| Many think that a diagnosis of autism means a child is | | | | to play in the last four minutes of the last game of |
| doomed to a lonely life devoid of any | | | | the season, and scored an astonishing 20 points |
| accomplishments. History has proven this theory to | | | | during that time, some of them from three point |
| be false, and many people with the higher-functioning | | | | range. Most players can't score that high throughout |
| forms of autism have gone on to do great things. | | | | an entire game! He has become an inspiration to |
| There are some autistic famous people who though | | | | many with autism or those with autistic children. |
| may have struggled initially can be an inspiration to | | | | Actress Daryl Hannah was said to have been |
| children with autism, or their parents. | | | | diagnosed as 'borderline autistic' at the age of three, |
| Autism does not have to be a dark and lonely | | | | but has gone on to have a successful career as an |
| existence. Some autistic children are very bright, and | | | | actress. She is probably best known for her role in |
| they have a personality to match. No one with a | | | | the movies Splash and the Kill Bill series. |
| disability should be underestimated, and this goes for | | | | Andy Kaufman (died 1984) was well-known for |
| those with autism as much as for anyone with any | | | | having a very strange and outlandish sense of humor. |
| other condition. | | | | He is another actor thought to have had autism. |
| Though it has not been proven, some speculate that | | | | Two very well known artists, Vincent van Gogh and |
| Albert Einstein may have had a high functioning form | | | | Andy Warhol may have had autism. They exhibited |
| of autism. Because he is no longer alive, there is no | | | | many traits of those with higher functioning types of |
| way he can be diagnosed. However, these theories | | | | this condition, and were seen as 'eccentric' and |
| are popular, and they are attributed to some | | | | brilliant. Autism is thought to be the root cause for |
| behaviors that he demonstrated, and that he was, in | | | | their bright and unusual personalities and life choices. |
| his own words, very much a loner and did not feel | | | | Though Courtney Love is not perhaps the best |
| particularly connected to anyone, even his immediate | | | | example of what someone with autism can do, it is |
| family members. He was brilliant with math, but by | | | | noticed that she was diagnosed at age three as |
| some accounts, did not begin to speak until the age | | | | 'mildly autistic.' She has had her ups and down, but |
| of two or three. He would often become so involved | | | | her band Hole did enjoy some success. |
| in his work that he would forget to eat meals and if | | | | Perhaps some of the most well-known people to |
| a lecture he was giving drew no observers, he would | | | | have this condition were born before an actual |
| lecture anyway. Again, this is just a theory, but it | | | | diagnosis could be made. That means that these |
| would appear that this assumption could be valid. | | | | autistic famous people have a diagnosis that is based |
| Jason McElwain is probably one of the more recent | | | | on speculation and things that they were known for |
| and most inspirational story of a person with autism. | | | | when they were alive. Many of these people are |
| He was the manager for his school basketball team | | | | important for both historical reasons, and for |
| at a high school in the suburbs of Rochester, NY, and | | | | bettering the world in a number of ways. Examples |
| practiced shooting hoops for hours on end all by | | | | are Sir Isaac Newton (mathematician), Wolfgang |
| himself. Though he was not technically a member of | | | | Mozart (composer/musician), Charles Darwin |
| the team due to height and skill level, he loved the | | | | (naturalist/scientist), and Michelangelo (painter/sculptor |
| game so much he stayed with them. He was allowed | | | | architect/poet). |