FAMOUS PEOPLE AFFECTED BY AN ASD BORN IN FEBRUARY

When Jacob was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 5, we quickly began to wonder what it would be like for Jacob when he becomes a grown up.  Would he be successful?  Go to college?  Be rich and famous?  So I began to research celebrities and other notable people who had an ASD.  And was I surprised.  I had no idea how many famous people had been affected by an ASD.  Either by having an ASD themselves or having a family member with an ASD.

*Please note*  Not everyone listed in this series has been diagnosed with an ASD.  Some may have an actual ASD while some may be suspected of having an ASD.  Others on this list may have a family member with an ASD.  Some people listed are deceased so an actual diagnosis of an ASD is impossible.  Also, every one listed was mentioned on multiple websites which I felt were credible.  And I did not reference Wikipedia.

February 11, 1847  -  Thomas Edison  -  Edison is considered by many to be the greatest inventor that ever lived.  Edison invented the phonograph, the world's first movie camera and he modernized the light bulb.  Edison was an incredible reader, but had many social issues while in school.  Edison is suspected to have had ADHD and mild autism.

February 12, 1809  -  Abraham Lincoln  -  16th president of the USA.  Lincoln was also an accomplished lawyer.  Lincoln lost a reported 6 elections for various political positions before becoming president.  Lincoln was a driving force in abolishing slavery in the US.  Lincoln was suspected to have had Aspergers syndrome.

February 18, 1906  -  Dr Hans Asperger  -  Born in Austria, Asperger was an avid student and earned his first medical doctorate at age 25.  Published a paper in 1943 under the pseudonym Leo Kanner, which was based on autistic behaviour in children.  Asperger has had over 300 works on autism published prior to his death in 1980.  Since most of his work was in German, it was ignored by the English world until around 1990.  Now Asperger's is a world known mental disorder.  Although Asperger's syndrome is named after Dr Hans Asperger, he never received an official diagnosis.

February 18, 1954  -  John Travolta  -  Famous American actor who has starred in over 30 movies including Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Pulp Fiction and Face/Off  Travolta has earned over $150 million in his lifetime.  Travolta's son Jett (1982-2009) had autism.

 

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