Mark Zuckerberg an Aspie- Yahoo News

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I have no official diagnosis. But unlike Zuckerberg or Gates, I have meltdowns, I engage in stimming, I can't make eye contact, I'm socially anxious, and I couldn't sit through a single interview, nevermind running a large company and dealing with employees and customers on a daily basis.

If they have AS traits, they are so mild that I can't see on which basis they would get diagnosed with AS, or how such a diagnosis would make any sense. If somebody is completely functional and can live and act like a neurotypical person, why label him an autist? That's like calling someone an amputee because he's missing the tip of one earlobe.

ETA: I think this creates unfair pressure for those who really have the unusual behaviors and social problems that are associated with AS. Yes, we can be successful, but we need a certain work environment without too much social stress. It is counter-productive to point at Zuckerberg and say "we can do that too if we keep trying". We can't. People shouldn't expect us to be the next Bill Gates, and view as us slackers or losers if we fail to succeed in a world made for NTs. Society needs to do more to accomodate us so that we stand a chance without being 99% neurotypical.

I disagree that none are likely to be aspie, as I think Gates and Zuckerberg are highly likely to be. Your analysis about meltdowns is rubbish. They carefully stagemanage any public appearances and we have no idea what they're like privately.

Well I have been diagnosed and I no longer have any public meltdowns. You can't say some one isn't very autistic based on those grounds.

Darryl Hannah is autistic. She manages well.

There is such a thing as despite having autism you succeed. What about the autistics that can get up and sing before a large audience!

This does not mean all autistics can do this just like not all NT's are made to be movie stars and love attention. If you have coaching, some help, learn how to help yourself by your own means of coping, you can do it.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIIGf4Q88jw[/youtube]



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qQkozkn8Cc[/youtube]

I still wouldn't trust that jumped up little snot or his company as far as I could throw them.

This reminds me of when Mark started changing the privacy policies on Facebook, and the various pundits started attacking him. There was one in particular who labeled Mark's behavior as "Asperger's like". And used the term as an insult. I very much wished that the tech community would stop saying Mark is an Aspie unless he comes forward as having been formally diagnosed.

No, of course not.
I don't have them, either.

I'm an aspie and I never have meltdowns. Meltdowns aren't even listed in any criteria for the diagnosis.

I think I used to have meltdowns when I was young, that would explain those times where my body would suddenly feel exhausted and I'd need to collapse to the ground. You learn to handle stimuli though.

I have similar shutdowns. I have never, not even once however, had a tantrum. I sometimes wonder about that, a tantrum strikes me as an awfully flashy, loud and extravagant means of communicating emotions, and I'm really just not wired for that kind of display, no matter how bad the inner chaos gets. From another's perspective, when I start getting overloaded I start getting day dreamy and distracted, and eventually despondent completely, as I retreat from the exterior world, much like one sinks beneath the water after succumbing to the exhaustion of treading water in the deep sea after a capsize.

The difference, in my opinion, is that I internalize and process the emotional torrent, which drains my inner resolve or stamina... other folk may externalize it instead, which displays in a tantrum or outburst. Despite being on the spectrum, everyone still has their own individuality, and a function of that in how they handle emotions.

So, yeah, I fully agree that public displays of emotional outbursts or tantrums is hardly required of a public figure on the spectrum.

I become mute.
People will notice that when I'm upset and/or overwhelmed is usually the only time I shut up, actually.
I don't want to be looked at, or touched, or spoken to, and my tolerance of my sensory triggers- touch, and light, namely, becomes null.

That's what happens to me in public or in company. I'm don't become entirely mute, but I'm very shortspoken and less responsive, and have trouble understanding other people. When I'm alone, I have angry meltdowns instead of shutdowns. Both have become worse over the years.

Right. When I'm going into it, IE, it's escalating, I give one-word responses, whereas normally I'm extremely verbose.
It's extremely rare that I feel anger, though.

They are very characteristic of ASDs though. Both meltdowns and shutdowns are the result of stimulus satiation or sensory over-stimulation. Difficulty to cope with too much sensory input is also not listed in the diagnostic criteria, although it is a very typical symptom.

I can only conclude that the criteria are incomplete. Not that someone who doesn't experience meltdowns or shutdowns is not an aspie, but these episodes should increase the likelihood of a diagnosis. Instead, meltdowns are often falsely interpreted as a sign of bipolar disorder.

It really makes you think... even if you don't feel 'very autistic' and you're mostly passably functional, if you look around at the world, you're probably seeing a LOT more than nonautistic people are seeing. Our bodies weren't meant to handle the amount we see and hear and feel. And yet to me it looks totally normal. Just stuff. Curtains, window, trees, wall, computer, books and junk... what am I seeing that's so special? People, probably. I can't recall if my body ever collapsed in sudden exhaustion when I wasn't around people. Fascinating.

I also never had the impression that I somehow see more details than neurotypical people. I often get fascinated and outright hypnotized by ordinary things, and loud noises bother me. But I don't think that I see more details. I actually notice less details about other people, because I try not to look at them.