Einstein debate was he on the autism spectrum ?

I would have taken Einstein to Vegas with me for sure.

your link is broken

Einstein had two wives and 10 mistresses… A person with autism couldn’t juggle all those relationships in the same lifetime.

guess that rules out autism ..as he focused very well on other activities.

Einstein was intelligent and eccentric, but I somehow doubt he was autistic for a variety of small reasons. Bill Gates, on the other hand, I suspect is.

@Inspired_2write We can focus… often too well.

depends on what he focused on?
( he had many affairs).

I think Gates would be more likely to be Aspy rather than autistic.

@Arewethereyet Isn’t Asperger’s on the autism spectrum?

I’m with @jerv. Einstein was probably nearly insane just from everything going on in his brain, but seemed pretty socially adjusted. Gates strikes me as an Aspy.

@augustlan yes Aspy is on the spectrum but isnt autism in my understanding. I have one in my life.

It is very likely Albert Einstein did indeed have HFA (High Functioning Autism). Simon Baron-Cohen (a well-known Autism Psychologist) has noted this in several books/well-known/well-cited reports.

While we’ll never know for certain since this is a posthumous diagnosis the main points that make Einstein stand out as an ASDer:
*He didn’t speak until age four.
*He clearly had learning disorders . He was slow to develop and learn. Teachers labeled him “retarded” and was called so by his parents.
*His cerebrum was larger than typical
*As a child he had “tantrums” and had difficulty expressing emotion.
*Einstein was well-known as a visual thinker
*He perseverated.
*It’s been noted that as a child he had echolalia.
*Though he had relationships, he was considered a loner.

@talljasperman Actually many people on the spectrum don’t juggle people or relationships well. Many people on the higher part of the spectrum are able to have & maintain relationships, while others can form relationships but aren’t socially apt enough or able to devote attention away from their special interest/obsessions long enough to maintain relationships.

There are various lists of “famous” people with Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome from various psychologists/aspies on the Net. Some have detailed reasons as to the speculation. Most notably, many of these that are done posthumously show the extremes in the peoples lives. There is a tendency for the people to lose themselves in their work or to live in a fantasy world they’ve created. Many are artists, engineers or scientists….Some composers (Mozart) and Presidents (Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) also make certain lists.

Famous known Aspies:
Dan Akroyd
Adam Young (Owl City)
Daryl Hannah

Famous speculated Apsies:
Al Gore
Alexander Graham Bell
Charles Schultz
Jim Henson
Emily Dickinson
Bill Gates
Mark Zuckerberg

@Arewethereyet, Asperger’s is no longer a diagnosis as of May 2013. It is an Autism Spectrum Disorder and will now be labeled officially as Autism, Mild form. Most Aspies will still call themselves the same as they have.

Here’s an example of the Lists of Famous Aspies. As I stated above, some (especially the psychology pages) go into detail of the how/why the speculations came about

@SpatzieLover thanks for that I didn’t know that. Is it a global name change we are in australia. I know my Aspie would never agree to be called Autism Mild he’d be horrified.

Just for interest I have just read a fabulous new book, fiction, called The Rosie Project by Australian author Graeme Simsion.

@Arewethereyet Both of mine will continue to refer to themselves as Aspies or as Autistic, as they have. Many are rather upset by the DSM-V changes. We DESPISE functioning labels as it is here. Most of our friends feel the same.

@SpatzieLover Ditto!

Regarding the recent changes to the DSM-V, that means that the next update will probably lump lung cancer in with bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma under “Respiratory distress” in a way that will cause people to treat them all the same way. We won’t even get into the issues of cultural identity beyond saying, “Fuck DSM-V!”.

I totally agree @jerv

Many high functioning autistic people I have spoken believe he was.

I wonder, sometimes, if there was an autistic-like genetic mutation in our ancient history that caused us to become the super geniuses (comparative to the rest of the animal world) that we are today.

@Dutchess_III There is no real link between Autism and IQ. Aspies are generally of above-average intelligence while “normal” Autistic people generally are hard to accurately test since most intelligence tests require the ability to communicate in order to take; when your sensory processing is such that you see sounds and smell colors, it’s hard to take a test. Most “normal” autistic people have a low functional intelligence because they cannot function normally but it could be argued that the rest of the animal kingdom is smarter than we think, so it’s hard to tell whether we actually are relatively smarter; I’m sure many dolphins would argue that we aren’t.

@jerv Hi I have an autistic son who is high on the spectrum he’s a 14 with the highest being a 15 for those who know about spectrum. They are quite capable of taking test my son has help for his English because he is also dyslexic but he sits in a class with normal main stream children and has normal friends who understand and except my son, for many years he did not have friends because they have to learn harder for the smaller things we naturally learn they have to train to learn but they do learn, there brain does function normal they just think differently to us but most of the time there way of thinking believe it or not is superior to ours. Take for example if we take on a project we will give it so much time and then be either satisfied with what we’ve done or think forget it and walk away, but they cant do that it has to be done and it has to be perfect before they finish that’s why a lot of them can go on to do great things.

@mandy892 I too can take the test, but I have known a few autistic people who were so trapped inside their own head that they could not reliably tell whether or not there was somebody in the room with them.

“Spectrum” means that there is a range of levels of ability. Aspies are differentiated from “normal” autists because, while we show many other autistic traits, we generally acquire language skills normally, if not slightly quicker than neurotypicals. (That might also explain why Aspies test higher; better language skills.) And not all autists/aspies are high-functioning like Dr. Temple Grandin. I know Aspies that are severely afflicted enough that they cannot hold a job and a few that are so afflicted that they cannot hold a conversation.

I am one of the fortunate ones in that I can speak (although slightly eccentrically), have been socialized enough to understand people on an intellectual level (not as good as the instinctive level of most people, but enough to squeak by), and can actually hold a job, so long as it’s one that doesn’t involve customer service or diplomacy (I wound up a CNC Machinist). Then there are those like Dr. Temple Grandin, who overcame the “retarded” label she was wrongly given, earned her PhD, and has generally done quite well for herself. John Elder Robison has put out a couple of books, and Bill Gates started an empire. On the other end of the spectrum, my buddy Gary really cannot even be out in public on his own, and employment is just flat not happening.

@jerv yes I totally agree with what your saying in regards to a lot of that my son although he can maintain a good friendship with people but that is only because of my pushing as a parent I’m only a single mum but I do the best as I can in regards that I want him to be independent when he as an adult and that does not mean when he turns 18 but at an age he’s ready, he’s 13 now but still has to be accompanied when he goes out for safety reasons. I know another one of his friends who is autistic who is not as bad as my son but comes across worse than him because this is a horrible thing for me to say but his parents have wrapped him up in a bubble and made his condition as a excuse for me that is the worse thing you can do and yes I know I’m a horrible person for saying that but that’s my opinion. My sons dr told me that in some cases people can come back and get there diagnoses taken away but in my sons case he said it was to high and that will nether happen but that does not mean he can’t do well, I hope.