Aspies For Freedom

It sounds fascinating, thanks Lili Marlene.   :smile:

Thanks for posting this, Lili, I VERY much want to read this book.

I found it at Dymocks online for 37.95, btw, but it looks like they haven't confirmed availability yet.

I guess I could go to the mall and look for it (gag, wheeze...I hate the mall).

Uschi, thanks for that. I really want this book already, now I want it even more. Let us know what you think as you go, ok? It sounds so interesting.

Fitzgerald's book is quite good, I agree with some of his views on this matter. However, I have my doubts about Mozart and van Gogh. Mozart may have had it, but he definitely also had ADD. One thing does not necessarily exclude the other though. There are many with Asperger's that also have ADD, but it makes it harder to determine.

Lewis Carrol, Doyle, the Yeats brothers, Andy Warhol and the philosophers Kant, Spinoza and Ayer are likely to have had it, in my opinion. Fitzgerald makes a reasonable case out of it, in some cases not far-fetched at all.

I think all this is very interesting and since I'm writing a book about Asperger's syndrome (in Swedish) and the strengths that we have, I read a lot on this topic. My overall intention with this book is that Asperger's syndrome cannot be viewed solely as a disorder; by allowing yourself to be defined by a disorder you limit yourself, embracing the strengths that we have is far more constructive. There are lots and lots of them (and you know it), detail orientation, focus, special interests, different kind of problem solving, excellent memory, splinter skills, systemising ability above normal, the ability to be alone etc. Bascially it's a book about the positive sides of Asperger's.

Naturally I'm taking a closer look on famous people with Asperger's syndrome, like for instance the genius Richard Borcherds. I'm also taking a closer look on this whole business of diagnosing the dead, especially if it is possible to actually extract this kind of information or come to any conclusion about this, using psychobiographical methodology. I'm sceptic by nature, so let's see if I can convince myself

Granted of course, that there is massive amount of information about the person who displayed these characterstics, I'm trying to determine whether or not this is possible. Taking into account things like logical fallacies, the Barnum effect etc.

There is, for instance, one very well-known person in Swedish history who displayed many of the characterstics that are commonly associated with Asperger's syndrome and I'm trying to see if it's possible to come to any conclusion about whether or not he actually may have had it.

Working title: Per Aspera ad Astra (through difficulties towards the stars). Written 100 pages sofar.

Fitzgerald mentions Warhol's mania for collecting things and that a lot of it never was unpacked, he also mentions the soup cans.

It does sound very interesting, I have asked my mum to get it for me. I think it will be one of those books that my whole immediate family will read.

The book is very good, Fitzgerald coins the term 'Asperger savant', which is when special talents are combined with a high level of functioning in people with Asperger's syndrome. In short, Asperger savants are aspies with splinter skills.

However, you should also be aware of that he does not yield to take into account some pretty nasty things, perhaps resulting in that some of these portraits are less beautiful. Among other things he speaks of H C Andersen's masturbation habits and Orwell's aggressiveness (he used to beat up his servants). All in all, it's a very balanced and well written book though. To me it's clear that Fitzgerald admires many people with Asperger's syndrome. In an interview recently Fitzgerald said:

Well basically that's what Fitzgerald says in this book, in a NT sort of way

Lili Marlene, I'd be worried about eating in a place where there was lack of hygiene but the type of thing that worries me most is where people use the same board for cutting meat and then use it for cutting veges without washing it and when they leave seafood out in warm weather for too long.

I learnt very early about food poisoning and that is one thing I'm always wary of. With washing the veges, I thought that vegies in the supermarket were already supposed to be clean but just to be safer, it's best to wash them again.

I notice where I work that a lot of food from morning teas gets left out for too long and hardly anybody seems to care. If I were put in charge of the food, I wouldn't buy so much so then there wouldn't be all those left overs but I would buy good quality stuff and some things that would keep a bit longer.