Board index › General Discussion › General Autism Discussion

Nominate a famous person you think may be on the spectrum

Page 1 of 1 [ 13 posts ] 

Previous topic | Next topic

SendInTheClowns
Raven
Raven

Joined: 29 Nov 2021
Gender: Female
Posts: 103
Location: South Pacific

19 Nov 2024, 10:08 pm

My nomination is Rassie Erasmus, a name very famous in international rubgy and currently the coach of the best rubgy team in the world, the most successful coach the Springboks in Sth Africa has ever had, and the most "quirky".

I often watch his summaries of various international games on You Tube and noticed that he stims every minute of them - sometimes by constantly tapping his face; more often by unusual repetive movements with his tongue and licking his lips.

I have read his autobiography, where he gives a lot of space to describing the unusual and unexplained "weirdness" of his (deceased) father - an interesting study IMO of an unaware, undiagnosed AS man, in an era when this was rarely recognised.

Rassie has also talked about relying sometimes on hunches/intuitions he gets about how a particular game will play out - and builds strategies around those for his team rather than sticking only to the conventional coach strategies. (This information isn't in his autobiography, but from descriptions written by others).

However that he's on the spectrum is only my own opinion. I'm a huge fan of his abilities and achievement in World Rugby.



Canadian Freedom Lover
Toucan
Toucan

Joined: 16 Dec 2022
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Posts: 263
Location: Vancouver Canada

Yesterday, 2:40 am

Karl Pilkington

If you have any doubts, listen to Ricky Gervais's XFM radio show from the early 00's on Youtube.



Gentleman Argentum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Aug 2019
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 815
Location: State of Euphoria

Yesterday, 3:32 am

SendInTheClowns wrote:
My nomination is Rassie Erasmus, a name very famous in international rubgy and currently the coach of the best rubgy team in the world, the most successful coach the Springboks in Sth Africa has ever had, and the most "quirky".

I often watch his summaries of various international games on You Tube and noticed that he stims every minute of them - sometimes by constantly tapping his face; more often by unusual repetive movements with his tongue and licking his lips.

I have read his autobiography, where he gives a lot of space to describing the unusual and unexplained "weirdness" of his (deceased) father - an interesting study IMO of an unaware, undiagnosed AS man, in an era when this was rarely recognised.

Rassie has also talked about relying sometimes on hunches/intuitions he gets about how a particular game will play out - and builds strategies around those for his team rather than sticking only to the conventional coach strategies. (This information isn't in his autobiography, but from descriptions written by others).

However that he's on the spectrum is only my own opinion. I'm a huge fan of his abilities and achievement in World Rugby.


Thank you for sharing that, and I think you are correct. There is asperger's as I perceive it in my life, but also "Ferocious Asperger's," for the big Movers & Shakers in this world, like your Rassie, and certain CEOs, and world leaders.

I think high extroversion + high energy levels + asperger's can be a successful mix in social environments. That creates a kind of Teflon personality, where nothing sticks, and even though NTs find fault in the individual for not adhering to all of the NT norms, he just keeps forging ahead and keeps on going and going. Bottom line, what people care about are results, and to the extent the aspie delivers, no one cares about stimming, those things become "charming eccentricities."


_________________
My magical motto is Animus facit nobilem. I like to read fantasy and weird fiction. Just a few of my favorite online things: music, chess, and dungeon crawl stone soup.


SendInTheClowns
Raven
Raven

Joined: 29 Nov 2021
Gender: Female
Posts: 103
Location: South Pacific

Yesterday, 5:21 pm

I would also put Spike Milligan right up there on the spectrum. This name will be more familiar to the older members of WP. He lived in an era where Aspergers would never have been connected with his very considerable and multiple talents. Best known for his part in the UK radio program "The Goon Show", his talents were much more far ranging than that. Eventually he was worn out, and (I think) collapsed into what (seems to me) to have been autistic burnout..



Mikurotoro92
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Aug 2022
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,062
Location: Mushroom Kingdom or Bikini Bottom

Yesterday, 6:01 pm

This has been confirmed but...Satoshi Tajiri creator of Pokemon!! !

And possibly Stephen Hillenburg creator of SpongeBob SquarePants!



ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,882
Location: Long Island, New York

Today, 11:43 am

I am going to nominate somebody I have rarely seen mentioned as Autistic, the late Amy Winehouse.

She had no filter, little or no concept of her stardom, and was often easily taken advantage of.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


Summer_Twilight
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Sep 2011
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 5,236

Today, 11:49 am

Leonardo DiCaprio

1. The environment seems to be his hyper focus
2. He goes to parties but likes space in quiet areas
3. He has admitted that he has social problems
4. He only dates younger women



BillyTree
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Oct 2023
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 753

Today, 1:24 pm

If I were a famous person I wouldn't want people to "nominate" or speculate about me being autistic. I would like being open about it or not to be my decision.


_________________
English is not my first language.


ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,882
Location: Long Island, New York

Today, 1:54 pm

BillyTree wrote:
If I were a famous person I wouldn't want people to "nominate" or speculate about me being autistic. I would like being open about it or not to be my decision.

If you choose to be famous rightly or wrongly you should not expect much privacy.

I do have a problem with people making blanket declarations sans evidence that this celebrity or this historical figure is or was Autistic. That is not an issue in this thread as it is labeled speculative.

This type of thing is a problem if a person thinks they are special like the person they are speculating about or diagnosing and the only reason they are not successful in life is mean NT’s

A good use of this type of speculation is to realize that Autistic traits does doom one to a lifetime of failure.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


Pink Zeppelin
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 28 Jul 2024
Gender: Male
Posts: 56
Location: Pluto the 9th Planet

Today, 2:20 pm

Summer_Twilight wrote:
Leonardo DiCaprio

1. The environment seems to be his hyper focus
2. He goes to parties but likes space in quiet areas
3. He has admitted that he has social problems
4. He only dates younger women


No way! He is way too successful with dating to be autistic.



Pink Zeppelin
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 28 Jul 2024
Gender: Male
Posts: 56
Location: Pluto the 9th Planet

Today, 2:29 pm

Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Vol. 12-2015 pages 73-76

Journal article hypothesizing that Syd Barrett (founding member of Pink Floyd) might have had Asperger's instead of Schizophrenia.



bee33
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Apr 2008
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,641

Today, 2:32 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
BillyTree wrote:
If I were a famous person I wouldn't want people to "nominate" or speculate about me being autistic. I would like being open about it or not to be my decision.

If you choose to be famous rightly or wrongly you should not expect much privacy.

I do have a problem with people making blanket declarations sans evidence that this celebrity or this historical figure is or was Autistic. That is not an issue in this thread as it is labeled speculative.

This type of thing is a problem if a person thinks they are special like the person they are speculating about or diagnosing and the only reason they are not successful in life is mean NT’s

A good use of this type of speculation is to realize that Autistic traits does doom one to a lifetime of failure.

Good points.

But I think you meant to say "does not doom one to a lifetime of failure."



ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,882
Location: Long Island, New York

Today, 2:44 pm

bee33 wrote:
ASPartOfMe wrote:
BillyTree wrote:
If I were a famous person I wouldn't want people to "nominate" or speculate about me being autistic. I would like being open about it or not to be my decision.

If you choose to be famous rightly or wrongly you should not expect much privacy.

I do have a problem with people making blanket declarations sans evidence that this celebrity or this historical figure is or was Autistic. That is not an issue in this thread as it is labeled speculative.

This type of thing is a problem if a person thinks they are special like the person they are speculating about or diagnosing and the only reason they are not successful in life is mean NT’s

A good use of this type of speculation is to realize that Autistic traits does doom one to a lifetime of failure.

Good points.

But I think you meant to say "does not doom one to a lifetime of failure."

Correct.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman