Joined: Apr 02, 2007 Posts: 2120 Location: Australia
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:26 pm Post subject: Famous Autistics/Aspies - more postive images in the media
Hello,
I know the thread about 'Famous Aspies/Autistcs' has been done many times before, but I'm hoping to put a new angle on it.
There is so much negative publicity about Autism/Asperger's.
Can we counter the negative publicity by getting more stories out there about successful, famous Autistics/Aspies?
The public is obsessed with celebrity. Can we counter the negativity of Autism Speaks by focusing on 'celebrity Aspies' (I hate the term, but I'm thinking about getting the interest of those into celebrity). The focus would need to be on people who have been diagnosed, not those speculated to be Aspie.
Heather from America's Next Top Model was a great positive role model.
Craig Nicholls, lead singer of The Vines was diagnosed with Asperger's by Tony Attwood.
It is uncertain whether Bill Gates has been diagnosed or not; surely by now he has heard that he is speculated to be autistic- the news outlet he owns has even reported it.
Temple Grandin, obviously.
Daniel Tammet
Kim Peek
Matt Savage, musician
Richard Borcherds, Fields Medalist
There are plenty of others as well. I included some classic auties in the list. _________________ WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Joined: Jul 18, 2004 Age: 33 Posts: 20716 Location: Out in the evening, with me two best Rat Mates, somewhere in Canada :O)
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:20 am Post subject:
Stephen Spielberg:
Writer and director of the Jurassic Park movies. _________________ Sid The Rat is everything that I stand for. We're both large, proud Punkers with Cockney accents. We both have the same issues, as well. I don't see anything wrong, with that. I was put on this planet, to make myself happy. Sid :O)
Joined: Apr 02, 2007 Posts: 2120 Location: Australia
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:03 am Post subject:
CockneyRebel wrote:
Stephen Spielberg:
Writer and director of the Jurassic Park movies.
Have they actually been formally diagnosed and stated it publicly?
Isn't Autism Awareness week in April?
Couldn't WP members be flooding media people with messages about famous, successful Aspies / Autistics? Again, the general public is obsessed with celebrity. I believe we need to appeal to this celebrity obsession.
Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Age: 21 Posts: 1268 Location: A cruel H*llhole called Earth.
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:58 pm Post subject:
Smelena wrote:
Have they actually been formally diagnosed and stated it publicly?
The only person I know of officially diagnosed with AS is Craig Nicholls, though Gary Numan (not mentioned in this thread until now) has brought up his personal history before and remembers he was almost diagnosed with autism many years ago. _________________ My site: Thoughts of an Autistic (updated May 20, 2008)
Joined: Dec 19, 2007 Posts: 1965 Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject: Famous Autistic/Aspies
David Cronenberg Topic
Many people have never heard of this director of the master chiller horror theatre genre. If you have ever seen History of Violence, Scanners or Videodrome, to name a few of his films, and if you are Aspie, then you may be able to see AS traits in David Cronenberg, Canadian film director and actor. He just had his 65th birthday. _________________ Radical Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind
Here's a copy of the letter that I sent to Alex about this, including the interview and facts supporting my point of view:
Quote:
I just can't let this one slip by...I know that Ackroyd said in an interview (partial transcript - Dan Ackroyd - Asperger Syndrome) that he was diagnosed with Asperger's as a 12 year old; however, this is just not possible.
The diagnostic criteria were not developed until 1989.
Ackroyd is less than a month younger than I, at 55 years old, and there was no diagnosis of Asperger's at that point in our lives. He may well self-identify with Asperger's as an adult (though sometimes it's hard to tell when he's joking). Nonetheless, please don't perpetuate the story about him actually being diagnosed at the age of 12. For whatever reason he said that, it's not true. I even feel mocked by him in that interview.
When I first looked this topic up, less than two years ago, there were only a couple of references to it; now the listings seem endless. This is taking on the essence of an urban legend, and it does not dignify the WP site to repeat it.
There must be someone who is upfront and recently diagnosed that you can use as an Aspie exemplar, but Ackroyd is not the one. People take what you put up on the home page as gospel, and this is not factual.
Heck, even the NT interviewer thought that he was joking. He may have been diagnosed with something like childhood schizophrenia, as was often the case at the time, and he may identify with Asperger's, for all I know, but he did not receive a diagnosis of Asperger's as a preteen, and that is a fact, and so calls everything else he said in this interview into question.
Here's a copy of the letter that I sent to Alex about this, including the interview and facts supporting my point of view:
Quote:
I just can't let this one slip by...I know that Ackroyd said in an interview (partial transcript - Dan Ackroyd - Asperger Syndrome) that he was diagnosed with Asperger's as a 12 year old; however, this is just not possible.
The diagnostic criteria were not developed until 1989.
Ackroyd is less than a month younger than I, at 55 years old, and there was no diagnosis of Asperger's at that point in our lives. He may well self-identify with Asperger's as an adult (though sometimes it's hard to tell when he's joking). Nonetheless, please don't perpetuate the story about him actually being diagnosed at the age of 12. For whatever reason he said that, it's not true. I even feel mocked by him in that interview.
When I first looked this topic up, less than two years ago, there were only a couple of references to it; now the listings seem endless. This is taking on the essence of an urban legend, and it does not dignify the WP site to repeat it.
There must be someone who is upfront and recently diagnosed that you can use as an Aspie exemplar, but Ackroyd is not the one. People take what you put up on the home page as gospel, and this is not factual.
Heck, even the NT interviewer thought that he was joking. He may have been diagnosed with something like childhood schizophrenia, as was often the case at the time, and he may identify with Asperger's, for all I know, but he did not receive a diagnosis of Asperger's as a preteen, and that is a fact, and so calls everything else he said in this interview into question.
Stating is as if he were in fact an aspie and not simply joking about it would be incorrect. I agree.
Joined: Apr 20, 2007 Posts: 600 Location: Upstate New York, USA
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject: public fiqures with AS
I read in a business magazine that Bill Gates of Microsoft has Asperger's Syndrome. However, at his age of 52 years old, AS
was not recognized when he was born in 1954. In the magazine article, Bill Gates acknowledged that he rocks when he feels stressed...among other traits of Asperger's Syndrome.
Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Age: 21 Posts: 1268 Location: A cruel H*llhole called Earth.
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:55 pm Post subject:
Orwell wrote:
beau99 wrote:
Orwell wrote:
Kim Peek
Kim Peek isn't autistic.
He isn't?
Nope.
He is merely a savant and nothing more. It was believed he was autistic for a long time, but his diagnosis got changed. _________________ My site: Thoughts of an Autistic (updated May 20, 2008)
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