Do you think Beethoven had Asperger's?

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I know it's now well believed that Wolfgang Mozart had Asperger's Syndrome. The film "Amadeus" provides a lot of evidence for this. However, another great composer who showed a lot of signs of being on the spectrum is Ludwig Van Beethoven. It would explain his combination of great musical talent with issues interacting with others. He was NOT a people person, had few if any friends, and just could not seem to get along with anyone. He had an immense dislike of his routine being interupted and was called both a genius and a madman.

If he was, it would be a great example of how Asperger's manifests itself differently in each individual with no two people showing exactly the same symptoms. Mozart was friendly and his unusual behavior helped him get along with those around him and gain many fans, but Beethoven's behavior led to him being isolated.

"The pen is mightier than the sword, if it has been sharpened to a fine point, dipped in deadly poison and is thrown from ten feet away. But really, you're better off with a sword."
-Benjamin Franklin

It's interesting you say that, because in the opening scene of the film Amadeus, Mozart is flirting with a young girl. I don't think it is the intention of the film director to link Mozart to AS. The film is more about the duality of human nature. The central character in Salieri has power, position as Austrian court composer and adulation of the public, but he doesn't possess Mozart's talent, so he has to crush him. Having crushed him he can't live with himself so he tries to commit suicide. This has appeal to the film director, Milos Foreman, who grew up under communism, which crushes the human spirit.
Coming back to your point, there's lot of evidence that Mozart had AS, but I don't think you'll find it in either the play Amadeus or the movie. As for Beethoven, there's a lot of speculation he had AS. Maybe one could argue that Beethoven, like Einstein, had some austistic traits and leave it at that.

I don't find the evidence that Mozart had AS that convincing.

I doubt Beethoven had AS, but he was clearly manic. That might explain his difficulty interacting with people.

Pure speculation.

I was listening to the classical music station today-after all there is more to music than just Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin-and they were getting ready to play some Beethoven and were talking about him being isolated, first through his deafness, and also through lack of relationships. They said he never had any meaningful relationships with women and his family relationships were a mess also. That got me thinking about whether he might be an aspie. Also, I remember reading a story as a kid (the printing press had just been invented in my childhood) and it was about how some child had seen this odd, eccentric, upkept person on the streets and then learning it was the great composer Beethoven. All of those things got me wondering about if he might have Aspergers.

Obviously we will never know for sure but can speculate.