sheldon completely and utterly takes this on board and to extremes.

Best ever moment - when Penny gives Sheldon such a good Christmas present that he cannot find a gift big enough to balance hers (despite his plan to cover all eventualities) and he hugs her.

Jim Parsons is a brilliant comic actor.

Sheldon pretty obviously has Aspergers but sadly it seems that the producers don't want to say that explicitly

I feel the same about Dr Dylan Keogh in Casualty. It's pretty obvious to me that he has some sort of ASD but none of the other characters seems to have cottoned on (all doctors now there's a surprise) and just make jibes about his apparent lack of bedside manner (calling patients by their injuries instead of finding out their names etc). I think he's great, he's one of my favourite characters, I'm very glad they didn't kill him off in that fire!

DH does the cinema thing. FIL is an undiagnosed Aspie and he has his "spot" that nobody else is allowed to sit in.

Big Bang Theory is one of our favourite programmes. Ds1 (ASD) is very much like Sheldon and loves the science jokes.

Ds2 (AS) is more like Leonard, and lately has taken to copying Leonard's mother by saying "I need to urinate" several times a day. (It would be nice if he actually went and did so rather than having umpteen accidents a day, but that's a whole different thread!)

I would be surprised if the Sheldon character didn't have AS. The rigid routine, the literal-thinking, and the obsessions are all very familiar.

Pixel, don't you think many doctors in RL have Aspie traits? I have a female doc friend who is very Sheldon-y, and admits to OCD. You have to be soooo exceptionally good at science to get into med school these days.

It seems to me that most of the Big Bang Theory characters inhabit that grey area between people who are diagnosable and people with traits. Or shadows, as Tony Attwood calls them - unless shadows are milder than traits? If anyone can recommend good sources of info on people who have just 'shadows', I'd love to know about them. There are so many people who assert that you either are on the spectrum or you're not, but that's not exactly my experience.

Which channel/day/time is it on?

it's on E4