Autistic People

Autism. To so many people it's a scary word. To me it's not. The man I love is Autistic. My "aunt's" son is Autistic.

Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism involves many parts of the brain; how this occurs is not well understood. The two other autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and PDD-NOS, diagnosed when full criteria for the other two disorders are not met. Not all people are diagnosed at such a young age though. My boyfriend wasn't diagnosed until recently. (A few years ago recent, not like last week recent.)

Every 1 - 150 people will be diagnosed with Autism. Autism is also 4 times more likely to occur in boys than girls. That guy you stare at because he acts a little different probably has a form of autism. Keep staring. Maybe you'll cure his autism. After that we can work on your social skills. I hate how so many people stare at Dane (My cousin) because he flaps his arms and is constantly moving. He's special. Get over it. He is also amazingly intelligent for his age. (He's only 4 or 5 I believe.)

These are some famous people with some form of Autism (Unspecified, Asperger syndrome,  high-functioning autism, autistic savants, ect...) :

 Ryan Joesph Wienen - my amazing boyfriend

Hans Christian Andersen – author

Lewis Carroll – writer, logician

Jeffrey Dahmer – serial killer

Emily Dickinson – poet

Albert Einstein – physicist

Thomas Jefferson – US President

Michelangelo – Italian Renaissance artist, based on his inability to form long-term attachments and certain other characteristics

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – composer

Isaac Newton

Nikola Tesla - Serbian inventor, and electrical and mechanical engineer

Andy Warhol – American artist 

Daryl Hannah, an American actress best known for her roles in Splash, Blade Runner and Kill Bill was diagnosed as a child as being 'borderline autistic'

Christopher Knowles, American poet

Michael Moon, adopted son of author Elizabeth Moon

Jasmine O'Neill, author of Through the Eyes of Aliens

Birger Sellin, author from Germany

Robert Gagno, actor from Vancouver

Dan Aykroyd, comedian and actor: Aykroyd stated he has Asperger's, but some feel he was joking.

Richard Borcherds, mathematician specializing in group theory and Lie algebras

Craig Nicholls, frontman of the band The Vines

Gary Numan, British singer and songwriter

Dawn Prince-Hughes, PhD, primate anthropologist, ethologist, and author of Songs for the Gorilla Nation

Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics

Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokémon

Liane Holliday Willey, author of Pretending to be Normal, Asperger Syndrome in the Family; Asperger syndrome advocate; education professor; and adult diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at age 35

Temple Grandin, a designer of humane food animal handling systems

Hikari Oe, Japanese composer

Bhumi Jensen, Thai prince, grandson of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand; killed by drowning in the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Dylan Scott Pierce, wildlife illustrator

Jim Sinclair, autism rights activist

Axel Brauns, German author of the autobiographical bestseller Buntschatten und Fledermäuse and filmmaker

Alonzo Clemons, American clay sculptor

Tony DeBlois, blind American musician

Jonathan Lerman, American artist

Jerry Newport is an author, savant, and has Asperger's. His wife, Mary Newport, is also a savant on the autistic spectrum (basis of the film Mozart and the Whale)

Matt Savage, U.S. autistic jazz prodigy

Tito Mukhopadhyay, author, poet and philosopher

Heather Kuzmich, fashion model and reality show contestant on America's Next Top Model.

 Peter Tork, American musician (The Monkees) and actor

Jonathan Jayne, contestant on American Idol

Fictional Characters With Autism:

Lou Arrendale and his associates from The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Seth Garin in Stephen King's The Regulators is an 8-year-old boy with autism and mental powers that can be used for good or evil

Simon Lynch in Ryne Douglas Pearson's Simple Simon is a 16-year-old autistic boy whose mathematical abilities enable him to break a NSA security code and as a result must be protected from the government

Darryl McAllister from A Wizard Alone, part of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series. His autism gives him an unusual perspective of the world that in turn gives him unique abilities as a wizard

Arnie O'Connor from Dean Koontz's Frankenstein trilogy. Main character Carson O'Connor's autistic brother, unnaturally cognizant of the events of the books and the object of fellow autistic, albeit synthetic, character Randall Six's obsession to understand the secret of happiness

Raymond Babbitt (played by Dustin Hoffman) from the film Rain Man

Daniel Connelly (played by Harry Connick, Jr.) from the film P.S. I Love You

Linda Freeman (played by Sigourney Weaver) from the film Snow Cake

Eric Gibb (played by Jay Underwood) from the film The Boy Who Could Fly

Kazan (played by Andrew Miller) from the film Cube

Simon Lynch (played by Miko Hughes) from the film Mercury Rising

Donald Morton (Josh Hartnett) and Isabelle Sorenson (Radha Mitchell) in the film Mozart and the Whale

Arnie Grape (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) from the film What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Max Horovitz (voice by Philip Seymour Hoffman) from the animation film Mary and Max

Nell Kellty (played by Jodie Foster) from the film Nell

Brady Hauser, Mark Hauser's brother, is an autistic savant who is enlisted by his brother to steal corporate security information in the 24 episode "8:00PM-9:00PM (24 season 6)"

In the House episode "Lines in the Sand" , which focuses on an autistic child named Adam, the team suspects that House may have low-level Asperger syndrome in order to explain his unwavering protests at having the carpet in his office changed. Dr. Wilson, however, asserts that House "wishes" he had Asperger syndrome so that he would have an excuse for his rudeness and dislike of people.

 The third series of Skins features the character JJ Jones who is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome

On The Shield, Vic Mackey's son Matthew and daughter Megan both have been diagnosed with autism

On the American Daytime soap opera All My Children, the character of Lily Montgomery, played by Levin Ramblin, is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder 

Conner, in the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation has Asperger syndrome

The boy who would become the DC Comics supervillain Black Manta was autistic

Jonny Do in Psi-Force was an autistic individual with pyrokinetic abilities

Tony Stark (Iron Man) is self-described as having Asperger syndrome  

So many famous people have been diagnosed. It just proves that yeah, someone may be autistic, but that won't stop them from doing amazing things. I hope one day people will realize we don't need a cure to autism, we just need support. Please remember, just because some autistic people can't speak doesn't mean they don't have something to say. Let's help them talk. Let's help them use their own voice.