Autism is a neural disorder that affects people from their childhood. It causes some psychological effects in people. To know who are the famous people with autism, read the article.
Autism is a psychiatric disorder that causes obsession, communication problems, and short span of attention in people. It was figured that 1 out of every 150 babies are born with autism. Asperger’s syndrome is a type of autism which is usually found in children. People who are affected by autism exhibit different symptoms of the syndrome, but some of the common symptoms are:
- Impaired social interaction
- Poor eye contact
- Difficulty in communicating verbally and non-verbally
- More sensitivity to pain and loud noise
- Lack of interest in hobbies
- Less sympathy feeling
Famous Autistic People
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
Emily Dickinson was a famous American Poet, who had written many poems during the late 19th and 20th century. She suffered depression in many parts of her life. I Dwell in possibility and Love is Immortality are some of her most admired works. She lived a reclusive life and was an eccentric person. She had a deep fascination of scented flowers. She is also said to have inherited epilepsy, which is mostly found in autistic people.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of United States from 1801 to 1809, after John Adams. He promoted republicanism. He was the main author of The Declaration of Independence (statement explaining separation from Britain) written by Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson displayed stereotypic behavior like flapping his hands, which is an indicative of autistic spectrum disorder.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a music composer and virtuoso pianist, violinist of the classical era. He was a vivid learner and his influence on western art music is profound. He started to compose music at the age of 5 and he had also performed before European Royalty. He suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and lived a socially isolated life. But, this did not affect his success as he was well focused and dedicated to his art.
Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)
Albert Einstein was a very famous scientist and physicist, who created a revolution in the field of physics by introducing the theory of general relativity and mass-energy equivalence, E = mc2. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in the year 1921 and was also honored by Time Magazine as the Man of the Century. Billy Graham once told in TED talk that “He (Albert Einstein) didn’t have a doctor’s degree, because he said nobody was qualified to give him one”. Albert Einstein is believed to have autism because of his bad temper, inability to express himself, many people in his family had autism and he was a visual thinker and a daydreamer. But many people who had personal conversations with Albert Einstein said he was not autistic, and in fact had a good sense of humor and wit, which is mostly not found in people with Asperger’s syndrome.
Marie Skłodowska Curie (1867 – 1934)
Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist from Russian Poland, who was a pioneer in radioactivity. She was awarded the Nobel price twice for her research in physics and chemistry. She coined the term radioactivity and discovered the chemical elements polonium and radium. She is the only person to have received two Nobel Prizes in two different fields of science. Once she said, “I feel everything very violently”. She was very systematic and kept a record of all her expenditures. The way she perceived things was quite different. She found difficulty in greeting and dealing with strangers. She was even described as ‘rather awkward in her movements’. She never really cared about her reputation and she was very reserved by nature.
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817)
Jane Austen was an English novelist who is still remembered for writing romantic fiction. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Emma are some of her famous writings. One of her beautiful quotes from Emma goes as ~ “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” Jane Austen was a keen observer and displayed very less relational interactions.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
Vincent Van Gogh was one of the greatest Dutch painters. The 20th century was influenced by the arts created by him. Some of the features that are notable in his art are rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color. He started to make paintings from his childhood and most of his work includes landscapes, flowers, self-portraits etc. He had few autism traits like eccentricity.
Other Famous People Speculated to Have Autism
- Andy Warhol
- Charles Darwin
- Bill Gates
- Mark Twain
- Benjamin Franklin
- Thomas Edison
- Bobby Fischer
- Richard Borcherds
- Lewis Carroll
- Adolf Hitler
- Isaac Newton
- Jonathan Swift
- Nikola Tesla
- Bob Dylan
Autism disorders can vary from mild to severe in people. People with mild disorders don’t find it very difficult to find themselves in a society, but people having severe effects of autism find it very difficult to fit into normal society. One good thing about people affected by autism is, they devote most of their time in something or one thing that interests them. Thus they succeed in their own fields like the above mentioned people.
