Howard Stern

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Perhaps this is the wrong forum to post this-if so may the mods relocate it. Anyhow-I want to say after watching Howard Sterns hilarious and inspirational cinematic autobiography Private Parts; I believe that Howard Stern does indeed have some form of Asperger Syndrome-perhaps a very mild form but nonetheless so. I havent bothered to look thoroughly but IS his name listed in teh "Famous Aspies" thread? I mean, the guy is TOTALLY tactless despite his extroverted attention-seeking personality.
His flaunting fo social standards has resulted in him being 86d from mainstream media for repeated FCC obscenity violations.
I remember from the move watching the outrageous and shocking things he said back in the early 80s on mainstream news radio and I was like: WTF were you thinking, Howard!

It is totally outrageous that anyone could think that the "Shock Jock" has Asperger's Syndrome!

But Why?

He has good social skills and doesn't have difficulty in verbalizing a thought right away.

Howard Stern was mean to Underdog. The lady, not the dog. According to my book, Weird U.S., there is this lady named Underdog (who only answers to it and gets REALLY mad if anyone calls her anything else like Underdog Lady) in New Jersey. Her real name is Suzanne Muldowney. She is a dancer and a choreographer. In 1992, shewas invited on the Howard Stern Show.
I quote from the book: "She had necer heard of Sterm but agreeed to appear in a segment called "Howiewood Squares". She regretted the decision when she discovered that the other participants included scantqly clad women and members of the K.K.K., and that the show focused on sex, vulgarity, and the bizarre. She couldn't leave the square, because she was seated in the top row of the three-story set and the ladder had been removed. Muldowney was visable angry with Stern and launcehed into aggressive arguments with him on the show."
If anything, Howard Stern isn't an Aspie and I really hope he's not. Underdog might be though. I can't blame her for getting so angry. Also, if you ever meet her, NEVER mention Howard Stern and ONLY call her Underdog or she'll get really angry with you.
This information has all come from my book, Weird U.S. by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman c 2002
I hope I credited the book right. If anyone read the book, you'll find it all there. If not, you can try to find a copy at a local bookstore. I suggest getting it if you're into the mysterious, bizzare, creppy, and supernatural sort of thing. This book is SO AWESOME! -Power Girl

The latter statement is certainly correct-he has a motormouth and is totally Uninhibited in terms of his speech but I'm that way TOO! There are PLENTY of aspies who are very verbal and some of them-like moi-tend to say whatever it is they're thinking at the moment or whatever they've got the impulse to say...NO MATTER HOW TACTLESS. I disagree that Howard Stern has good social skills,he's simply and extroverted person who likes to get attention and be provocative. I still maintain that in fact he has very BAD social skills and this has incurred the wrath of the FCC and Clearchannel-he hasnt figured out how to "pull it off" when it comes to being offensive and controversial and that resulted in him being banned from the airwaves. Why do you think he's social adept MissConstrue? Seems to me like the guy just doesnt fit the stereotype of an "Aspie".

Whatever you say D1nk0. I was just stating an opinion. There are plenty of ppl who aren't aspies that get in trouble for trying to be offensive and controversial. As for social skills, you don't necessarily have to be nice to have good social skills.

You have got to be kidding me. Seriously? The guy doesn't have bad social skills. He's offensive on purpose. He reads people just fine. He knows exactly how to get people riled up. The way he sees it, people will watch/listen to him more if he's being vulgar, and offensive, because they think it's hilarious, or they will be so appalled by him they watch/listen just to see how far he's gonna go. It's like watching a horrific train wreck that you just can't seem to turn your head away from.

I've heard tapes of his shows. I doubt he's ASpie. He does talk about having OCD. But he's very calculating, and quite heartless. I doubt that an ASpie would skewer people on the radio like he does.

I don't think that he has AS. His social skill are too good.

CockneyRebel, why do you think that he has good social skills?

They CALL howard stern a "shock jock", but he is really NOTHING of the sort! He is just a tactless idiot pushing all the buttons he can! That means wierdos, porno, riske things, cussing, etc.... THINK about it! And it has NOTHING to do with AS.

EXACTLY! He is tactless and there you go again calling him an "idiot" . What makes you so sure it has nothing to do with mild AS? I mean, look-the guys a total Dork. Many people revile him, he's basically more of a pariah in the world of entertainment than an Icon. Both the left AND the right detest him because he flaunts any set of social norms or standards he can come across-which is why I really have nothing but Admiration for the guy. He's particularly loathed by women because of BOTH his tactlessness And his uninhibited sexuallity. Women-especially young women-seem to REALLY HATE men who are both unrestrained AND socially inepts(which does NOT necessarily imply introversion). Since Howard Stern isnt persuassive or charming-he uses provocation to generate publicity. I could see myself doing the eXACT SaME ThinG since pissing people off and offending people really requires very little social skills and/or empathy .

tactless, but only to a degree.

Can it really be called tactless if it is intentional in the AS sense? We do it unintentionally usually... or there is something behind it if we are doing it to be irritating-but when we do that, I don't see it as being typical tactless Aspie behavior.

Howard Stern makes it a point to go find particular people to degrade and whatnot, get riled up, or people who will do disgusting things (well, at least I find them crude, lol) just to get publicity. I don't think this is technically tactless at all.

He's tactfully being distasteful if anything, to generate publicity.

Now, if he was saying this stuff all the time by accident, then yes, I'd say there is that possibility. But he's NOT. That's where the difference comes in. This is what he's famous for-being a jerk, lol. He's not tactless-that's just his public persona to be a jerk, and he seems to take great pride in that.

If it was really tactless in the AS sort of way, I'd bet we'd be seeing a lot more apologies when people get upset rather than dig after dig after dig, because he knows exactly what is pushing their buttons and he's doing it on purpose... then again, if it was AS tactlessness, I doubt he'd be doing it on the radio and all anyway, as it would just attract too much attention to what a jerk he is.

Though a lot of us may come across that way, I don't see anyone actually going out on a daily basis to look like a jerk in front of the world. I sure see a lot of people saying "what's wrong with saying _____ to someone?" in hopes to correct it, but not "man, did you see when I told that girl to _____________ me???? She got so mad (lol!)".

We say a lot of things not on purpose, I guess is what I'm getting at. I've rarely seen an Aspie go out of their way to look like a jerk, or go out of their way to make someone angrier and angrier just to get a laugh out of it... especially on a daily basis. He seems way too motivated to actually BE tactless, rather than stumbling upon it due to not understanding social norms. There is a difference in flat out defying social norms and not understanding them well enough to get by.

Besides, if it was just a normal tactless thing, I doubt we'd only be seeing him talk to the same types of people all of the time, and doing the same things over and over. He'd be on the radio saying the same types of things to his grandma, and I don't think I've ever seen that one happen even from him... at least, not yet.

I could see myself doing the Exact same thing that Howard Stern does . But you have to ask yourself WHY does Howard Stern deliberately try to be offensive? There are PLEN-TY of other ways to get attention and even be a little bit controversial without being a "shock jock". I believe he does this because he loves the attention and the controversy it generates and he lacks the social skills to get noticed any other way. What REALLY brought me to even suspect him having AS was reading and watching his autobiography. He wants to be a radio personality but he's this total Dork with no social skills until he discovers that aggressively flaunting the social norms and being purposefully offensive is a GREAT way to get noticed.
I believe people who build careers by entertainment through notoriety are doing so because they want fame and recognition but cant get peoples attention any other way.

Some people just love to piss others off and get a reaction - some especially love to get the sort of reaction Stern gets because they think it makes them clever/independent/above it all/some kind of hero to say the things most people don't say, even if they're untrue. (And some people believe that if enough people are against something, it must be true.) It's usually not because they "lack the social skills to get noticed any other way." They don't think the other kinds of notice are worth getting.

It isn't easy to pinpoint the "wrong" thing to say in any given situation, any more than it's easy to pinpoint the "right" thing to say.