Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a disability that affects a person’s social, communication, and behavioral skills. People diagnosed with ASD do not have characteristic looks that set them apart from others, unlike those with Down Syndrome. You can easily identify people with Down Syndrome because they all have similar characteristic features. On the other hand, people with ASD will look the same, and you cannot distinguish a person with ASD from somebody without.
A person with ASD will often have challenges with communication, social, and emotional skills. People with ASD will often repeat specific behaviors and might prefer to stick with a routine. A person with ASD will have different techniques in coping and learning. Once a person is diagnosed with ASD, the disability will most often last throughout that person’s life.
However, it does not mean that you have a short stick if you are diagnosed with ASD. While people with ASD will have difficulty living a normal life, this disability does not mean that they will not become successful. Here are some of the people who have ASD but became popular in their fields of interest.
Dan Aykroyd. Dan Aykroyd is a famous comedian best known for his role in the blockbuster movie “Ghostbusters”. Aykroyd got expelled from two schools when he was still a child. He was later diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of ASD.
Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle is a singer whose fame was brought about by her joining the talent show “Britain’s Got Talent”. Boyle was misdiagnosed as having brain damage as a child, but further diagnosis revealed that she has Asperger’s Syndrome. Boyle became a singing sensation and have cameoed in films such as The Christmas Candle. Boyle confesses that her ASD made her struggle with her mood swings and depression.
Albert Einstein is believed to show signs of Asperger’s Syndrome when he was alive
Albert Einstein. It is hard to believe that Albert Einstein, the proponent of the Theory of Relativity, belongs to those with ASD. However, Autism experts from Cambridge University agree that Einstein have shown any symptoms that he had Asperger’s Syndrome when he was alive. Likewise, professors of psychiatry at Cambridge University and Trinity College also believe that other prominent scientists and celebrities of the past such as Sir Isaac Newton, H.G. Wells, Beethoven, Hans Christian Andersen, and Mozart were persons who have ASD as well.
Sir Anthony Hopkins. Anthony Hopkins is an Oscar-winning actor best known for his role as Hannibal Lectern in the Silence of the Lambs movie. Hopkins is also diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. During interviews, Hopkins always reference his learning difficulties as a child and talks about having a hard time maintaining friends.
While these success stories of people with ASD only represent a small sample of what they can do, these stories may provide inspiration and hope for children who are still learning how to handle their condition. Children with ASD will have these people to look up to.
