Gary Numan. Aspie?

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Registered: 06-25-2003
Gary Numan. Aspie?
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Sun, 02-11-2007 - 9:45am

This came up in chat last night, and I can't let it go.


Gary Numan is an English electropop pioneer from the lates 70's /early 80's. His song "Cars" is his biggest hit over here.


Excerpt from Wikipedia:


Gemma (former fanclub member who is now his wife -P) apparently first recognised Numan as having a mild form of Asperger's syndrome. She has discussed this, and also how she and Gary met, in at least one UK women's magazine. In the April 29, 2001 edition of The Sunday Times magazine, Numan stated:



"Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I'd got a mild form of Asperger's Syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn't understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes a bit more sense."

In an interview for Metro he said:



"It was suggested I had it when I was younger but no one knew much about it then. I've read a lot about it since and I fulfil some of the diagnostic criteria but not others. I probably have a mild form...for example, if people came over for dinner and I saw a magazine I hadn't read, I'd pick it up, sit in the corner and read it - which I now know is wrong...I have an obsessive focus when it comes to pushing forward with my music. I don't get crushed by disappointment. I don't do this for the acclaim, luckily...because of Asperger I see the world as a hostile place...it feeds into my style of songwriting completely."[

I read (it is not online) an article on the backstory for the song "Cars", which Numan claims is an expression of his Aspieness and feelings of alienation.

-Paula

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Avatar for littleroses
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Sun, 02-11-2007 - 12:41pm

I don't have a direct thought to your question, but I found this on the web about someone with an Asperger's friend trying to describe the way he sees the world. I will cut and paste it. The Aspergers friend describes himself as a train and tells his friend, she is a car (neurotypical). I really liked it and it made me think of the cars song you posted, so I hope it is interesting if not an answer:

"Oh...as a side note. I have a friend with asperger's. He told me that he sees the world like this:
There are trains and there are cars. I am a car. I change my mind and go a different direction than I originally planned. I drive on asphalt. I can travel alone or share the road. I move quickly, but not as fast as a train. He is a train. When he begins to move, he goes much faster than a car, but he cannot change directions suddenly. He can't take alternate routes. He doesn't like to share the tracks with other trains. The problem occurs when the cars make the trains share their asphault. The trains tear up the roads and contually crash. They get stuck, and the cars get angry. But....who ever said that they would make good trains? Why can't we just give him tracks to ride on?"

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 02-11-2007 - 2:08pm

Good analogy LR. I like it.

As I mentioned to Paula last night, the information on Gary Numan and AS that I found kind of made me angry. What I found where things where he thinks he may have a mild form of AS cause he is a bit quirky and was shy as a child. There was some comment about AS being kind of the in-vogue thing to be. He has never been diagnosed officially nor seems to have had any interventions. HECK we ALL have a few of the symptoms of autism. Ya know swings aren't made for babies because just autistics like those repetitive movements. They just can take it too the extreme.

The problem I have is AS being down played as some little quirk of the nerds. I am sorry but those who are just nerds are just that, nerds. There are MANY MANY different kinds of people in the world and that SHOULD be allowed to be without labels.

AS and ASD are very real significant challenges. It should not be diagnosed or labelled unless it significantly affects a persons ability to function as is appropriate for their age.

I believe this not only for AS but for all diagnosable conditions. For instance, depression. We all get sad. We all go through periods of being depressed but true clinical depression is a very very serious thing which requires treatment and medications. Do we all need dx'es of depression when life gets a bit tough? I don't think so, but those who have it it is very real.

I think it is the same for us who are living with children with AS and autism. It is not some cutesy invogue thing that makes them shy geniuses that look at the world differently. People like that are shy geniuses who look at the world differently. Why does that need a label.

I wonder if Gary's mom got phone calls to pick him up from school because he was melting down. I wonder if he ever refused to go to school. I wonder if she had to avoid shopping trips, family vacations, parties, social activities because he couldn't tolerate it?

Someone who refuses to interact and instead reads a magazine when they know it is wrong is just rude. Some one who doesn't realize it is wrong, or if they do can't understand why it is wrong, or if they can understand why still cannot tolerate the social interaction so they use the magazine to hide because otherwise they may meltdown or shut down...that is more of an aspie.

Did I rant enough yet? Really there has to be some cutoff to the end of the autism spectrum. A person can have some traits they share with the spectrum and just be an interesting person and are not autistic. I would love if my kids were just quirky shy genuises. Maybe then they wouldn't need aides in the classroom or might have a friend or 2.

Renee

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Sun, 02-11-2007 - 9:38pm

Thank you so much for sharing that.

Chrissy

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Registered: 01-19-2005
Mon, 02-12-2007 - 8:30am

I don't know much about Gary Numan, but LR, I love this analogy. Thanks for sharing.

Katherine

Avatar for littleroses
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Mon, 02-12-2007 - 10:45am
I do think you have a valid point, Renee.