Autism Awareness Month: 5 People with Autism that Changed the World

According to Mayo Clinic, “Autism spectrum disorder is a condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication.”

This has been a cause for major discrimination in society, with people treating others with autism as ‘weird’ or ‘abnormal’. However, some of these people ignored the insults and went on to break barriers. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, here are five people who had autism, but went on to rock the world.

Caiseal Mór

Caiseal Mór is a bestselling author from Australia, writing primarily sci-fi and fantasy. He was diagnosed with autism as a child, and faced a lot of insults due to it. However, despite it, he learned the cultures in India, Africa, and Europe, which gave inspiration to him on writing. He published his first book, The Circle and the Cross, in 2000. It went on to become a series, and throughout that series, he manages to show his amazing intellect and perception of reality in them.

Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah is an accomplished actress starring in movies like Kill Bill, The Blade Runner, and Splash. She was diagnosed with autism early in life and it affected her life greatly, as she was living alone later on as well. However, she used her immensely great creativity and went on to pursue acting. She is also a political and environmental activist.

Michelangelo

You may know the legendary painter, who created masterpieces like the Sistine Chapel, the statue of David, and The Creation of Adam. But what you may not have known is that scholars and historians highly suspect that Michelangelo was autistic. A case study published in the Journal of Medical Biography highlighted his “single-minded work routine, unusual lifestyle, limited interests, poor social and communication skills”.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was another groundbreaking figure in history, changing the way we view physics today. One expert on autism, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, argued that Einstein had many of the characteristics of someone with high functioning autism or Aspergers, like communication issues and difficulty with interaction. However, this shaped Einstein into the Nobel-Prize winner he is hailed for.

Courtney Love

Courtney Love was diagnosed with autism as a child, and although she was very creative and smart, she seemed to do badly at school and struggled making friends. However, this didn’t stop her from becoming the lead vocalist of the band Hole, and one of the most influential singers of the 20th century.

These are only a few of the many, many icons in history who have changed the world. They taught others on the autism spectrum not to treat their autism as a disease, but rather embrace it as a part of who they are. These people weren’t afraid to show their real selves to the world, and didn’t care about society’s standards. These are the people we need to bring more attention to and idolize, because they changed the world, even when society said not to.

If you want to learn more about Autism, go to https://www.autismspeaks.org and honor Autism Awareness Month.