From Anthony Hopkins to Greta Thunberg: Celebrities who have broken taboos surrounding Asperger’s Syndrome

From Greta Thunberg to Einstein, from Tim Burton to Van Gogh, many famous people are “Aspies”—that is, they have a pervasive developmental disorder known as Asperger’s syndrome (AS). This neurodevelopmental disorder causes those affected to experience difficulties with social interactions, as well as very narrow patterns of behavior and interests. But what exactly is Asperger’s syndrome?

There are many similarities with autism: AS is in fact part of the spectrum of pervasive developmental disorders, or the autism spectrum. The term “Asperger’s syndrome” was coined by British psychiatrist Lorna Wing in a medical journal in 1981, when she published an article on this then-little-known variant of autism. The name refers to Hans Asperger, an Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician whose work was not recognized until the early 1990s.

People with the syndrome exhibit impaired social interactions, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, and very narrow interests. Unlike “classic” autism, no delays in language or cognitive development are observed.

What is Asperger’s syndrome?

Considered a “high-functioning” autism spectrum disorder (High-Functioning Autism), Asperger’s syndrome affects three major areas of development: social relationships, language use, and interests. Despite the many established similarities with autism without intellectual disability, the question of whether Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning autism are truly two distinct conditions has not yet been resolved. The fact that there was no “official” definition of Asperger’s syndrome until recently has caused considerable confusion. Above all, this deprived parents and doctors of clear reference points and guidelines regarding the meaning and consequences of this syndrome, particularly concerning the type of diagnostic evaluation and the appropriate forms of therapy or intervention.

It was not until 1994 that the situation changed, with the “official” inclusion of the syndrome in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the most widely used “reference” by physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists worldwide for classifying mental or psychopathological disorders. This inclusion followed a study involving more than a thousand children and adolescents with autism or related disorders. The results revealed that Asperger’s syndrome could rightly be included in a diagnostic category distinct from autism, while remaining within the group of pervasive developmental disorders.

This was a step forward, but it did not clear up all uncertainties, as our understanding of this syndrome still has many limitations: its prevalence remains unknown, as do the male-to-female ratio and the existence of any genetic links.

Asperger’s Syndrome is characterized by a complex set of traits that may resemble nonverbal learningdisorder, social phobia, or may sometimes be confused with schizophrenia, and is accompanied by poor personal hygiene, or in some cases, a genuine aversion to hygiene products. Asperger’s syndrome is also diagnosed in the presence of various comorbidities (disorders not directly resulting from the syndrome), such as depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In general, the key features are:

• impaired social interactions
• repetitive activities and limited ability to concentrate
• narrow interests
• limited motor coordination
• emotional vulnerability
• average or above-average intelligence and strong memory skills

Here are some famous people with Asperger’s

• Albert Einstein
• Isaac Newton
• Susanna Tamaro
• Charles Darwin
• Greta Thunberg
• Tim Burton, who, in his cult classic film *Edward Scissorhands*, portrays certain traits of someone with Asperger’s syndrome through the protagonist
• Van Gogh
• Alan Turing