Which Star Trek Character(s) Has Asperger's

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Hi,

I just joined this community, but I did so as a result of searching for what might be a dead thread here. (See subject).

In any case... Bear with me. Being new - getting to grips.

I am NT with a family member undiagnosed.

I have always thought that Keiko O'Brien was potentially Aspie - esp. in the DS9 series. She is very intelligent, very focused, and not very aware often of the subtlety of Miles' NT communication with her. She demonstrates some affection, but without the warmth that he seems to think is appropriate; it is more on her terms of being able to show something she thinks he will appreciate. He is often having to explain to her what he really means and her social interaction seems to be in a narrow world of her imagination often. They often seem to argue over misunderstood communication which all seem perfectly normal to her.

Recently watched an episode where she is told he is dead. She picks up on a cue from a recording of his death where he "never drinks coffee in the afternoon" and they find out he is alive. Afterward he tells her he does - and she didn't know - because she had not seen him do it and it did not fit the fixed pattern she had formed of him in her mind; she is surprised as a result.

Anyhow - wondered if anyone else had thought of her?

Kind regards

W.

Hi!

Very interesting thread.

I think Star Trek has always fascinated me as there are so many characters who are close to aspergers in some situations.

I also think Lt. Reginald Barclay is the character closest to aspergers. Here are 2 links:

YOUTUBE Barclay 1
YOUTUBE Barclay 2

More like she was played by a bad actress and your confusing a bad screen performance for AS. Whenever Keiko would deliver her lines I'd cringe, about as bad a Zoe Deschannell's performance in "Tin Man" a dreadful "reimagining" of the Wizard of Oz on SciFi Channel a few years back. No matter how cute Zoe Deschennell is, I couldn't sit through that one.

That's Garak, while the character is definitely not AS, he is highly misanthropic and bitter, qualities I can identify with.

I am going to say Odo, also.

I'm not sure that Rosalind Chao is a particularly bad actress, and, actually, I think perhaps the obverse of what you suggest is true - that she was *acting well* in playing Keiko Obrien and what is seen on the screen is in fact a portrayal in character.

Just thinking out loud.

I feel that there's something to empathize with, with Spock -- he's occasionally unable to fulfill his peoples' cultural expectations of him (i.e., he's sometimes not quite as emotionless as dignity would require, particularly in his youth, before he has learned the skill of imitating his peers, and in old age, when he doesn't give a -- well.), either because it's not in his nature or because it's not in his genes -- but that's not really Autism. It's other-Vulcan-mental-illness (and a family history of it regardless of species, what with his brother and all).

Spock is also supremely fantastic. For the record.

No one I'd identify as aspie in any Star Treks I've seen, although I haven't watched ENT or VOY. Barclay had basically every nervous and socially-awkward condition in existence other than asperger's, from what I recall. Worf seemed more estranged/depressed than anything else. Odo is possibly a good point, actually, although I'm not sure I'd say he has asperger's. Garak, of course, is a high-functioning NT.

Hi again!

See this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be57F9YSH9Q
"Reginald Barclay overview 04-06-2014"
- where "Dashric" says that Wesley Crusher, Reginald Barclay and Data are all somewhere in the spectrum and could be aspies / autistic ... He also says that Wesley could be a young version of Barclay if we talk about the character / personality although they are still 2 different personalities ...

... zzzzzz ...

And else you are, of course, also right ...

TNG: 7: 19: Genesis.

Marmoset Picard. Just like normal Picard, but with the instincts of a prey animal:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTl2sLBQabc[/youtube]

Pshh! By the 24th century, they'll probably have long invented a cure for Asperger's, or else they'll have weeded out the autistic genes by means of eugenics.

Trust the aspie community to have such strong views about whether certain fictional characters can be deemed to have Asperger's!

I wouldn't have thought it mattered how the symptoms came about, only that they're there. Yes, they will probably have learned how to effectively deal with autism and Asperger's by the 24th century (whether by removing the genes/giving treatment or putting sufferers on a suitable career path early on) but it's such a sensitive topic, I doubt they'll ever make reference to it in episodes. They're only now talking about putting homosexual characters in, after pushing the boundaries in the beginning by having Uhura on the bridge. The progressiveness didn't continue with any kind of momentum, from what I could see.

Getting back on topic, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Julian Bashir. He had to hide his being genetically engineered for all his life prior to his post on DS9 (which I think many of us can relate to, while seeking employment and keeping colleagues in the dark who might not take the revelation terribly well). Also, in early episodes (he calmed down later on), he rambled a great deal when everyone had stopped listening.

I could even mention Lwaxanna Troi, as she seemed to enjoy rubbing against the grain as loudly as she could. Poor Picard and Deanna, they were so embarrassed!

Yes, yes, it's only a fictional universe, I know. My first post ends here. Blog intro might get posted. I'm in two minds right now. In any case, hello everyone!

This is a good one-man-diskussion

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be57F9YSH9Q[/youtube]

Harry Kim possibly.

I'm not as familiar with DS9 or Voyager as I should be, but I think the examples of Julian and Harry are kind of a case of pareidolia -- since we want to find fictional examples of autism/Asperger Syndrome, we see them everywhere. From what I remember of those characters, they don't really strike me as autistic in any capacity.

I can see where Barclay would be championed as an Aspie, but I think he was more a case of general social anxiety combined with a lack of self-confidence and some pretty severe fantasy-indulging. These are all recognized symptoms of ASD, but I don't think that was the writers' intention with Barclay. He really seems more of an intentionally-awkward character, but otherwise neurotypical.

Personally, I think the best (admittedly perhaps a bit cliche) unintentional representative of Asperger Syndrome would be Data. He does, at some level, understand that humans use emotional and empathic response to guide their social interactions and he has collected data on observed interactions, but he isn't capable of making it work for himself. That's definitely one of the biggest problems I've had with my own Asperger's.

If we wanted to draw out the comparison to the full autism spectrum, I would also postulate that Data's "daughter" Lal represents lower-functioning diagnoses of autism.