FAMOUS ASPERGER’S PEOPLE IN HISTORY
OTHER FAMOUS PEOPLE THOUGHT TO HAVE ASPERGER’S
SPECULATED TO HAVE ASPERGER’S
CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE
Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk —what unites these exceptional individuals? It is widely accepted that all were/are geniuses, but something else exists. Neuroscientists believe that all suffered/suffer from Asperger’s. Applying these characteristics to famous or historical figures may allow a better understanding of the significant positive impact great Asperger’s ancestors have left behind toward an enlightened and improved society and world.
The whole definition of the term “neurological disorder” implies that something is going wrong in the brain. However, there is a growing recognition that when it comes to the processes in our brain, “going wrong” does not necessarily mean “going bad”. Our brain is too complicated a mechanism to be interpreted in simplistic terms. Some neurological disorders produce a peculiar state of mind often associated with high artistic and scientific achievements.
A distinctive cluster of aptitudes, skills, attitudes, and abilities is part of autistic intelligence. People with autism can see things and events around them from a new point of view. In favourable cases, this ability can lead to exceptional achievements that others may never attain. Hans Asperger may have been the first clinician to notice that his patients’ imaginations occasionally anticipated scientific developments by decades.
Asperger’s may possess unique strengths that help them thrive later in their careers. Some areas in which children with autism commonly have average or above-average skills are specialist knowledge in a particular area, good visual and spatial memory, methodical and organized, ability to understand abstract concepts, and problem-solving/logical reasoning.
Some people with Asperger’s are visual thinkers, and others are math, music, or verbal thinkers, but all think in specifics. The Asperger’s mind enjoys and focuses on details, while the normal mind is more skilled at assembling whole concepts from more information. Individuals with Asperger’s may do poorly in school, but their interests are likely narrow and focused.
Autistic children want to figure out how things work; rather than art, they study biology, chemistry, and physics. Kids formerly ridiculed as nerds and brainiacs have grown up to become the architects of our future. The tribe of industrious hermits invented the modern digital world.
These activities focus their minds and provide a sense of comfort. If they are forced to leave their projects, they may become distressed. Likewise, if their projects are failing, fostering these narrowed interests is essential for emotional and mental support.
Rather than being considered a normal child trapped within an “autistic shell,” waiting to be rescued, Asperger’s is “a way of being” that colours every experience, sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence.
