Well Known Autistics

It's a common misconception that autism is an epidemic that's affecting more and more people as time goes on, not unlike the real pandemic that the world is in the middle of at time of writing. The truth is far from it, and autism has always been around throughout human history because it's just a natural form of diversity. People often thing of diversity as physical things like skin colour, gender and so on, but there are mental forms of diversity as well, which is the basis of the neurodiversity movement encompassing autism, ADHD, dyslexia and so many more conditions.

With that in mind, there are of course figures throughout history who were autistic even before autism was discovered or thought of as a thing. I believe that a significant number of them made some form of significant contribution such as Einstein, Darwin, and who knows how many more. I wanted to look at some of the more well known people of recent times to show what exactly we autistics are capable of in a wide variety of fields, and to help bust the myth that autism is nothing but a disability. So let's get started with undoubtedly the most influential autistic to my own life:

1. Satoshi Tajiri
For those who don't know, Satoshi Tajiri is a video game designer/director and the genius responsible for my first recognised special interest, Pokémon! It all started with his special interest in collecting bugs and how collectors would capture them in a similar way that Pokémon trainers capture Pokémon. When Nintendo's Game Boy was initially released Tajiri imagined bugs crawling backward and forward through the game link cables from one Game Boy to the next, pioneering the idea of trading between players and working together instead of just playing against each other.

2. Dan Aykroyd
The star and creator of Ghostbusters took inspiration from his fascination with parapsychology and the paranormal to create what was apparently a fantasy epic before it was toned down on the fantasy elements and became the Ghostbusters that we all know and love today. He originally wrote the role of Peter Venkman for his close personal friend John Belushi to portray, but following Belushi's death he re-wrote it for fellow autistic Bill Murray instead.

3. Tim Burton
Tim Burton has never been diagnosed as autistic, but he strongly identifies as such which makes him self-diagnosed. He's known for his heavily gothic and weird influences in his films such as Edward Scissorhands, Alice In Wonderland (2010) and of course Beetlejuice, the cartoon of which I loved as a kid. And without Beetlejuice giving Winona Ryder her breakthrough role in 1988 she might not have gone on to star in a more recent favourite of mine in Stranger Things. While I can't say I'm a huge Burton fan myself, I'm certainly grateful for Bettlejuice.

4. Susan Boyle
From what I can remember hearing at the time, the news stories painted Susan Boyle as a bit of a laughing stock in her local area when she first appeared on Britain's Got Talent in 2009. When she first stepped out on the stage there was obviously something different about her that (I would say wrongly) put the audience and the public on edge. But when she started singing in her audition she showed how brilliant she is at what she does. She came in 2nd place in her series of BGT although it's arguable that she was the real star. Ironically enough she was only beaten by Diversity. She's since gone on to release a very respectable 8 albums and winning numerous awards.

5. Hannah Gadsby
Hannah Gadsby is one that I've only recently heard of within the last year or 2 when I saw her Netflix special Nanette. The show was actually written shortly following her diagnosis of both ADHD and autism, and was also written as a response to Australia's attitude at the time on same-sex marriage. The show has been described as ground-breaking and I'm sure her work will continue to break down barriers for the rest of her career.

6. Lewis Carroll
I've seen many autistics online theorise that not only is Lewis Carroll autistic, but also that his greatest creation Alice's Adventures In Wonderland is based on his own efforts to understand the neurotypical world as an autistic person. There is a darker side to this one though because it's been debated whether Carroll's preference for the company of children over adults comes from his difficulty in communication (it's often the case that autistic children prefer the company of adults, so it makes sense to me that the opposite could also be true), or whether there's a more sinister motive behind it. It's worth me also making clear that to my knowledge there is no further evidence of whether he was or wasn't a paedophile, and that I'm only explaining that it has been debated.

7. Anthony Hopkins
The man best known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter has led a troubled life, which has only in recent years been explained in part by a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. There are lots of other factors to his troubled life such as family issues, bullying, addiction and so on, but his autism is likely as much of a contributor as anything else, especially for a person of his generation.

There are countless more autistics scattered all over the world and all over history, but these are just a few of the ones you're likely to be familiar with and how they've contributed to modern society. For more autism content please click Subscribe at the top of the page and follow me on social media. I'm @DepictDave on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and you can buy me a coffee at my Ko-Fi account here.

[Image description: A black 5-point star with a gold border on a white background. Under the start is the word "Autism" in rainbow colours, and under that is the post's title "Well Known Autistics" in black.]