Can animals have Asperger's - autism?

Post Reply New Topic

it is well documented that many animal herds have an outsider. Animals may look simple to us, but like us they still use a lot of body language- even more than us actually as they dont have the speech capabilities we have- and their social structures are built on 2 things- the ability to groom other animals and/or get along with them, and asserting of dominance.

I cant see why it cannot be possible that animals are born with differing abilities to decode body language, or behave appropriately for their species.

I have read about wolves being shunned from their pack, and having to walk around by themselves. Also, I read that of dolphins that hang around human populations at beaches, many do so because they are different from their pod.

This is interesting b/c its starting to sound like almost any rogue animal could be the autistic version of their species.

I doubt it; autism is hardly the only reason why an animal might be a social outsider.

There are transgenic mice with Rett syndrome. Animal models for regular autism haven't been discovered yet.

Temple Grandin states that autistic people can relate to animals better than people often is because the animals are autistic like.

My odd cat also have compulsions. He needs to be spotless which isn't unusual for a cat. But if I have a spot on me he will get mesmerized and continue licking until it's gone. Oftentimes he mistakes a hole for a spot and he licks until I stop him.

Yup, my cat's terrible at making small talk

My bearded dragon is non verbal.

Lots of stupid assumptions in this thread. (Next topic: Why aren't all Aspies/Auties rational?)

Lack of empathy is not a diagnostic criteria for ASD. You could believe it were, given the high number of misdiagnosed Sociopaths on this site claiming to be Autistic.


Animals can have neurological disorders, i saw a documentary about research on Trichotillomania (Link) where they genetically modified mice to get it.

Haha. I have to say I've kinda wondered about the same thing. I know some people are just angry at the world and have a right to be but I've seen some pretty extreme statements here. I've seen a lot of very sweet Aspies to make up for it.

Perhaps you should interview some animals and get their side of the story.........or perhaps check with Dr. Dolittle.

Perhaps they would be eligible for benefits

If, say, a wolf had Aspergers how would you know? Personally I think AS is only a disorder in the context of modern society.

No, I highly doubt that.
Animals can have "special needs" though, and have disabilities of the brain and stuff. I saw a video on youtube of two disabled chimps, one had some brain condition that makes him hit himself a lot, and another had a deformed hand and was a bit ret*d. So yeah you can have special needs animals.

BUT I am HIGHLY doubtful of there being autistic animals.

I am not denying that animals can have mental problems. I agree that they can have "special needs". I'm just saying that animals don't have as complicated a social order as humans and they do the same thing every day anyway (eat, sleep, eat, sleep), so if a wolf is obsessive, what is there to be obsessed about? Hunting? Wolves do that every day anyway! An AS wolf and an NT wolf would have different minds and yet behave the same way!

Animal AS would probably come across as more of a personality quirk than a disorder, if anything. Civilization puts behavioral expectations on us humans that animals are not subject to. As we progress socially, expectations increase and characteristics that would have been seen as lovable personality quirks (or barely noticed at all) in prehistory and/or history are labled as disorders.

I wasn't answering your wolf question lol I was asnwering the origional question.
I agree with you btw, epsecially that last bit.

Misunderstanding cleared up!
It's always nice when someone agrees with me.

Next topic: Why aren't all Aspies/Auties able to detect sarcasm *sigh* Thanks for the laugh though