Another Interesting Tid-Bit

Wow - two posts in two days! :-) I came across another interested "article" posted on an Autism site. I'm not sure how legit all of this is, but when you read my previous post, specifically the part about how Autistic people focus and memorize - it does kinda make sense about these people that they were so in to their passions that they became successes. Who knows - but it's interesting to think about. From the list below, the only ones that are WELL documented that I'm aware of are: Bill Gates, Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, and Vincent Van Gogh - although I have read numerous references to many of the others. Anyhoo, it's interesting to look closer at each of them knowing as I do now what the classic traits of Autism are and to think - "ya know, he did do that/act that way" - especially those with poor social skills and keeping more to themselves, which most of the ones on this list do!
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This is a list compiled of people who have or had the characteristics of Aspergers/Autism. Many famous people with brilliant minds are on this list. It is often thought that the cause of all of these people being so brilliant is the disorder itself because they focus in so intently that they ignore everything else, including what we consider "normal" day to day activities. Their obsessions lead them to do great things. We don't know for sure if Aspergers/Autism was any of their case, since it hasn't been diagnosed since the 1990's.

Historical famous people
Jane Austen, 1775-1817, English novelist, author of Pride and Prejudice
Béla Bartók, 1881-1945, Hungarian composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827, German/Viennese composer
Alexander Graham Bell, 1847-1922, Scottish/Canadian/American inventor of the telephone Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896, Austrian composer
Henry Cavendish, 1731-1810, English/French scientist, discovered composition of air and water
Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, US poet
Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, US inventor
Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German/American theoretical physicist
Henry Ford, 1863-1947, US industrialist
Kaspar Hauser, c1812-1833, German foundling, portrayed in a film by Werner Herzog
Oliver Heaviside, 1850-1925, English physicist
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, US politician
Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychoanalyst
Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Czech writer
Wasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944, Russian/French painter
H P Lovecraft, 1890-1937, US writer
Ludwig II, 1845-1886, King of Bavaria
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868-1928, Scottish architect and designer
Gustav Mahler, 1860-1911, Czech/Austrian composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791, Austrian composer
Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, English mathematician and physicist
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher
Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British logician
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish playwright, writer of Pygmalion, critic and Socialist Richard Strauss, 1864-1949, German composer
Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943, Serbian/American scientist, engineer, inventor of electric motors Henry Thoreau, 1817-1862, US writer
Alan Turing, 1912-1954, English mathematician, computer scientist and cryptographer
Mark Twain, 1835-1910, US humorist
Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter
Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Viennese/English logician and philosopher

Historical people prominent in the late twentieth century (died after 1975)
Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, Russian/US writer - author of Bicentennial Man
Hans Asperger, 1906-1980, Austrian paediatric doctor after whom Asperger's Syndrom is named
John Denver, 1943-1997, US musician
Glenn Gould, 1932-1982, Canadian pianist
Jim Henson, 1936-1990, creator of the Muppets, US puppeteer, writer, producer, director
Alfred Hitchcock, 1899-1980, English/American film director
Howard Hughes, 1905-1976, US billionaire
Andy Kaufman, 1949-1984, US comedian, subject of the film Man on the Moon
L S Lowry, 1887-1976, English painter of "matchstick men"
Charles Schulz, 1922-2000, US cartoonist and creator of Peanuts and Charlie Brown
Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, US artist

Contemporary famous people
Woody Allen, 1935-, US comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, jazz clarinettist
Tony Benn, 1925-, English Labour politician
Bob Dylan, 1941-, US singer-songwriter
Joseph Erber, 1985-, young English composer/musician who has Asperger's Syndrome, subject of a BBC TV documentary
Bobby Fischer, 1943-, US chess champion
Bill Gates, 1955-, US global monopolist
Genie, 1957-?, US "wild child"
Crispin Glover, 1964-, US actor
Al Gore, 1948-, former US Vice President and presidential candidate
Jeff Greenfield, 1943-, US political analyst/speechwriter, a political wonk
David Helfgott, 1947-, Australian pianist, subject of the film Shine
Michael Jackson, 1958-, US singer
Garrison Keillor, 1942-, US writer, humorist and host of Prairie Home Companion
Kevin Mitnick, 1963-, US "hacker"
John Motson, 1945-, English sports commentator
John Nash, 1928-, US mathematician (portrayed by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind)
Keith Olbermann, 1959-, US sportscaster
Michael Palin, 1943-, English comedian and presenter
Keanu Reeves, 1964-, Lebanese/Canadian/US actor
Oliver Sacks, 1933-, UK/US neurologist, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings
James Taylor, 1948-, US singer/songwriter