Real life celebrities who have or probably have Aspergers

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Yeah, I would say that Synth Pop Pioneer Gary Numan is an Aspie as well as Peter Tork from the Monkees and Craig Nichols from the Australian band The Vines. As for the band Pink Floyd, it's been rumored that Syd Barrett was an Aspie, but there's been no firm evidence of this. And of course, Heather K. from Cycle 9 of ANTM.

Interviews turning into monologues... I saw Crispin Glover doing an "interview" one time with Tom Green and that's basically how it went.

On people who can make eye contact and don't stim, I'm not sure how universal those are. My stims aren't really noticeable (I don't think) and I can turn it off when I know I'm on the spot (like job interviews/auditions/etc).

Also, I was reading one of those trashy tell all books "You'll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again" and it seems to imply that Spielberg has/had echolalia. There's a part when Julia Phillips (washed up producer turned cokehead) was talking to him and she mentioned his tendency to repeat things that people had just said to him. That's an autistic trait. People have also said that if you start talking to him on a topic he really likes... that's just it. It becomes a lecture.

Daryl Hannah - oh my god. Stripping away all the physical differences (I'm short, brown-haired, etc), that could be me. The way she uses her hands in the first video, turning them over as she explains something important to her, rubbing her arms. And in the second video, from the TV interview, the way she keeps laughing right away and simultaneously looking at the man to her right, with whom she clearly feels safe, as if to see what her reaction should be - that's exactly what I always do with my husband. The way she slowly realizes she's not getting something about Dame Edna as she hears the audience laugh. The way she fiddles with her fingers, hugs herself. The way she walks on stage, awkward, not graceful. How young and sweet she seems, not at all like a seasoned, famous actress (though at the time of this interview she was already 29 and had 16 movies behind her, including Splash and Blade Runner). And the way she uses eye contact. I'm dumbfounded. I feel like I'm watching me.

It is supposed that Bill gates has AS

I read this interview in the Guardian with David Mitchell*:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... television

*He's a British comedian and actor, famous for appearing in That Mitchell and Webb Look and also a very funny series called Peep Show.

Doesn't like change, can't see the point in peer pressure 'Keeping up with the Joneses' moving to bigger houses and buying new plasma TVs and stuff, poses for the photographer quite awkwardly and when the photographer tries to get him relax he says: "But this is just how I look."

The article says "he has been obsessed with comedy since he was a child, he says, when he would memorise Monty Python scripts and write sketches at school."

He went to Cambridge (obviously quite brainy).

And there's stuff about friendships and relationships that sounds a bit spectrum-y as well:

"There's lots of famous comedians I get on with very well," he says, "but I'm slightly embarrassed about broaching the 'So, shall we be friends now?' bit. And I worry that I've been both over-familiar, and that I've been unfriendly. There are lots of comedians who I'd happily go for a pint with, but I feel a bit weird...

...It is seven years since he was in a relationship, he says. "And I think I would like to, really. But I don't know how to go about that. The problem is I hate the sort of dating thing. I just ... I just find it incredibly awkward. So what I've ended up doing is a bit of a disaster, not really embracing that in the normal way but very occasionally, very pissedly getting off with someone. And the next day it's oh no! What have I done? Because, inevitably, it's been someone who, nice though they are, I know I don't want a relationship with. And then I feel bad in case they have a different view. I don't want to be arrogant enough to infer that, but it's a possibility. I just feel bad, I feel why did I do that?"

[source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... television ]

No one's mentioned Joanna Newsom yet (maybe 'cuz no one here knows who she is?) She seems pretty Aspie to me. Pretty cute too!

I'll second David Mitchell... it struck me when I watched his episode of Who Do You Think You Are. He got very annoyed at being probed to discuss how he felt about his ancestors and repeatedly said 'I never knew them and I feel nothing towards them' or something similar. I gather feeling connected to people you don't know due to a tenuous bloodline connection is a common symptom of Neurotypicality.

I'm curious about the Joanna Newsom suggestion... it seems highly probable given that she was in a relationship with Bill Callahan. Her sister is an astrophysicist and quite aspergian by the sounds of things. Now that I've mentioned Bill Callahan, I've often wondered about him... he is certainly misanthropic.

"I couldn't memorize a century of slang
Or learn to tell the same story again again and again"

Also he likes to stare at members of the audience to the point they feel uncomfortable... certainly something I have to admit I'd like to be able to do if I were afforded the confidence of 2 decades of critical acclaim and indie cred... or possibly an internalised commentary on the absurdity of a having a room full of people stare at you when your art is not visual.

In fact just about every artist on Drag City Records strike me as a little Aspergian, Will Oldham, David Grubbs, David Pajo, Liam Hayes but most of all Jim O'Rourke.

O'Rourke clearly doesn't spend any time on anything besides his obsessions (music & film) He has a stunning piano like guitar tone which is incredibly difficult to achieve, obviously from rigid practice schedules rather than raw talent. His song writing style is based on an incongruence between the music and the words; often incredibly witty observations about the absurdity of the human condition.

And now that I've finished writing all that I see the this is not the right forum. In an attempt to justify not deleting my post Bill Callahan was featured on the soundtrack to the film High Fidelity and Jim O'Rourke is in fact also a film maker and has scored for several films.

David Byrne of the Talking Heads once said of himself in an interview to possibly have AS.

I have to admit when I read that, was first time I felt like maybe this s**t isn't so bad.

Andy Kaufman? eh, eh?

Her mannerisms are just like mine, it's so odd to watch!

I suspect that Neil Peart (drummer and lyricist for Rush) may be an Aspie. He definitely has traits.

In his book 'Ghost Rider', he speaks with disdain over a lot of American Culture (especially Las Vegas), plus when he finds an interest, he goes in full blast (drums, motorcycling). Plus, he's very vocal about being uncomfortable with his modest celebrity as he calls it. ("I can't pretend a stranger is a long, awaited friend." from 'Limelight')