OK so everyone who knows me knows I am obsessive about Asperger's Syndrome.
There seem to be more and more cases being diagnosed yearly with current research suggesting between 1 in 300 and 1 in 100 people are affected worldwide. The reasons for this increase have been put down to better diagnositic tools and more public awareness of the condition but I have another theory.
I blame Bill Gates and George Lucas.
Ah haaah! I hear you say. Of course! Bill and George. What the h*** is she talking about????
Well it goes like this:
Previously there were lots of people out there with Aspergers (mostly men) who went about their quirky lives working in industries such as engineering and law or closeted away in academic facilities doing intense, painstaking research. Their lack of interest or ability to socialise meant many went unmarried and did not reproduce. Are you hearing where I'm going now?
Bill Gates, a man frequently described as having many of the characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome made computers cool. He brought them into the mainstream and created an industry for a whole raft of similarly obsessive and socially dysfunctional people who were now looked at with respect and admiration (unlike lawyers and engineers ;-) by huge swathes of the population including women.
George Lucas when he developed Industrial Light and Magic, gave a whole generation of geeks the opportunity to make big money and work in a celebrity industry which brought them into contact with more women than they could ever have done in industries such as accounting or at their local model engineers association swap meet.
Thus, these former social outcasts became cool, met women, married and reproduced and now we have an epidemic of Asperger's diagnoses in our schools.
QED.
7 comments:
Ah. Interesting theory. :-) :-) :-) I'm kind of sad about your implication that my engineer son is bound for a life of no respect or admiration though. :-( :-( :-( At least, people say he's going to be an engineer.
I would tend to agree with your theory. My father-in-law, who claims to have been diagnosed with Asperger's at age 50, is a big fan of both Gates and Lucas. So is his son, my husband. Hmmmm.
Very interesting indeed...you always have the most though provoking things to say!
Jill: I mostly meant lawyers :-D
AmyJo: Watch out baby!! :-) Mind you, I am a big fan of GL too so.....
You might just have something with that theory of yours! LOL!
I think you're right in terms of overdiagnosis - as well as ADD and depression, social anxiety disorder, etc. etc.
My personal theory, however, involves the pharmaceutical industry.
James must be an Engineer that deviates from the norm then....?
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