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Autism Spectrum Explained
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  • Home
  • Introduction to Autism
    • Characteristics
    • Common Myths
    • Tenets of Autism
  • How to Interact
    • What to Avoid
  • Negative Narrative
    • Autism Controversies
    • Stigma & Discrimination
  • Advice for Parents
    • Visual Supports
    • Autism Treatments
    • Explaining Autism to Kids
    • A Mother's Story
    • My Sibling Perspective
    • Autism Explained for Kids Site
  • All Kinds of Minds
    • Culture of Autism
    • Late Diagnosis
  • More
    • How to Assess Claims
    • What Causes Autism?
    • Additional Resources
    • Site Info & Feedback >
      • About the Website
      • ASE FAQ
      • Survey
      • Contact Us
      • Make a Submission
  • Our Blog
    • On Self-Advocacy
    • Trouble with Changes
    • Smoothing Transitions
    • Autism Speaks
    • Vaccines
    • Infantilization
    • Her Autism is Worsening
    • Stimming
  • Autism Tutoring

Famous Autistic People

When my sister was growing up, people told us all the time that because she's autistic she'd never be able to do the things the neurotypical (not-autistic) children do. They said she'd never go to a mainstream school, never keep up with the other children, never read, never write an essay, never pass an Honors class, never pass an AP class, never get into college, never be able to live away from home. But she's actually done all of those things! Just because someone's autistic that doesn't mean you can say they won't be able to do things.

You that you cannot judge a person's abilities by their label, even if that label is autistic. Just like neurotypical people, all autistic people's abilities are different. To prove that to you, I'm going to introduce you to a whole bunch of people who are the famous - and also happen to be autistic. Don't believe me? Click on their names and read up on them. Every last one of these people is on the autism spectrum and succeeded despite, or, more likely, thanks to, their autism.
Now, is every autistic person going to grow up and do the things these famous people have? Of course not. Autistic people are just as human as you or I and just as most neurotypical people won't go on to become multi-millionaires, famous actors, or Nobel Prize winners, it's the same with people on the autism spectrum. My point here, however, is to say that people on the spectrum can be, as many are, incredibly successful in life in many different fields and you can't judge their abilities by their labels. The world needs all kinds of minds, and autistic minds are among those.

Actors

Picture of Ray Stantz from Ghostbusters

Dan Aykroyd

Field: Comedian, singer, actor, writer
Details: He played Ray Stantz in Ghostbusters, a film which he also helped write.

Another successful autistic person in acting is Daryl Hannah, best known for acting in Splash, Blade Runner, Steel Magnolias, and Kill Bill. Here's a clip of her acting in the movie Splash - her character is a mermaid who turns into a human when she's out of the water.

Musicians

Picture of Adam Young singing at a concert

Adam Young, 
Owl City

Field: Musician/singer-songwriter
Details: Created hit songs Fireflies, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and more recently, the song Good Time featuring Carly Rae Jepson. Here's him in the music video:

Other famous autistic musicians include 
Craig Nicholls, frontman of the band, The Vines; and Susan Boyle, the singer from Britain's Got Talent.

Nobel Prize Winners

Picture

Albert Einstein

Perhaps the most famous Nobel Prize winner and scientist ever, Albert Einstein, was autistic and took longer than other children to learn how to speak. 
Another famous autistic Nobel Prize winner is Vernon Smith, a professor who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Vernon has a type of autism called Asperger's Syndrome and says being on the autism spectrum gave him the concentration he needed to win the prize.

Models

Picture of Heather Kuzmich gazing off into the distance in a picture from America's Next Top Model

Heather Kuzmich

Field: Modeling
Details: Kuzmich was on the reality TV show, America's Next Top Model, and came in fourth place. The link will take you to an interview of her discussing her life and Asperger's (a type of autism).

In a similar field, Alexis Wineman, Miss Montana, was a competitor for the Miss America beauty pageant.

Athletes

Picture

Clay Marzo

Field: Surfing
Details: Clay Marzo is a professional surfer who won the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) Nationals competition at age 15. He now helps run a camp for teaching autistic kids how to surf. Check out the video for some background on him and to watch him surf!

Another accomplished autistic athlete is Jessica Jane Applegate, who won gold at the 2012 Paralympics with a personal best swim of 2 minutes 12.63 seconds at age fifteen. 

Game Designers

Picture of Satoshi Tajiri holding up Pokemon games

Satoshi Tajiri

Field: Video Game Designer
Details: Taijiri was the creator of the hugely popular video game Pokémon, 'the second-most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world.' Like many successful autistic people, he took his special interest and used it to help him in his career. Satoshi's special interest was bug collecting, and Pokemon is inspired by that!

Business people

Picture of Michael Burry smiling in a 60 minutes interview

Michael Burry

Field: Finance
Details: He's a hedge fun manager and former doctor who made over $100 million for himself and $700 million for his investors by successfully predicting the problems with housing that the United States had in 2008. He's been written in the newspaper The New York Times, and the book "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine." He said that being an outsider actually helped him be able to make so much money, because it let him see things other people didn't.

Advocates

Picture of Temple Grandin lecturing at a TED talk

Temple Grandin

Fields: Animal science and autism advocacy
Details: One of TIME's 2010 most influential people. Towards the goal of autism advocacy, which means she stands up for the rights of autistic people, she is both a successful speaker and author. Temple is so famous she even had a movie made about her, which won an Emmy! She is also an animal welfare advocate recognized as an award winning visionary by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.


Here's a preview of the movie about her:

Website at a Glance

Tier I: The Essentials
Tier II: Autism and Society
Tier III: Interacting with Autistic People 
Tier IV: Perspectives of Autism
Tier V: Further Reading
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Disclaimer: The author of this website is a  speech therapist, NOT a psychologist, and frequently writes based on personal experience. As a result, advice given here may not be completely accurate and may not apply to everyone. The author readily admits to having a lot left to learn. In addition, most of this website was written before the author became a speech therapist and is thus not written from a professional perspective. This website should not be used in place of a professional. The author is not responsible for the content of other websites for which links have been provided, nor content from other contributors.
Published: 3/09/2013
Last Updated: 11/14/2017
Photo used under Creative Commons from madmiked