Famous People With Aspergers Syndrome

There are actually a lot of famous people who are both well-known and successful that have Asperger’s Syndrome.  You should take a look at some of these people to see how Asperger’s syndrome does not have to get in your way of being successful.  In fact, sometimes it is the very traits of Asperger’s that can make you successful.

So, let’s have a look at the many famous people with Aspergers and some people from the past that had traits, signs, and symptoms of today’s known Asperger’s syndrome.

Famous Scientists With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous scientists with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work.  However, he wasn’t able to speak fluently when he was 9 years old.
• Isaac Newton dropped out of school when he was a teenager.  This was probably because he found the school’s rules to be illogical.
• Benjamin Franklin is one of the most important founding fathers of our country.  He was a theorist, author, politician, scientist (discovering electricity and its various theories), activist, diplomat, and the first head of the post office.  He was also notorious for his extreme or different sense of humor, which is something that is common among those who have Asperger’s Syndrome.

Famous Politicians With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous politicians with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Napoleon Bonaparte was afraid of cats, favored mathematicians and physical science, and tended to exclude humanists from his inner circle because he thought that they were troublemakers.  This demonstrates that he had some unfounded fears.  He was also known to be hypersensitive to textures on his feet and would make his servants break his new boots in for him.
• George Washington was known to grow marijuana to medicate himself.  He also had a lot of unfounded fears such as the fear of being buried alive.  History also shows that he had difficulty with money management, had pack rack tendencies, and was impulsive whenever it came to giving away his possessions.
• John Quincy Adams owned and kept a pet alligator in the East Room of the White House.  Most people with Asperger’s Syndrome have atypical tendencies like this.
• Andrew Jackson was very rigid in his concrete thinking and had difficulty being able to see other people’s perspectives.
• Andrew Johnson taught himself tailoring and made his own clothes probably because he felt nervous or fidgety.
• Abraham Lincoln had a nervous breakdown.  He also had a very strong need for routine even when it doesn’t appear to be working.  Plus he was quite rigid in what he did.
• Teddy Roosevelt refused medical assistance when he was shot until he completed a speech that he was delivering.  This also demonstrates rigidity of rules and routines, with a touch of obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

Famous Musicians With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous musicians with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Beethoven was such a poor music student that his music teachers decided that he was hopeless as a composer.  He was also preoccupied with sensory experiences (i.e, pouring water on his head every time he sat down to compose).
• Elvis was compulsive with food and sensory perseverations.  He also needed to have a rigid routine and to be in control.  Furthermore, he died with several different drugs in his system, demonstrating his tendencies to self-medicate.

Famous Philosophers With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous philosophers with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Jeremy Bentham maintained vivid and complex imaginary worlds, often with imaginary friends.
• Socrates committed suicide due to depression that was caused by difficulties with understanding social conventions.

Famous Inventors With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous inventors with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Henry Ford believed history was bunk.  He also believed in reincarnation.  His belief system was so rigid that he couldn’t understand or tolerate another perspective.
• Bill Gates is suspected of having Aspie traits, which could be seen in the first business he created.  It involved the creation of a machine that recorded the number of cars that passed by a certain point on the road.

Famous Actors With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous actors with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Tom Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln.  Genetic ties are strong among those with Asperger’s Syndrome.
• Marilyn Monroe was known to be emotionally unstable, to suffer from depression, and finally to have committed suicide.
• Clark Gable took more than four showers a day.  This indicates his obsessive-compulsive characteristics, which are common among those who have Asperger’s Syndrome.

Famous Writers With Asperger’s Syndrome

Some famous writers with Asperger’s Syndrome include:

• Virginia Woolf would only write her books when she was standing up.  She also suffered from depression, social isolation, and a variety of eccentricities.
• Shakespeare spelled his own name in several different ways.
• Hans Christian Anderson was never able to spell correctly.
• Goethe hated the sound of barking dogs, indicating his hyperactivity to sounds and noises.  He was also only able to write whenever he had an apple rotting in the desk drawer.
• Isaac Asimov has a book included in each Dewey decimal category, thus indicating his need for control and ritual.
• Ernest Vincent Wright’s novel “Gatsby” contains 50,000 words with none of them containing the letter “e.”
• Charles Dickinson dropped out of school and suffered from insomnia.  He believed that if his bed was facing north and he was in the center of it, then he might be able to sleep.  Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or having nightmares or night terrors is common among people who have Asperger’s Syndrome.  It is also common for them to create odd rituals and routines in order to cope with things.