Where are the succesful aspies?

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Why don't we hear stories from succesful aspies?I know there are a lot of them out there.Even one of the few who got diagnosed got the fields medal for a problem only 10 people could understand.(Richard Borcherdt).Or is it that succesful aspies don't feel that being an asperger is a problem for them so they don't identify with asperger so much

They are the undiagnosed ones

If you are speaking of success in your life I would be if your speaking of money or fame I would not be. I am 62 not diagnosed - I have been an over achiever in many areas and on the other side an under achiever just as much - In my life as a aspie sometimes or alot of times an asolute mess but in my achievements in works outstanding - I am glad to have been an aspie but I have such a horrible time in communcation, dealing with groups, thinking outside the box "where I live" gets me in trouble makes me look stupid - so I do hate those things but that is the price I pay to be an aspie

In fact with success i meant success in a lot of fields,even the emotional one,people who have never been bullied for example,smart people etc.

Define Success.

If you mean a CEO or business magnate, then yes, there are not many.

I don't know if there are any Aspergian Billionaires, if that's what you mean, but there are a few millionaires and several celebrities with diagnosed AS - Dan Ackroyd (Ghostbusters; Trading Places; Driving Miss Daisy) and Daryl Hannah (Splash; Blade Runner; Kill Bill) for starters. Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokémon would seem pretty successful to me (actually, he might be a billionaire by now).

Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics and Albert Einstein I would call successful.

HP Lovecraft barely scraped by most of his life, but the reputation and legacy he created continue to influence writers to this day. Then you have Danny Beath, award-winning British landscape and wildlife photographer; Tim Ellis, Australian magician and author; Dan Harmon, screenwriter and creator of 'Community'; Craig Nicholls, frontman of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines; Dawn Prince-Hughes, Ph.D., primate anthropologist, ethologist, and author; Raymond Thompson, New Zealand scriptwriter and TV producer; Dylan Scott Pierce, wildlife illustrator and Courtney Love of Hole, to name a few.

I never got rich, but I did manage to maintain a career for more than three decades and won several awards for creativity in my field, so I wasn't a total loss.

and, of course, Sheldon Cooper, the famous physicist

They are out there doing things that successful people do - too busy to post here.

I have only been here a short time, but already I have read posts from many successful Aspies. In the Members Only forum there is a stickied thread, I think it is primarily related to those who have had higher education, but it showcases a lot of successful people.

I still have much life to live, but I would say that so far I have been successful. I have always been very good in school, and in fact enjoyed it. I was in the top 5 people of my graduating class (out of ~350) and I am finishing up my second Master's degree. I have always had high praise from teachers and supervisors. Although I'm not in my chosen field at the moment, I still excel at my current job and my boss wants to sit down to discuss promoting me. Although I was lonely, I was not horribly bullied when I was younger. I have had long-term relationships in the past (one lasting 7 years). I live by myself now and I am good at managing finances, keeping the apartment clean, and taking care of my two cats. I think that I am a non-judgmental, honest, hardworking person.

Of course, this list of my accomplishments does not mention that I have no friends and haven't for most of my life, that I still struggle daily with depression, and that I can have debilitating anxiety attacks. But on the whole, I would say that I have been successful so far.

to be successful you have to sign a contract...
break contract your dead...

We're here.


Correct ... in a way ... read on ...

By many standards of measurement, I am successful - university degrees, military service (honorably discharged), steady employment, home ownership, driver's license, reasonably happy marriage, and healthy offspring who are successful on their own.

I think that it's because I was officially diagnosed after I had achieved all of these things, so I did not know that I was "supposed" to be disabled. I always thought that if I just tried a little harder and never gave up that I would eventually succeed. No one ever told me that I had a debilitating developmental disorder that would impose such insurmountable obstacles in my way that I would eventually have to give up and live on some kind of social welfare for the rest of my life.

I am not saying that anyone else just needs to put forth more effort and they will be "cured". I am saying that for me, it was a matter of not knowing that I was supposed to give up on myself and spend my life complaining about how "unfair" the world is for not caring enough to share the wealth and support me in an indolent lifestyle.

However, it really sucks that the culture that I was born into (working-class, mid-western, protestant America) considers anyone who is more than a little "eccentric" (like me) to be something of a freak and not worthy of friendship, compassion, or even interest. In order to have anything resembling a "normal" social life, I have to hang out with people from foreign cultures who may or may not be secretly hostile toward American in general.

So I don't fit in anywhere ... so what? I can still spend the money that I earn, and for a brief moment even the most jaded person will show some gratitude and respect for me. That reduces a lot of the suckage that I have to put up with.

Because they're busy doing stuff? Of the aspies I know in real life, one is getting a PhD in something to do with English, one is doing a degree in Politics, two are studying for degrees in Chemistry. I don't know a lot of people so this is quite limited. I met most of these in Uni before I stopped going, so I have a biased view.
I'm bad at remembering famous people so the only famous successful aspie I can think of is Dan Harmon, he writes for Community. It's a pretty good show so I think he's doing well.

I think you're talking to them and are probably one of them yourself.

Its easy with some of the complaints and talk to think that people here are half idiots but don't forget that you're only getting the words of the people talking about their problems. Half the people complaining are just overthinking intelligent aspies blowing their problems out of proportion.

You need to remember how out of the way and obscure posting on this site is. And just what most aspies in real life are really like. The people posting are the ones that have overcome their aspie nature's and actually want to be sociable and have the technical skills to get online and find this site. Don't forget that tons of people with autism can't even talk. Many more like a cousin of mine have no ability to use computers. The people here are the tip of the iceberg.

The people that have made it to this site already have a lot of success living as an aspie just to be here in the first place. Don't fall into the trap of underestimating the people here.

Last edited by woodster on 05 Nov 2013, 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am one, technically speaking.

I did have trouble in college and dropped out after my dad died. Not getting my degree does feel like a failure.

But I picked myself up and built my training in fine art and natural affinity for computer systems and programming along with some classes at top design schools into a career as a graphic designer. My salary is comfortably inside the top 10% nationwide for people in my role, as reported by the AIGA. I have been married for almost three decades and employed in the in-house graphics department of a leading global company for almost two decades.

I was undiagnosed until last year. The doc who diagnosed me told me that my achievements were unusual given the obvious nature of my disability.

Is that enough?

Last edited by Adamantium on 05 Nov 2013, 9:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Maybe it's because, it's easier to make a thread complaining about your life then it is to make a thread saying how great your life is. What i'm trying to say, all you read about are the negative aspies and the succesful aspies are keeping quiet. For all we know, they could be laughing at us.

You do have to take into consideration that most people with Aspergers over the age of 30 are undiagnosed and the majority of them probably don't realize they're on the spectrum.
So even if there are many successful Aspergians they may not be noted as "successful aspies".
Personally, I think I've become more successful since realizing I have Aspergers because it forced me to stop and take stock of my strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly.