5 Inspiring People That Will Change The Way You Think About Autism on World Autism Awareness Day

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to socialize and communicate with others. ASD can also result in restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. The term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of impairment or disability that people with ASD can display. Some people are mildly impaired by their symptoms, while others are severely disabled. The prevalence rate for ASD is 1 in 68 children and rising. Children with autism are 28 times more likely to attempt suicide and between 20-30% of autistic people will self-harm in some way. Boys are 4 times more likely than girls to develop autism. ASD crosses racial, ethnic and social backgrounds equally. Awareness of this disorder and improved screening methods have contributed to the increase in diagnoses in recent years.

Realizing that some of the most famous and successful people in our history had suffered from mental illnesses can help to combat stigma and humanize mental illnesses. So here´s a list with autistic people who didn´t let their condition and the prejudice that comes with it control their lives and managed to change the world:

1) Thomas Jefferson

There is speculation that Thomas Jefferson, the third president and writer of the Declaration of Independence may have been autistic or have Asperger’s syndrome. Norm Ledgin, author of Diagnosing Jefferson, indicates that Jefferson was shy, had an inability to relate to others, had difficulties in public speaking and was sensitive to loud noises. He also had an obsession for remodeling his home and was very eccentric. Jefferson had some “abnormal” tendencies including wearing slippers to important meetings and always having a mocking bird that sat on his shoulder to keep. This mock bird may have been an effort to keep him calm during social interactions. Unfortunately, due to a fire, there are no records of Jefferson’s childhood. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether he may have had delayed speech or display any earlier signs of autism.

2) Satoshi Tajiri 

The creator of Pokemon—one of the top-ranking video game media franchises in the world—has Asperger’s Syndrome. As a child, Mr. Tagiri was obsessed with bugs, a fixation that eventually inspired him to create Pokemon. Since its creation in 1996, the game is still majorly popular. In Japan 2011, Pokemon Black and White sold 2.6 million within 48 hours of being released. Satoshi has gone on record saying that he wanted the games to give children the same joy as he had during his bug collecting.  People with autism tend to take up collecting as a hobby, so Satoshi gave them and everyone else a gift that only he could create: a whole new thing to collect.

3) Charles Darwin

Prof Michael Fitzgerald conducted research on Charles Darwin, and supplied numerous facts supporting his theory that Darwin was autistic. Fitzgerald stated that Darwin was a solitary child, and even as he grew to be an adult, avoided interaction with people as much as he could. He wrote letters often, but did not often partake in face-to-face communication. Writing letters was his preferred means of communication. This is similar to other autistics who adopt other ways to communicate that vary from direct speaking. Darwin collected many things and was very intrigued by chemistry and gadgets. This fixation on certain topics and objects is another characteristic often seen in autistic people. He was a very visual thinker, as many autistic people think spatially and visually. Fitzgerald describes Darwin in this article as, “a rather obsessive-compulsive and ritualistic man”. Together, these characteristics seem to point to the conclusion that Darwin most likely had some form of autism.

4) Temple Grandin

An American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. As a person with high-functioning autism, Grandin is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the squeeze machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons. Grandin is listed in the 2010 Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the category “Heroes.”

5) James Hobley

James Hobley, is an astonishing 11-year-old dancer with autism, who gave stunning performances on both the semi-final and final rounds of Britain’s Got Talent. Although he ultimately lost the competition, James received a full scholarship to the English National Ballet School.

“Autism can´t define me. I define autism”