Does this kid have Asperger's? (Spelling Bee champion)

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He presents as the stereotypical case of Asperger's, yes. But it really is incredible how every Aspie is different, because both my good friend and I have obvious AS and we act nothing like Evan. You can tell that Evan seems to have social deficits as his main problem, but he didn't ramble on and on about spelling. My friend and I are special interest-dominant Aspies, and while she and I don't first appear to have AS, if you get us talking about our special interests, we'll go on for hours! Like, if that had been my interview, the reporter wouldn't have gotten a word in edgewise. I would have just rambled on and on about my experiences in the spelling bee and which word(s) was/were the coolest and hardest to spell.

I liked that reporter. She seemed genuinely nice and like she didn't judge him for being different. That's the type of adult I really like to talk to, because I feel as though they are actually interested in hearing about my special interests and won't think I'm "weird" for droning on about them.
-OddDuckNash99-

That was my favorite part of the interview. I have screwed up similarly when asked literal questions like that one.



The kid would have passed the question if he had lied and said that he ate a tuna sandwich the night before. I also would have been at risk of screwing that one up.




That's what I always assumed.



He should learn social skills, otherwise ret*ds are going to continue calling him a ret*d. Just imagine what an emotional mess he is going to be 10-15 years from now.

As I recall, he said he did.

OddDuckNash99,

I used to ramble about my interests far more than I do. Some things you just FORCE yourself to at least curtail. My last boss asked me to STOP explaining things like I did. I reduced it.

I watched this quite a while ago and thought so. Everyone's sympathies seem to be with the reporter, but I just wanted to slap her for her silly questions. Poor kid didn't know what the hell she was getting at.

There's another video somewhere on youtube of him on some TV show. There were some jokes cracked, everyone was laughing and he just seemed confused and oblivious.

Spelling is a strength of mine, too. I placed second at last year's Adult Spelling Bee sponsored by the Literacy Council at the library. I am excited because I work at the library and the bee will be held there this year.

I could go on (and have) about special interests, like OddDuckNash99. I love the cat site I'm on because I can go on about my cats forever.

Well, I wasn't one of them! The person that posted that video was an IDIOT! She did *****NOT***** win the spelling bee, but SHE was the "smart ass". ANOTHER STUPID "reporter" that basically just reads stuff off. They might as well display the words with pictures, etc... Much of the "magic" of the winners of spelling bees is PATTERNS based on clues scripps allows! She denied him like THREE of those clues! If scripps denied him that, they would consider a loss invalid!

So WHY do I say she was a "smart ass"? She didn't use his REAL name, and didn't care at all. Her tone. She claimed he REALLY needed tuna sandwiches from subway. She harped on that to the end. She asked HIM what his mother thought/said. HEY, he was being HONEST! She used a word she knew nothing about, and was ill prepared to give him. She played that for EVERYTHING, including a tie to the sandwich. After all that, maybe SUBWAY paid them for product placement! Put THAT together with possible equipment delays(Some video linkups have HUGE delays, so an instant response can look VERY slow.), his shyness(I've been in similar positions, and acted much like he did), and possibly delays he had due to AS or CAPD, and it was like they were TRYING to make him look bad.

I forgot all about that stupid "interview", but rewatched it after your comment.

I remember watching that video a while back and thinking the kid had AS. Interesting to know he has an official diagnosis. I agree that most of the comments on youtube are idiotic and only serve to reinforce the idea that his parents are doing him a big favor by homeschooling him and limiting his exposure to discrimination and ridicule.

This is why I keep harping on the NT-bias. I wouldn’t mind if people used a word like “non-standard,” but to say “inappropriate” is incorrect and belittling. What’s wrong with being sane, honest, in control and knowing yourself? The kid was mature and surprisingly comfortable for a TV interview. He just didn’t put on the proper show that the sicko “reality TV” audience wants to see. Newsflash, gang – Jerry Springer is not reality, and his guests are not normal, or even real.

That’s not suppressed. That's simple honesty (one of the worst crimes of all). That is a normal reaction for some people. It’s just “flat” compared to the way people act on low-brow TV these days. (They are NOT normal or real or honest. They are just entertaining to some people.) He was acting exactly the way I would have felt. Some people get so crazy that my impulse is to question their honesty.

Why would he be surprised? He’d been working toward this moment for a long time and probably figured it would be like taking candy from a baby. She wanted a song and dance that he just didn’t have. A geek won a spelling bee. Now he has to stop being a geek and pretend to be an idiot? To voluntarily feed himself the jackals.

He meant “we.” His mom was his teacher and coach. They worked hard on it.

Most people would lie and/or make something up and would be smooth about it. That is not something to encourage. That is a disease. In other words, most people are so crazy that they don’t even know when they are lying, and demand that everyone share their disease.

I’m still not sure what that was all about. It would have stumped me until I was sure of what she meant, and then I would have been annoyed and/or insulted.

I got the feeling she that was pushing for some superstitious answer, like athletes who need a lucky shirt. Since he’s not built that way (not a lunatic) the question stumped him.

People are sick and have no idea what they’re doing or why. It’s just mindless fascism.

“Irritation?” She said stupid, crazy things, expected him to follow, and was irritated when he didn’t take the bait. And no, she didn’t attempt to hide it at all. It was so blatant that we all caught it. She was making a conscious effort to be a insulting, but with plausible deniability. Can you say, “emotional dishonesty" or "passive-aggressive?”

She had the facts wrong, made an insulting assumption about his motives that was based on her incorrect facts, wanted to ridicule him for her own hallucination, and got mad at him for not giving her the ammo she craved. There was no way for him to win that one.

"You can't cheat an honest man." She tried to set him up, but he didn't fall for it because he was honest and wasn't playing. If he had time to think about it (he didn't) the choices would have been (a) pretend to be a jerk and feed yourself to the jackals, allowing them to ridicule and giving them an excuse to hate you; or (b) be honest, and give them enough rope to hang themselves. The truth is that they don't have an excuse to hate him. He didn't do anything wrong. They hate him because he didn't give them an excuse to hate him.

Does he? I thought we were just speculating.

Here's the other video I mentioned.

http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_Evan-ODo ... 19170.html

http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_Jimmy-Ki ... 19170.html

Grown adults having a laugh at the expense of a child who's IQ probably doubles most theirs. The things people find entertaining...

It's disgusting how they make idiotic jokes at his expense.
Stupid people trying to make a smart person look stupid.

Since Tahiti responded, I figured I would state a few things here as well...

I don't think it was very flat. You could tell that he was nervous, and that IDIOT did everything she could to hurt things!



Like Tahiti said, he may not have been surprised at all. I bet he wouldn't have cared if he lost to someone better if things were fair.



He even SAID he included his mother.



How can you "automatically know"? You CAN'T! WHY would he ask his mother? He was OBVIOUSLY trying to be honest!



It did NOT throw him for a loop. OF COURSE he didn't know what to do with it. It may have been like the time that I got a butterfinger in a welcome basket at a hotel. WHY!?!?!?!? Because they thought I liked them! WHY!?!?!?!? Because they OBVIOUSLY saw the wrapper in my trash can. I HATE butterfingers! The stuff turns to a kind of glue, sticks to my teeth, and takes like forever to come off. WHY was there a wrapper? Because ONCE I slipped up and the machine gave me one, and I was hungry. MAYBE they saw him eat a tuna sandwich, or overheard something, or mixed him up with someone else, and decided to do a product placement. It is a typical ploy. So what SHOULD he have done?



It WAS dishonest! VERY MUCH SO! If it was a simple or honest mistake, she would have apologized, and dropped it. She DIDN'T!





Tahiti said it so well, I just couldn't really add to it. The reporter didn't "hide irritation".





I don't give HER credit for ANYTHING but her tenacious and ruthless treatment of this kid. She should AT LEAST get a fine for such treatment.



QFT





As I recall, he DOES!

Well, it DOES illustrate how STUPID that "interview" was! SHE did the same sort of thing.

I don't know if he has an official diagnoses or not. The lady wasn't sure when I asked her.

Do people laugh at every guest on the show?


That bee guy sure doesn't speak clear and the interviewer asked him stupid questions.

Something I just read said that his parents deny he has Asperger's or high-functioning autism and say he is just "gifted" with autistic-like behaviors. When I saw this kid, from his stereotypies to the way he speaks, his mannerisms, etc I immediately thought "Asperger's".

I've seen this before and thought he most likely has Asperger syndrome.

EDIT: Just rewatched some of it, and I'd say if he doesn't have Asperger syndrome, who does?

Last edited by Greyhound on 07 Feb 2009, 3:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.