About Einstein and other Role Models and Heroes

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As someone who is still pretty much coming to terms with Asperger's and overcoming the stigma associated with it, I am a little concerned when people start speculating on which living public figure is ASD or not. I am not sure if Bill Gates, for example, appreciates his name being mentioned in the same breath as Asperger's. Maybe he isn't aware of it, maybe he is and doesn't care. But when we start talking about living people then we are talking about privacy issues, and we need to respect that.

It is one thing if I tell you that I am Aspy; it is another thing entirely should I log onto a website and find people discussing whether or not I have a condition that still is considered something shameful by a significant portion of the population. Fortunately I am not a public figure so I don't have to worry about it. But there are important people in my life who do not know that I am Aspy, like my employer, nor am I ready at this time for them to find out via a third party. We need to be sensitive to the consequences of "outing" someone against their wishes.

Tesla, I have no doubt.

His writings speak to me, and the reviews make me laugh.

Everyone of his experiments worked first time, for he ran them in his head first.

I miss a lot, but catch a few high waves.

ClosetAspy, I feel the same way about Bill Gates. The same about John Travolta. Apparently, there is wide spread belief that his teenage son is autistic and that he is in denial. In the curebie crowd, he is accused of denying his son "care". I don't know if these charges are true but I will say it's possible that the very rich can afford private accomodation without telling others. It's not his responsibility to "come out" as an autism parent if he doesn't want to.
As an autism parent myself, we are closely scruitinzed and criticized for everything we do and don't do. I don't blame the guy if (and I don't know) he is keeping it quiet.