Asperger syndrome in Star Trek: series

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oooh, don't tell people about the green blood, Labbie!
that's our little secret!

Merle

'K

Except for V8 robot.......that's pure red-blooded V8 juice!

I thought that Lt. Reed was a little bit like aspie he prefer formal relations and very devoted to work.
I remember once Captain Archer invited him to dinner at the captain's dinning room. Lieutenant Reed said he did not feel comfortable eating a meal in the company of superior officer. I probably would feel like him, I have always been shy and avoided others, and I did not like publicity.

Reginald Barclay definitely has AS traits, doesn't he? Socially awkward, check. Preferring fantasy to reality, check. Hopeless with women, check!

I always thought I was like Data, or a Vulcan, when I was a kid.

I identify more with the Romulans than the Vulcans. On TNG i'd say I identify more with Worf and Geordi than I do Data. Not to say that they are "aspies" but I find that data is just a little too lacking in the temperment department. Where as Geordi can get very frustrated (often with Data) and problems in engineering. Worf similarly has a temper, mostly when people challenge his honor and he is always being socially awkward when he is off duty.

Spock is neurotypical, for a Vulcan. His psychology's a little messed up because of the whole "half-Human" thing, but for a Vulcan, he's normative. (The Vulcan discipline of emotional suppression is practiced because Vulcans in fact are by nature extremely emotional beings. They very nearly destroyed their planet when they invented nuclear weapons while still in the tribal stage - fortunately, that was when Surak's philosophies began to spread. The Romulans left because they thought that suppressing one's emotions made one weak.)

Data acts like an aspie because he's an android, and has no emotions to display or understand. (Although I hold that he was in fact learning them over time, and just didn't know it - in the episode "Pen Pal", for instance, when Picard ordered Data to stop communicating with the little alien girl from the doomed planet, the logical process would have been to either stop entirely right then, or wait until his off-hours to compose a goodbye message. Instead, he opened a voice channel to the girl right there in front of the Captain, probably knowing what that would do...)

Kim's quite sociable. Barclay, on the other hand, does seem to be almost prototypically aspie...

Basically, this.

Looking at the diagnostic criteria, does Spock show ...

A.Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

- He has no problems with looking people in the eye.
- Facial expressions? Spock's are very subtle, because he's spent a lifetime controlling his behavior, so as to be acceptable to Vulcan society. He doesn't actually have an impairment. He'll show the appropriate expression at the right time, but in a very toned-down manner. You can see his eyes crinkle when he's amused or happy. Sometimes he's visibly stopping himself from outright smiling. At the end of the episode, Amok Time, he couldn't contain himself, and burst into a wide grin.
- Body postures and gestures? Same deal, it's a Vulcan cultural thing ... and also a military thing. He's just a perfectionist and a good officer ... and he does actually use hand gestures when he's more relaxed.
- General thoughts about his social interaction: he keeps to himself a lot, but he isn't awkward. In an argument with McCoy, or sometimes Kirk, he gives as good as he gets. He's very good at thinking on his feet in conversation: he always has a witty comeback, delivered straight away.


(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

- Nope. Vulcans aren't big on friendship. However, he has a very good friendship with Jim, and also Bones, eventually. Not to mention the rest of the bridge officers - they were all ready to risk their lives and careers in the third movie to get him back. That would imply a connection ...
- As for sexuality, well, I think male Vulcans aren't really sexually mature until their first pon farr (Amok Time, again). He did, however, flirt with plenty of girls throughout the series: Leila Kalomi, the Romulan Commander, Droxine, Zarabeth. He just wasn't into poor Nurse Chapel.


(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)

- Again, no. Spock is always pointing out objects of interest.
- As for sharing enjoyment/interests ... he plays chess with Captain Kirk (episode references: The Menagerie, Charlie X, they talk about chess in The Corbomite Maneuver as well).


(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

- I think we've covered this. He's interested in other people. He recognizes if there's something wrong. He also gives great motivational speeches when the captain's having a bad day.


B.Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus.

Not that I have ever seen. He's good at his job, but it doesn't rule every spare second of his life.

(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

Nope. Rituals? He likes to meditate, but he doesn't mind Jim interrupting him. Also, I would say that meditating probably counts as functional.

(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

Nope. No stimming.

(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

Nah.


C.The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

He's been called the best First Officer in the fleet. The only reason he wasn't promoted to captain much earlier, was that he didn't want to be promoted.

D.There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

E.There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

F.Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

n/a



I can see how he could seem like an aspie, but I think it's more the fact that he's actually from the wrong planet, from a human's perspective.

Nice!! !!

Red blood here...but then, evidence suggests Cardassians have red blood.

That's how crazy I am about Star Trek--I have a special interest WITHIN a special interest. Oh, to live on Cardassia where, in my own writing, anyway, it's actually normal to smack somebody if they touch you without warning. (Reason being they sense people's electric fields, in my writing.)

Spock might be an aspie...

I'm female and I got called Spock as a kid...I never minded though because I admired him

~Kate

I wouldn't think Kim is an aspie at all. He's just a little introverted - that doesn't mean he's got a neurological problem, lol. Barclay may have AS, although he may just have social anxiety disorder. His face certainly isn't blank for instance, more like a twisted ball of angst.

Of course, each person is different, so the lack of ONE symptom doesn't rule out the diagnosis.

Though with Barclay, I tend to think more along the lines of an anxiety disorder. I WOULD also suspect ADHD.

Several people (particularly aliens) who have similar traits, although the reason may be different.

Spock, Barclay, Data, (possibly Lore), Odo, Rom, (possibly one or more from Jack, Sarina, Patrick and Lauren ~ the GE people from "statistical probabilities" ...but not Julian I don't think.) Seven?? & the Doctor from VOY, Neelix??

Interesting that someone should suggest Reed. I'd never really thought of him. I was watching that thing the other day when Hoshi is trying to find out his favourite food and even his parents don't know for sure.

A lot of the people suggested tend to be the observers, and those who are discovering things about "humanity" ~ or "humanoids", in the case of the Constable, ~ from an intellectual perspective rather than intuitively.

DS9 is my favourite series so I probably could think of more from there than any other. ~ one of the major reasons why I put question marks against a lot of the VOY characters is because I haven't seen a lot of VOY in quite some time. Or originals, for that matter.

You ever see in that baseball episode: Rom is the one who can't play baseball (even though I heard Max Grodenchik was the best out of all of them!) and Odo is the ump.! ! Because he's such a stickler for the rules and has them all memorised with paragraph numbers and everything.
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Edit: Just remembered. How about Tobin Dax? "No imagination and barely a sex life, but he knew phase coil inverters like nobody else."

I already sugested Lt. Reed he was very dovoted to work and when captain Archer invited him to dinner private quaters he told him that eating meal in company of superior officer made him unconfortable I probably feel this same because i'm little shy
T'pol also can have AS but she are Vulcans and evrybody know that Vulcans are aspies:-)

I already sugested Lt. Reed he was very dovoted to work and when captain Archer invited him to dinner private quaters he told him that eating meal in company of superior officer made him unconfortable I probably feel this same because i'm little shy
T'pol also can have Asperger syndrome but she is Vulcan and evrybody knew that Vulcans are aspies

Yup......it's written into the DSM V. Or at least it should be! It's the green-blooded thingy