Some of the most inspiring and influential people we know and love have Asperger’s.
1. Susan Boyle: Susan Boyle shocked the world in her 2009 Britain’s Got Talent audition when she sang a perfect rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Broadway show Les Misérables. The artist sold millions of record-breaking albums.
2. Courtney Love: Courtney Love’s career as a singer and actress. The singer revealed that she was diagnosed with a mild form of autism at age 9 in her biography.
3. Dan Harmon: Harmon is a multi-talented artist whose creative skills include writing, producing, and acting. While producing the NBC hit comedy television series Community, Harmon made an astonishing discovery during his research and character development.
4. Dan Aykroyd: American actor Aykroyd is best known for his stint as a comedian on Saturday Night Live (1975-1979) and movies like The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. According to The Guardian, a psychiatrist diagnosed the Saturday Night Live star with Asperger’s after he consulted him about tics and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. “My very mild Asperger’s has helped me creatively,” Akroyd told The Guardian.”
5. Daryl Hannah: The American actress, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s early in her career, is most known for her roles in Blade Runner, Splash, and Roxanne, among others. According to Hannah, her Asperger’s made it difficult to cope with some of the social demands made of Hollywood stars. “I never went on talk shows, never went to premieres,” Hannah says. She’s learned to adjust. “These days I have little tricks that I do to help me cope,” she told Women’s Weekly. As long as I remember to do them, then I am okay.
6. Sir Anthony Hopkins: The Welsh actor, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, says that he has mild Asperger’s. The actor said it has helped him get into roles as an actor.
7. Andy Warhol: His pattern of repetition defined an entire era of art, and it may have been the case that Warhol’s affinity for repetition was a symptom of Asperger’s. “It is fascinating how many of the things he did are typical of autism,”
Greta Thunberg has likened her Asperger syndrome to a ‘superpower’ — some Fortune 500 employers appear to agree
We need people who think outside the box and who aren’t like everyone else,’ the 16-year-old Swedish teenager said.
Greta Thunberg is facing attacks over her Asperger’s, but companies are keen to hire people on the autism spectrum.
Thunberg, 16, delivered a withering speech on climate change before the United Nations General Assembly last week, shaming world leaders for failing to take action. “How dare you,” she said. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”
One Fox News guest called her “a mentally ill Swedish child,” prompting the network to apologize to Thunberg and denounce the remark as “disgraceful.”
President Trump, for his part, tweeted sarcastic commentary alongside a video clip of Thunberg’s dire warnings: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. It's so nice to see!” Thunberg later co-opted the description for her bio on Twitter TWTR+0.82% .