Brian Wilson - aspie?

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Brian Wilson - musical genius, obsessive perfectionist, reclusive and socially awkward drug addict... is he an aspie? It's hard to tell because his brain is so fried from doing more coke than just about any musician in history, but I see many signs. Any thoughts?

I've read several books about Brain Wilson. I doubt he's an aspie. I suspect that some, if not most, of his problems stem from childhood abuse. He may also be bipolar, or something along those lines. AS does not seem to fit his unique behaviors, as described by himself and his associates.

However, the whole question of his diagnosis is obscured by Dr. Eugene Landy's prominent influence (understatement) in his life. Dr. Landy essentially controlled him for decades, turning him into a completely different person. Who's to say what he'd be like if he had not been abused as a child and then controlled by Dr. Landy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiQHqZ8b ... re=related

Check out his body language and rocking here.

Interesting! I watched some of the other interviews too. Yeah, I think it's possible.

And there's more that could be evidence of him being an aspie--his tendency to say things that aren't quite appropriate for the situation, social awkwardness, social anxiety, obsessiveness, meltdowns, hiding from people, child-like playfulness . . . who knows?

I don't think you could ever seperate out the effects of drugs from what was there originally, at least not without knowing him very well. Wasn't he also quite keen on acid?

I agree that it is hard to distinguish between his general eccentricity and the brain damage done by all of the drugs, and yes he did take a lot of LSD.

He began behaving eccentrically before he started using drugs. Most notably, he had a meltdown on an airplane during one of the Beach Boys' first tours. He was very young at the time. After that, he couldn't tour much. He stayed home and wrote music for them instead. He was obviously suffering from bouts of severe depression and anxiety. He binged on drugs and food in order to escape from his problems, and his behavior became increasingly bizarre. However, this strange behavior persisted when he was not using drugs. I think it is also possible that the physical abuse that he was subjected to at a young age resulted in some kind of brain damage, the effects of which may not have been evident until adulthood. If one thing's for sure, it's that there are many possible explanations for his eccentricity.

I just saw a film about Beach Boys which immediately made me suspect Brian Wilson is an aspie. After watching a few interviews with him I'm even more convinced (he's sometimes rocking, avoiding eye-contact, inarticulate etc).
I'm sure the drugs are partly to blame (but of what I read) he didn't take as much drugs as people think. My theory is that drugs (hallucinatory drugs in particular) do more damage to people on the autistic spectrum than it does to other people. Only my theory of course!

And after watching an hour long interview with Brian's hero, Phil Spector, I'm also suspecting Phil is an aspie.
Just watch "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector" (it can be downloaded) and I think you'll see what I mean!

He probably is. I have heard alot of names of possible aspies thrown around, which I knew were not aspies, but bipolar (Jack White, Kurt Cobian, etc). I say this because I have met, or know people who were close to these folks. This is the first one that mentioned somebody who was probably somebody with ASD. Does he have PTSD too...yes, but from what I understand from those close to him, he was like this since a small child.

I would throw in Nick Drake as well.

i think it's likely!