Albert Einstein

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Was Albert Einstein Aspie? Why do you think in this way?

You know, that is a great question. I know the Aspies claim him as do several other disorders. He does sound kind of Aspie. Does anyone know a lot of background on his history? Ancedotal stories may shed some light.

There was a physics site I went to just a couple weeks ago, but I forget the link.

A lot of reports DO show some discrepancies.

Some claim Einstein was practically considered an idiot. He DID manage to go to college, etc... But ended up working as a patent clerk. He LATER showed promise. This all sounds like aspergers, even though the promise was recognized late, etc... He DID know french, and obviously learned english, so things weren't as bad as they appeared.

Einstein's parietal operculum region was missing from his brain ALSO! Logically, this could lead to autistic symptoms, and the rest of his brain shows AS similarities.

Most evidence seems to show he had AS.

But HEY, they DO indicate that he had certain AS aspects. Wikipedia even said:

That sounds ALMOST like what happened to me. My mother said my speech wasn't really delayed, but indicated I didn't chatter or use simple words like other babies. She said I first spoke in complete sentences and it was clear and easily understood. And she said it was every sentence. This COULD be interpreted as delayed speech, slow development, or a disability, even though the end result happens faster.

Steve

Last edited by SteveK on 24 Nov 2006, 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i think he is, but logic denies it... it is unlikely, he shows more autie symtoms then aspie, anyway.

I don't think so. It annoys me that Albert Einstein has been 'diagnosed' post mortem with dyslexia, ADHD, and AS. It seems that every group wants to claim him as their own because his name would give prestige to the diagnosis and so they look for any slight symptoms to support their claim. Genius is an abnormality so it makes sense that Einstein would be abnormal in some ways, but that doesn't mean that his abnormality can be classified as a neurological disorder.

I think the biggest obstacle to claiming that Einstein suffered from any neurological disorder is the criterion that the neurological disorder had to significantly impair his life. Considering that Einstein made a greater contribution to humanity than most of us will ever make, I have a hard time accepting that Einstein was impaired.

[sarcasm]Yes, he FINALLY managed to go to college at the advanced age of 17. What a slow student Einstein was- he didn't manage to go to college until he was 17 or graduate until he was 21! [/sarcasm]

Stephen Hawking is physically impaired, and he's made some pretty major contributions to scientific thought over these past few years. Being impaired in one sense doesn't necessarily mean that one is impaired in any other, and impairment doesn't keep one from making contributions to humanity if one has something to contribute.

I'm guessing Autie, actually. Delayed speech + very good visual skills + eccentricity... I'm not sure about ADHD, but with the sheer creativity and energy the guy had, I wouldn't be surprised if he hyperfocused on physics and just pretty much left everything else a mess--including his hair!

Anyway, he sure had more positive traits than negative ones. Who cares if you're eccentric, if you get such a wonderful brain in exchange?

Last edited by Callista on 24 Nov 2006, 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Back then, that was slow.

Sadly Einstein along with several other famous people are under the "he had every disorder known to man" claim. He had lots of problems other than the fact he probably was Autistic. Most of which were outside of his control. Also keep in mind, back then, Germans thought if a person wasn't the same then they were completely ret*d. They still hit deaf children til they learn how to speak over there (very oralist society) and the disabled are still treated like total crap.

We can only speculate he had AS, much like we can only speculate that Mozart had Tourette's Syndrome.

I happen to have Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette's Syndrome, ADHD, and I'm partially deaf (No high-freq hearing). If we went by what Einstein, Mozart, and Beethoven were, I oughtta be some super genius Ironically enough I am a professional musician and can think abstract thoughts on physics o_O

Also keep in mind that people who are impared, as long as they aren't a vegtable, tend to have very strong skills in other areas. I might be wonderful with music, math, and languages, but I'm a horrible athelete. Doesn't mean I'm smarter than anyone else, just means I suck at the whole kinetic intelligence thing

I don't see how Einstein was impaired in any sense by AS type symptoms. Not only was he successful as a thinker, but he was also at least as successful as average in his social life. He was married twice, had children, and had many lovers.

Last edited by umbra on 24 Nov 2006, 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You can learn to be social. Also, many of those women persued him, not the other way around. I have AS and have had several girlfriends, does this mean I do not suffer from the imparements AS brings? Nope.

Exactly which symptoms of AS do you believe significantly impaired Einstein's life, then?

According to whom? My reading of the descriptions of Einstein's life has led me to believe that 17 was a perfectly normal age to enter university. He failed to enter university earlier than normal because he was not as precocious in the language subjects as he was in the mathematical/scientific subjects, but most people do not enter university earlier than normal. I'd like to see the source that tells you 17 was late to enter university.

Just look at his childhood. He had a horrible time making friends, he was always day dreaming and couldn't keep focus on anything he deemed not important, and later in his life he prefered to be left alone, had set routines, and was hyper focused on physics.

We can't claim he had AS because he isn't really alive, but all the evidence comes up in his childhood. The thing you need to remember is that no one is impaired unless they want to be impaired. He lived a good life, much better than how some of us will live.

His unique brain suture could be a sign that he's an aspie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein's_brain
I wonder if all Aspie's brains are like his.