“I’m making history as the first person with Asperger’s syndrome to host SNL. Or at least the first to admit it.” With this statement Elon Musk has revealed that he has Asperger syndrome.
During his introductory monologue on the comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL), the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla publicly stated that he lives with this disorder, which affects different aspects of his life.
Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder which involves an alteration in the processing of information, and which is framed within the Autism Spectrum Disorders (TORCH).
Scientists do not know exactly what causes Asperger’s syndrome, although it is known that the brain of a person with this condition works differently, and that This disorder affects social, emotional and communication skills. of those who have it.
Problems understanding or expressing feelings, difficulties understanding body language and maintaining eye contact, and the desire to be alone or not knowing how to interact with other people are some of the symptoms. ways in which Asperger’s syndrome affects people.
What is Asperger’s syndrome, the disorder that Elon Musk lives with: how it affects people and what it entails
Which famous people have Asperger’s?
There are many cases of famous people associated with Asperger syndrome.wrongly linked to genius (children with Asperger’s can have an IQ equal to or higher than that of most people), as well as to many people simply because they have difficulties socializing.
“For better or worse, Asperger’s syndrome has become part of our cultural landscape. Comments about a person having ‘a touch of Asperger’ seem to be part of everyday conversations. Even an episode of South Park has been dedicated to Asperger’s syndrome,” analyzes psychiatrist Paul Steinberg, in a column in The New York Times.
“We can only hope that better physiological markers that distinguish between autism spectrum disorders and purely social disabilities can stem this tide of increasing pathologization,” she adds.
Despite the number of names linked to this disorder, There are not that many famous people who have publicly admitted that they have Asperger’s syndrome, or who have been diagnosed with the same.
Microsoft founder, Bill Gatesthe filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Tim Burtonthe actor Keanu Reeves and scientists like Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton have been associated at some point with Asperger’sbut neither have they recognized it nor has there been an official diagnosis that fully confirms it, at least as far as we know.
Of the cases where it has happened, These are some famous people with Asperger’s syndrome:
Elon Musk
Reuters
The latest celebrity to publicly admit that he has Asperger’s syndrome was Elon Musk, during his monologue on ‘Saturday Night Live’ this Saturday 8th.
In it, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX even dared to make fun of himself, joking about his monotonous intonation or the difficulty in making eye contact, two traits related to this disorder.
Anthony Hopkins
Danny Moloshok/Reuters
Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins, winner of two Oscars for his performance in the films The silence of the lambs (1992) and The father (2020), is another famous person with Asperger’s syndrome.
According to what he himself acknowledged in 2017, Daily Mailhe was diagnosed with Asperger’s late, and it made him realise that this disorder had made him “a lonely person”. “I didn’t fit in anywhere, I had problems and I caused them to others, especially in my childhood,” he admitted.
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Greta Thunberg
Reuters
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, known for her fight against climate change, has also been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
She has publicly acknowledged this and has been proud of it, with statements and posts on her social networks, with the hashtag #aspiepower (the colloquial and affectionate term used by some people with Asperger’s to refer to this disorder).
“When haters are going after your looks and your differences, it means they have nothing else to do. And then you know you’re winning. I have Asperger’s and that means I’m sometimes a little different from the norm. And, given the right circumstances, being different is a superpower,” she says.
How Greta Thunberg’s natural way of speaking and acting has made her a global icon
Susan Boyle
REUTERS/Casper Christoffersen/Scanpix
Susan Boyle, Scottish singer who became known in 2009 on the television show Britain’s Got Talentis another of the personalities who has publicly declared having Asperger’s.
As a child, Boyle was wrongly diagnosed with brain damage, and it was not until he was 51 that he learned he had Asperger’s syndrome, he explained in an interview with The Observer.
Courtney Love
Mike Blake/Reuters
American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress Courtney Love is another famous person living with Asperger’s. As she explains in her autobiography, Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Loveat age 9, he was diagnosed with a mild form of this disorder.
Daryl Hannah
REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid PKM/DW/AA
Daryl Hannah, actress known for her roles in Kill Bill, Wall Street and One, two, three… Splashalso lives with Asperger’s syndrome, which has caused him significant difficulties in promoting his films, as well as in getting acting jobs.
“I never went to TV shows or premieres, going to the Oscars was very difficult for me, I almost fainted walking down the red carpet. I had a lot of social phobia, I felt very uncomfortable,” she explained to PA Entertainmentas reported The Vanguard.
I have worked for 25 years with people with autism and I have seen myself reflected in ‘Especiales’, a film that shows the reality of young people within the spectrum
Vernon Smith
REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang HK/HB
A Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Vernon L. Smith, has also been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, as he himself has publicly acknowledged.
Vernon Smith has even claimed to have used it to his advantage in order to concentrate better, although he has admitted that it has also sometimes made him feel absent in front of others and made it difficult to communicate his feelings.
Satoshi Tajiri
pokemon.fandom.com
This list of famous people with Asperger’s syndrome is closed by Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokémon, who has been diagnosed as having this disorder after his parents took him for an evaluation after observing his difficulties in understanding the body language of others.
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