Well-Known People with Autism or Aspergers: A list
Hello All!
We've probably all heard the running joke about people on the spectrum, especially Aspies, loving to recite a long list of famous, creative, intelligent historical people who we believe might have been on the spectrum if they had the diagnostic knowledge to catorgorize back then....
Well, I need THAT list. Can we start a running list? That is my #1 request.
I also need to generate a list of current famous people that are on the spectrum, either by self-disclosure or common knowledge (be careful here, some common knowledge comes from self-disclosure but some is simply hear-say and we don't want to speculate on people's personal lives. If you can include a link or source info, that would be great.
Well, I need THIS list also. Can we also start a running list of these people? This is my #2 request.
I am trying to come up with a good list to research and work on and hopefully bring some of these people into our world for both support and to possibily help with the awareness campaign.
Note: In case I don't know if they are historical or current, please indicate for me in your reply
Thanks so much!
I've read a few articles which state that Stephen Spielberg is confirmed as being diagnosed with Asperger's; however, I did not hear it from him personally (as if I would) so I will pass on committing myself to an absolute *definite.* 
This is an article I found which discusses Spielberg, his personality, and Asperger's. Mondo Stars Reports: Stephen Spielberg: Powerful, fearless, and funny.
Wow, but that totally makes sense. At a Tony Attwood seminar I attended, Dr. Tony openly wondered about JK Rowling.
I think that the Dan Aykroyd diagnosis is kind of controversial...he'd mentioned in one interview that he'd been diagnosed with it at 14, but it wasn't actually a diagnosis at that time. He later said that he'd been diagnosed with Tourette's and OCD, and as far as I know he hasn't talked about Asperger's again.
The creator of Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri, is said to most likely be. He has not come out publicly saying he is in any English media. I'm not as confident he hasn't in Japanese media. I've been looking for a list on this too. I'm nominating myself for PTA inclusion week for next year. I really would like to have a full list as well for that.
Daryl Hannah was diagnosed with some form of autism as a child, I think.
Wouldn't you know...Wiki has a list of "notable persons" thought to be on the spectrum:
(I've never heard of most of them, but lots of creative types methinks)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_on_the_autism_spectrum#Asperger_syndrome
ones from that list that I know off the top of my head are confirmed:
Phillipa "Pip" Brown (aka Ladyhawke),
LezLee Victoriah Bushfield, (you're on the wikipedia page????)
The list seems pretty well edited to be confirmed folks, actually.
For one that is on Speculated famous folks on Spectrum, try this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_speculated_to_have_been_autistic
It also has the names of those who speculate on each famous person- who frequently died before Autism even became Dx. This is more the list I think many of us were looking for, as it has the Mozart, Jefferson, Newton, Tesla, etcs.
Women on this list include Emily Dickinson and Anne Claudine d'Arpajon, comtesse de Noailles.
Savannah Nicole Logsdon-Breakstone Director of Advocacy 
I'm curious why Charlotte Bronte isn't on the list? She was certainly obsessive. And she and her sister Emily invented a whole other world as children, along with stories, etc. I'm not sure about Emily, but her characters are fairly interesting ...Heathcliff ... yes? Charlotte Bronte worked as a nanny and much of her work had autobiographical elements to it, including Jane Eyre and Villette. My professors seemed pretty keen on painting Charlotte as socially challenged, and Villette has even more than Jane Eyre the sense that she was watching life from behind a window. Both novels are quite wonderful.
Interesting that Melville is on the speculation list. Many scholars think he was bipolar. I'm not quite convinced of that; it seems clearer in Poe's case. Asperger's, maybe. Fascinating character. Best friends with Hawthorne, who mentored him and tolerated quite a lot from him. Melville threw lots of tantrums, was very hard on his wife.
What I find most fascinating is that he chose to write a book like Moby-Dick, which was a critical disaster in the United States (until about 80 years later), although fairly popular in Britain. He went after the Emersonians (of which Thoreau was one) with a vengeance and probably should have known that (and his implied atheism, and the sprawling nature of the novel) would tank his career as a writer. But he did it anyway.
Another freakishly gifted writer of that time was Dostoevsky. I wonder what his story was. Seriously.
Isaac Newton is also on the bipolar lists. It can be so hard to tell when things are so far removed! As for Mozart, no one will agree on that one. There are so many theories out there, and everyone is in different camps, it seems.
James Joyce I could buy. Ulysses was like a treatise in neurological differences. Daedalus and Bloom -- in my opinion, great Aspie characters. This was, like Moby-Dick was for Melville, a chance for Joyce to shout "up yours!" at the literary elites. He thoroughly enjoyed do it.
See, I can see some of these, but Van Gogh I always pegged for Bipolar!
I was disappointed not to see the Brontes, too- though a strongest case for an ASD in the Bronte family is actually the Brother, though that might be because he was the only one of the kids to leave their family living arrangement, so we see more of his difficulties to adapt to the outside world than we did the sisters. Seriously, reading about the issues he had is like reading the way life goes for a number of guys I know on spectrum who moved out because they were "of age." sad story. . .
Keep in mind that speculation list is only people who scholars have speculated are on spectrum. if you know of a scholarly paper that speculates on another famous person from history, please submit it to the talk page on the wiki article!!!
Savannah Nicole Logsdon-Breakstone Director of Advocacy
There has been some speculation that Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and Charles Dickens were all on the spectrum.
In terms of current people, some to consider who aren't on the spectrum may be the cast of Ron Howard's "Parenthood", especially Max Burkholder who plays Max Braverman, a young boy with Asperger's. It could be a good group of people to get in touch with if you're looking for famous advocates. The show portrays Max's Asperger's in a positive light, and shows the process of his family coming to terms with the diagnosis, among other things.
Good luck!
Dostoevsky had epilepsy, which has been linked with the autism spectrum.
I've heard that Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway were bipolar.
A referenced list of 174 famous or important people diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or subject of published speculation about whether they are or were on the autistic spectrum
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2006/09/referenced-list-of-famous-or-important.html
Clever, Creative, Controversial: A referenced list of 37 famous living people who have been identified in any way as autistic, to any degree, during any period of their life, including famous people diagnosed with Asperger syndrome
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/10/clever-creative-controversial.html
I have done further research on some of these. Dan Akroyd has confirmed the quote were he says he was diagnosed with Asperger's is not actually a quote of his. That he has never been diagnosed, nor is he suspected to have Asperger's.
The Steven Speilberg diagnosis has also been called into serious question. I don't remember exactly where, but I know I did come across that.
I've gotten to where I don't like diagnosing deceased. However, it's HEAVILY suggested (like, nearly unrefuttable) that Turing was Asperger's. I find Turing to be extremely interesting especially since many out of the "computer geek" community have no idea who he is/was despite his contribution to the whole of our society.
Re Dan Aykroyd CM, you can listen to what he said himeslf here:
Gross, Terri. (2004) Comedian – and writer – Dan Aykroyd. Fresh Air. NPR. November 22 2004.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4181931
[discusses his childhood diagnosis at around 29 minutes into this radio interview]
The fact that Aykroyd mentions childhood schizophrenia doesn't detract from the argument that he is on the spectrum, in fact, it adds to it, because many years ago when he was a boy this was a term that was used interchangeably with autism. I think its quite unlikely that a non-medical person would be acquainted with the term, unless they had some personal reason to know about it. This was of course, many decades before the term "Asperger's syndrome" was used.
Regarding Steven Spielberg, he is not on the list. Representatives of Spielberg's made a formal objection when The Jewish Chronicle published a story a few years ago that included a claim that he was diagnosed with AS. True or not, he obviously doesn't like the rumours that irresponsible and insensitive people keep spreading. I think it is so unprofessional that a psychologist would sprread such rumours.
Interesting thing here: Einstein, Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla were thought to have Asperger's by Simon Baron Cohen, Ioan James and Michael Fitzgerald, and Einstein by Tony Attwood, but then Glen Elliott, a psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco, comes along and dismisses these, based on the concept that there could be other possible causes, which i can accept as possibly being the case, but then he totally discredits himself in my eyes because he states that "Einstein had a good sense of humour, a trait uncommon among those with Asperger syndrome". First off, i personally don't think that's really accurate, and i also think it possibly indicates some degree of prejudice in his view of people on the Spectrum, and then, uncommon doesn't mean never anyway. There are people with Asperger's who are very funny - i have met a few, and people tell me i have a very good sense of humour (only i never get it when people tease me - big surprise)
Here's the URL for the Einstein comments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_speculated_to_have_been_autistic#Ein...
So, in looking at this, i'm wondering if this is one of those incidents of academic snippiness, rather than actually valid criticism. I know i've heard that in that field there's a tendency toward competitiveness, and putting down someone else's surmise might fit in with that.
Oliver Sacks? Could be the same issue, perhaps. Thoughts about this issue, anyone?
Trying a comment again!!!
Dan Akroyd admits to having AS. I met someone who worked for Bill Gates who says he privately admits it. Publicly, perhaps not, though.
Authors: Look Me in the Eye (John Elder Robison) and Parallel Play (Tim Page).
I suspect one of my son's attorneys has AS (not sure though). Her children are autistic, and she is a professor and a very vocal and passionate advocate who travels and speaks extensively. I'm not sure if you are looking for special ed attorneys for your panel. She may be spread too thin already. I could ask ...
I'll think some more ...