http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/10708.html
One-time indie rock cover star and all-round crazy celeb Craig Nicholls has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a brain disorder that causes the sufferer to exhibit autistic-like behaviour and struggle with communication and social skills.
What that means, basically, is Craig's erratic behaviour is medically explainable - he's not just the attention-seeking twit some of us (i.e. me) had him pegged for.
The singer's condition was revealed at a court case in Sydney where he was facing charges of assault and malicious damage. The charges were dismissed, but not before his condition was made public.
Asperger Syndrome has only recently been recognised by professionals. Sufferers are known to have difficulty adapting to changes in their environment, and may be more sensative than your average person when it comes to senses.
{read the comments!!!}
And what about those other comments, eg.,
Re: The Vines' Craig Nicholls diagnosed with Asper
Posted by kicka11 on 19th Nov, 18:04 | Reply to this post
it's ludicrous to say more often than not, they are hyperintelligent - it's what used to be called higher functioning autism which means IQ of >80% age-expected. That just perpetuates the myth that many austistic people are gifted, which is simply not true.
They have problems with emotional intelligence and are usually have difficulties empathising with others. The may have specific obsessions, hence the impression they are 'gifted'.
They really can't stand the idea that us weirdos may be smarter than them can they? I have problems with anyone who's stupid enough to use a term like "emotional intelligence" (now why did I just think of a certain troll...) uncritically!
Don't want "Aspies" to be hyperintelligent? No problem; just broaden the category to include anyone with an IQ over 80...
One of the comments -
"The Vines' Craig Nicholls diagnosed with Asperger
Posted by wishpig on 19th Nov, 17:23 | Reply to this post
but he has a DISEASE...so this means everybody can't hate him. it's not allowed. it's not politically correct.
ah, he's a ***. that's a shame."
Anyone who says that they dont like AFF cos we complain about NTs sometimes, please take a reality check, the average person in the street knows nothing about AS, except how to insult us, we are allowed to be angry about crap like this :evil:
Hello, I just joined. I've always thought of Nick Drake, the singer/guitarist who overdosed young on his medications as a possible Aspie. He was diagnosed as manic depressive/bipolar, but he was also extremely shy and couldn't handle playing concerts in a noisy room.
Hi Lonermutant, was he the guy who was much more famous after he died, and his songs were barely known whilst he was still alive?
btw you are very welcome here
Yes, and he made 3 albums who all flopped in the early 70's and he died at age 26 in 1974, but ironically, it was when one of his songs was used in a car commercial in the 90's, that he became popular again and a legend.
Hi Lonermutant, was he the guy who was much more famous after he died, and his songs were barely known whilst he was still alive?
btw you are very welcome here
Lonermutant, I think you might be onto something with Nick Drake. A couple of years ago I watched a documentary about Drake and I was mesmerised, I felt that I understood something about the guy. This was before I figured out that I was AS. The doco was repeated, I think by popular demand, and I was just as mesmerised the second time. I remember a bit in the documentary where they played a recording of Drake's mother singing, to show how uncannily similar they were in their style, suggesting some kind of inheritance.
Despite this, I am not sure if I actually like Drake's music. It seems rather dull and depressive to me, and the fact that the guy took an overdose is something that I don't sympathise with at all. Drake could have simply been an unusually intelligent, sensitive and depressed person, in which case I think he had quite a lot in common with many aspies.
Yeh, I read a newspaper article about Craig from the Vines a few months ago. Apparently, the group had to stop touring because he would get so stressed by the constantly changing environments and have numerous emotional "meltdowns". I believe they may be more of a studio band these days.
Not sure if I have heard of Nick Drake, though.
Read an interview with the drummer who said they had broken up and that he was auditioning for other bands while Craig had taken almost all of what they had earned.
Idiots. I've never even heard of the Vines though, don't listen to alot of music.
"The singer's condition was revealed at a court case in Sydney where he was facing charges of assault and malicious damage. The charges were dismissed, but not before his condition was made public. "
He was facing charges of assault and malicious damage - but not found guilty. The charges were dismissed. But why were the charges dismissed because there was not enough evidence to show he was guilty, he was innocent as proven by facts? Was someone lying? Was he framed? What at all did having AS have to do with the charges? It is inferred that the charges were dismissed because of his AS. Or at least many people might conclude that he did assault someone and cause malicious damage and got off on the charges because of his AS. That AS makes people behave irratically and it is an excuse to dismiss charges against someone is totally wrong. The AS should never have been mentioned.
I think AS could possibly be relevant to a case of assault and malicious damage if it was retalliation in a bullying type situation, but I have no idea if this was the case in the case of the musician. I am very wary of AS being used as an all-purpose excuse for bad or criminal behaviour, as this would be based on a falsely negative idea of what AS is. AS is not the same as conduct disorder or sociopathy.
Lili Marlene, I agree to a point. We've already seen how ADHD is often used to excuse all kinds of bad behaviour in children - it certainly has a bearing, but it doesn't mean that they should be allowed to get away without any discipline at all.
Just checked The Vine's official site. They have NOT split up and are preparing a new album. Craig is also said to be in good shape too. Let's hope he and his band continue to have success.
That's weird, I read an interview with their drummer where he said that the band had broken up and that Craig had taken most of the money they had earned...