What do you know about Einstein being autistic?

Question

I'm really curious to know whether this is true.

Answer 1

Actually he was Dyslexic not, (to my knowledge) autistic. He actually failed math once in high school. He certainly could have had a mild type of autism but dyslexia can explain many if not all of the things listed above. I am dyslexic and was considered by some to be retarded until I was tested after scoring a 149 on an IQ test.

Answer 2

A fascinating book ("Thinking in Pictures"), written by the famous autistic woman Temple Grandin, gives many reasons for believing that Einstein very likely had mild autism (Asperger's syndrome). A section titled "Genius Is an Abnormality," which starts on  p.178 of the Vintage paperback edition, some of the reasons given for thinking this of Einstein are:

(1) He did not learn to speak until he was three.

(2) He had a singleness of purpose and a poor memory for things that did not interest him, especially things of a personal nature.

(3) He had a tremendous ability to concentrate and could work for hours or days on the same problem.

(4) He was far more interested in the relationships between objects than between people.

(5) Although he could be charming in public, in his private life he was a loner.

(6) His lectures were said to be scattered and sometimes incomprehensible. "Students would be confused because they could not see associations between some of the specific examples he gave and general principles. The association was obvious to Einstein's mind, but not to his verbal-thinking students." (p. 182 of the same book)

(7) He did poorly in school until he was sent to one where he was allowed to use his visual skills.

(8) He was careless in his dress and hair grooming, etc. (He sometimes wore green slippers with flowers to his job in the Swiss patent office!)

It goes on and on. By the way, if you are interested in autism, Temple Grandin has written some other fascinating books besides this one.

Answer 3

Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton may have suffered from a type of autism, according to experts.

Researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities believe both scientists displayed signs of Asperger's Syndrome.

Many people with Asperger's are often regarded as being eccentric. They sometimes lack social skills, are obsessed with complex topics and can have problems communicating.

This latest research suggests that Einstein, who is credited with developing the theory of relativity, and Newton, who discovered the laws of gravity, had these traits to varying degrees.

According to the researchers, Einstein showed signs of Asperger's from a young age.

As a child, he was a loner and often repeated sentences obsessively until he was seven years old. He was also a notoriously confusing lecturer.