Sheldon Cooper
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ScaredToBreathe
Well-known member
For one, he has no problem approaching people, talking to them without a nervous voice or nervous body movements, he makes eye contact, and he can go on for ages talking about something. It's true that his social skills don't comly with society's norms, but he can still make conversation and it can appear funny or cute to some people.
People with SA on the other hand often have trouble speaking confidently, making eye contact, approaching people or even being around people, and when there is an awkward silence often can't think of anything to say. This makes people believe you are shy, want nothing to do with them, or make conversation boring, thus most people with avoid those with SA.
People with SA on the other hand often have trouble speaking confidently, making eye contact, approaching people or even being around people, and when there is an awkward silence often can't think of anything to say. This makes people believe you are shy, want nothing to do with them, or make conversation boring, thus most people with avoid those with SA.
I'm more interested in what we can learn from Captain Jack Sparrow.
lol Some people on this site may have Asperger's too, or at least some traits...
some people with Asperger's can be 'not interested' in people, just in very specific topics...
people can still learn from fictional characters, some of them have been my greatest inspiration
Wikipedia says he was based on a 'real' person anyway?
Comedy can show us some insight and maybe acceptance into own mistakes, or we can see there are people out there, blundering even more badly!
so, you can learn, 'with a grain of salt' (don't believe everything!!)
and laughter prolongs life anyway!!
some people with Asperger's can be 'not interested' in people, just in very specific topics...
people can still learn from fictional characters, some of them have been my greatest inspiration
Wikipedia says he was based on a 'real' person anyway?
Comedy can show us some insight and maybe acceptance into own mistakes, or we can see there are people out there, blundering even more badly!
so, you can learn, 'with a grain of salt' (don't believe everything!!)
and laughter prolongs life anyway!!
awkwardamanda
Well-known member
I disagree that Sheldon has Asperger's. It's hard to think that such a genius could actually have a form of autism.
I think he fits the descriptions of schizoid and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders pretty damn well.
People with OCPD are typically perfectionists, follow strict rules and schedules, don't trust other people to do things because they believe their way is the right way, and are anal and condescending.
Schizoids prefer to be alone and like to avoid interaction and physical contact with other people. They are unable to pick up on social cues. They are emotionally detached and often asexual.
I know that was brief, but if you read up on these things, it's Sheldon to a T.
I think he fits the descriptions of schizoid and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders pretty damn well.
People with OCPD are typically perfectionists, follow strict rules and schedules, don't trust other people to do things because they believe their way is the right way, and are anal and condescending.
Schizoids prefer to be alone and like to avoid interaction and physical contact with other people. They are unable to pick up on social cues. They are emotionally detached and often asexual.
I know that was brief, but if you read up on these things, it's Sheldon to a T.
hehe Amanda, I googled him and Wikipedia says both Asperger's and OCD have been ascribed to him...
I don't think it actually matters, people can enjoy a show and be entertained and/or inspired even without knowing the total definition/s or labels...
(Haven't seen the show yet, even wikipedia sounds funny tho!!)
I don't think it actually matters, people can enjoy a show and be entertained and/or inspired even without knowing the total definition/s or labels...
(Haven't seen the show yet, even wikipedia sounds funny tho!!)
Felgen
Well-known member
People tend to misunderstand the term 'autism' and automatically assume that it means Rain Man or 40 year old unemployed virgin... and while technically a proper medical term, refering to a person with Asperger's as 'autistic' is like refering to a little person as a 'midget' or someone who's missing a hand as 'crippled'.
People with Asperger's are almost like normal people, but are impaired socially and are hardwired for systemizing rather than empathizing. As far as intelligence goes, both Tim Burton, Bram Cohen, Heather Kuzmich, Satoshi Tajiri and Vernon L. Smith have the disorder. When it comes to level of functioning, Asperger's syndrome closely resembles ADHD or Tourette's syndrome.
An example of someone with more severe Asperger's syndrome would be Donald Morton, from the movie Mozart and the Whale. This movie also illustrates the difference between Asperger's and classic autism very well.
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awkwardamanda
Well-known member
Autism, even in it's mildest forms, is a type of mental retardation, is it not? Maybe I'll rephrase what I said. Even though many of the symptoms of Asperger's may be there, I find it hard to believe that someone with a genius mind could also have an underdeveloped brain at the same time.
Felgen
Well-known member
Autism and mental retardation are two different things. Mental retardation is often given as a comorbid diagnosis but you can be severly autistic (Amanda Baggs is a good example) and still be intelligent (i.e. not retarded). I'm diagnosed with Asperger's and have an IQ of almost 150, not to mention that I belong to the 98th percentile of the Norwegian population when it comes to solving mathematical problems quickly.
Here's how it affects most people:
Clay Marzo- Sufer with Aspergers - Seems to Work For Him - YouTube
Heather Kuzmich access hollywood interview. - YouTube
Dr.Who Review & Reaction - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011) - YouTube
My thoughts on Quiet vs loud people with aspergers - YouTube
To the untrained eye, these people will seem slightly weird and somewhat awkward, but nothing more.
A lot of autistic people are geniuses.
I don't think it's so much ''lack of'', but more a case going to a party, knowing where you need to be, taking another route and accidentally ending up somewhere completely different without realizing it. To put it in a metaphor.
AsTimeBurns
Well-known member
We learn we should be drunk on rum 95% of the time, and spend the remaining 5% of the time trying to find the rum.
Waybuloo
Well-known member
I thought autistic people are often geniuses. The health visitor said maybe my little girl might be autistic just because she could count and say the alphabet at 2. (It's an overexaggeration on her part but as a professional she is linking being smart with being autistic).
Sheldon may be autistic, but it doesn't mean he has to have anxiety. To me he is the most interesting character on the show.
Sheldon may be autistic, but it doesn't mean he has to have anxiety. To me he is the most interesting character on the show.
A Many Splendored Thing
Well-known member
Autism is generally a social disorder. It doesn't affect intelligence per se, but a person diagnosed with autism is usually socially inept in one way or another.
I suppose this could lead many autistic people to focus on other subjects, because they aren't accepted or don't care about other people.
I suppose this could lead many autistic people to focus on other subjects, because they aren't accepted or don't care about other people.
A Many Splendored Thing
Well-known member
In a way, this scares me... I feel like I have at least partially what they described as asperger's disease.
Speaking has been particularly poor for me when trying to say words or think up words that I should know. I usually screw up diction unless I focus and pronouce the words.
Math has always been my strongest subject. I even surprised a few people by multiplying numbers in my head and they couldn't believe I was right. They would just start asking me to do the math in my head while they used calculators.
I also tend to focus on computer hardware a little too much. I could spend all day, 7/4/12 learning about the physics of these little things... all the circuits and metal layers mmm. Nobody really argues with me on the hardware forum I go on, because I go too deep into the actual tech. They can argue about what $500 video card is better, but they don't want to know why it's better... I want to know why everything works in these chips and in other modern technology that I use today. I want to make it better.
/end another rant
Overload
Well-known member
I'm getting ****ing sick of asperger's syndrome. You go on the forums and most of these people are self-diagnosed and full of themselves. I've seen people who were bummed when their doctor revoked their diagnosis. They think a label alone makes them unique or different. They just don't value themselves.
All of a sudden people with exceptional abilities or gifted intelligence with deep "unusual" interests accompanying social ineptitude are labeled defective. Missing something. All that is needed is to ****ing learn. Take it from someone who's received anonymous emails from my college for autism conferences because I'm practically a mute in class.
These labels perpetuate the symptoms they describe. It's a dangerous slope. An excuse not to try changing. An excuse to give up, no matter how much you wish you could connect with others or how much you don't like making them so uncomfortable.
Reading up on the autism spectrum you'll find it reaches nearly the entire spectrum of humanity. Be weird, be quirky, whatever you do be your ****ing self.
Most autistics and aspergerians are in a place of cold comfort. Due to generally higher intelligence, they feel things more deeply, they remember pain more vividly, so change is scarier. Or maybe they're not intellectually stimulated enough by most people so they prefer isolation and therefore are socially behind. Maybe they're so insecure they put on a friendly, unassuming mask, all the while knowing exactly what's going on at all times, but not feeling what's going on.
I watched a film called Billy The Kid. The kid's about 14 in it, and was diagnosed with aspergers. You come to find out he had some trauma as a kid. He talks about feeling like he's at war with himself every day. In it he tries to get a girlfriend but it doesn't work out. He's not natural with any of it. Mother said he was tested as borderline genius btw. It also mentions his school's concern for his library rentals, which were a bunch of books on psychopathy. He feels like a monster, because hes always acting. So many of these kids just don't know how to be themselves. Hence why there is a lot of cross-diagnosing among anxiety disorders and the autism spectrum. Also, and this may be just me projecting myself onto the kid, because I can relate to nearly everything in that film, including a period of obsessive research on psychopathy and conscience, he seems gay.
Some common myths and loose statistics that interrelate:
Gay people are higher on the narcissism level.
Highly intelligent people are often full of themselves, narcissistic
Many psychopaths have high IQs, often in the genius range
Narcissism and psychopathy/sociopathy are very similar
All autistics are gay
Autistics are devoid of empathy
the term "autistic psychopathy" was used by Hans Asperger himself
etc. etc. etc.
Some of this sounds conspiracy-ish but there are bits of truth hidden within every crackpot theory. These are just some of my observations over the months.
This is not to say I completely denounce the whole area of psychology devoted to the spectrum. My point is there is SO MUCH BULL**** surrounding it all. It's hip.
Most of this post has come from my experiences with labeling myself, being labeled by others,making excuses for myself, getting others to make excuses for me, and hating myself (less and less though) for being gay. Take from it what you will. Rant over. It's almost 6am. I need to sleep.
One final note:
With a higher level of intelligence and creativity comes the enhanced ability to lie to yourself, and to others.
One more final thought regarding mathematical ability and the spectrum. Gifts in these areas can also be a crutch. Relying on logic, patterns, and rules for something as intense, random, and unpredictable as human soul does not often yield understanding. Soul cannot be analyzed, dissected, compartmentalized. You can only feel it.
All of a sudden people with exceptional abilities or gifted intelligence with deep "unusual" interests accompanying social ineptitude are labeled defective. Missing something. All that is needed is to ****ing learn. Take it from someone who's received anonymous emails from my college for autism conferences because I'm practically a mute in class.
These labels perpetuate the symptoms they describe. It's a dangerous slope. An excuse not to try changing. An excuse to give up, no matter how much you wish you could connect with others or how much you don't like making them so uncomfortable.
Reading up on the autism spectrum you'll find it reaches nearly the entire spectrum of humanity. Be weird, be quirky, whatever you do be your ****ing self.
Most autistics and aspergerians are in a place of cold comfort. Due to generally higher intelligence, they feel things more deeply, they remember pain more vividly, so change is scarier. Or maybe they're not intellectually stimulated enough by most people so they prefer isolation and therefore are socially behind. Maybe they're so insecure they put on a friendly, unassuming mask, all the while knowing exactly what's going on at all times, but not feeling what's going on.
I watched a film called Billy The Kid. The kid's about 14 in it, and was diagnosed with aspergers. You come to find out he had some trauma as a kid. He talks about feeling like he's at war with himself every day. In it he tries to get a girlfriend but it doesn't work out. He's not natural with any of it. Mother said he was tested as borderline genius btw. It also mentions his school's concern for his library rentals, which were a bunch of books on psychopathy. He feels like a monster, because hes always acting. So many of these kids just don't know how to be themselves. Hence why there is a lot of cross-diagnosing among anxiety disorders and the autism spectrum. Also, and this may be just me projecting myself onto the kid, because I can relate to nearly everything in that film, including a period of obsessive research on psychopathy and conscience, he seems gay.
Some common myths and loose statistics that interrelate:
Gay people are higher on the narcissism level.
Highly intelligent people are often full of themselves, narcissistic
Many psychopaths have high IQs, often in the genius range
Narcissism and psychopathy/sociopathy are very similar
All autistics are gay
Autistics are devoid of empathy
the term "autistic psychopathy" was used by Hans Asperger himself
etc. etc. etc.
Some of this sounds conspiracy-ish but there are bits of truth hidden within every crackpot theory. These are just some of my observations over the months.
This is not to say I completely denounce the whole area of psychology devoted to the spectrum. My point is there is SO MUCH BULL**** surrounding it all. It's hip.
Most of this post has come from my experiences with labeling myself, being labeled by others,making excuses for myself, getting others to make excuses for me, and hating myself (less and less though) for being gay. Take from it what you will. Rant over. It's almost 6am. I need to sleep.
One final note:
With a higher level of intelligence and creativity comes the enhanced ability to lie to yourself, and to others.
One more final thought regarding mathematical ability and the spectrum. Gifts in these areas can also be a crutch. Relying on logic, patterns, and rules for something as intense, random, and unpredictable as human soul does not often yield understanding. Soul cannot be analyzed, dissected, compartmentalized. You can only feel it.
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A Many Splendored Thing
Well-known member
Sometimes it would seem so easy to just follow a formula for human interaction, because formulas are so easy.
The problem with that is nobody is exactly the same. Each individual thinks differently, has had different experiences, etc. you can't use one general formula for each person.
Finding out what makes people tick won't be from a formula. You must empathize what they feel. The only way to know is from one's own experience. Those with asperger's might see the world a little differently than most, which is why they have this "disease". Being human is being different, it is what it is.
The problem with that is nobody is exactly the same. Each individual thinks differently, has had different experiences, etc. you can't use one general formula for each person.
Finding out what makes people tick won't be from a formula. You must empathize what they feel. The only way to know is from one's own experience. Those with asperger's might see the world a little differently than most, which is why they have this "disease". Being human is being different, it is what it is.