interesting and cinvincing info from schafer report

Einstein and Newton Showed Signs Of Autism

[By Hazel Muir.]

http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99993676

They were certainly geniuses, but did Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton

also have autism? According to autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen, they might

both have shown many signs of Asperger syndrome, a form of the condition

that does not cause learning difficulties.

Although he admits that it is impossible to make a definite diagnosis

for someone who is no longer living, Baron-Cohen says he hopes this kind of

analysis can shed light on why some people with autism excel in life, while

others struggle.

Autism is heritable, and there are clues that the genes for autism are

linked to those that confer a talent for grasping complex systems - anything

from computer programs to musical techniques. Mathematicians, engineers and

physicists, for instance, tend to have a relatively high rate of autism

among their relatives.

Baron-Cohen, who is based at Cambridge University, and mathematician

Ioan James of Oxford University assessed the personality traits of Newton

and Einstein to see if they exhibited three key symptoms of Asperger

syndrome: obsessive interests, difficulty in social relationships, and

problems communicating.

Newton seems like a classic case. He hardly spoke, was so engrossed in

his work that he often forgot to eat, and was lukewarm or bad-tempered with

the few friends he had. If no one turned up to his lectures, he gave them

anyway, talking to an empty room. He had a nervous breakdown at 50, brought

on by depression and paranoia.

Repeated sentences

As a child, Einstein was also a loner, and repeated sentences

obsessively until he was seven years old. He became a notoriously confusing

lecturer. And despite the fact that he made intimate friends, had numerous

affairs and was outspoken on political issues, Baron-Cohen suspects that he

too showed signs of Asperger syndrome.

"Passion, falling in love and standing up for justice are all

perfectly compatible with Asperger syndrome," he says. "What most people

with AS find difficult is casual chatting - they can't do small-talk."

Glen Elliott, a psychiatrist from the University of California at San

Francisco, is not convinced. He says attempting to diagnose on the basis of

biographical information is extremely unreliable, and points out that any

behaviour can have various causes. He thinks being highly intelligent would

itself have shaped Newton and Einstein's personalities.

"One can imagine geniuses who are socially inept and yet not remotely

autistic," he says. "Impatience with the intellectual slowness of others,

narcissism and passion for one's mission in life might combine to make such

an individuals isolative and difficult." Elliott adds that Einstein had a

good sense of humour, a trait that is virtually unknown in people with

severe Asperger syndrome.

But Baron-Cohen thinks the idea is still worth considering - there may

be certain niches in society where people with AS can flourish for their

strengths rather than their social skills, he says. "This condition can make

people depressed or suicidal, so if we can find out how to make things

easier for them, that's worthwhile."