Transcript

In 2003 Simon Baron Cohen, a clinical psychologist at the University of Cambridge, claimed that Albert Einstein had autism. Elon Musk has had his Asperger's syndrome, and if you ask Google, you'll find many lists of famous people who supposedly have autism. Usually was the preamble, though he was never diagnosed. It's been attributed to Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Eminem, none of whom ever said anything to deny or confirm it. What's going on? Why does everyone suddenly have autism? How is it different from Asperger's Syndrome? What does neurodivergent mean? And what is internalized ableism? Am I autistic? That's what we'll talk about today. First things first. What is autism? The term autism was introduced in 1911 by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen bloyer. He used to describe what he believed to be a childhood version of schizophrenia.

The term autism alludes to the Greek word autus, which means self, a word that bloyler used because the children seemed to be detached from reality and withdrawn into their inner world, even though they didn't have smartphones. Back then, autism was later recognized as a condition independent from schizophrenia today, the diagnosis of autism includes learning difficulties, especially with language and speech, trouble with verbal and nonverbal communication, avoiding eye contact, repetitive movements, specialized and often obsessive interests or behaviors, difficulties with emotional control and extreme reactions to stimuli such as slight touch or noise. Autistic people also sometimes have unusual abilities, such as a remarkable memory for facts, numbers or visual details, and are doing mental arithmetic.