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Andy Warhol may have been autistic

Magna

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I realize that making posthumous assumptions or suggestions that someone may have been on the spectrum is not valid and is more of a form of entertainment really, but when I watched this video I couldn't help but wonder if Andy Warhol was autistic.

Only after seeing the video and then googling the keywords did I find that I'm not the first one who wondered this and apparently it's been strongly suggested by others.

"According to a paper submitted to the National Autistic Society, many of Warhol's artistic and behavioural traits bear marks of the condition. His social ineptitude, care to use the minimum of words in speech, difficulty recognising friends and obsession with the uniformity of consumer goods are each thought to be clues that Warhol was autistic to some degree.”

Dr. Judith Gould, director of Eliot House, Britain's leading diagnostic centre for autism, was quoted as saying, “It is fascinating how many of the things Warhol did are typical of autism…Asperger syndrome. I would say, from the study I have seen, that Warhol almost certainly had Asperger syndrome.”


 
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It is possible but I have serious issues with trying to diagnose something in someone who is long dead and for which we only have media appearances to judge by. A lot of different reasons can create the same behavioral patterns.
 
I am drawn to autistic peoole, and l am very drawn to him. I did read he might be on the spectrum. He repeats images, and some of his pieces are cartoonist which l am drawn to.
 
Not a new theory,has been out there for quite some time.People who knew him blamed his lack of productivity on what was formerly known as Aspergers.
 
It seems I've always been drawn to autistics also.
Whether it is people I know, famous people of today, or those from the past that are deceased,
but, there's always specultation they were on the spectrum.

That is a question I've often wondered about.
Could it be possible there is some connection that we sense, but, just don't understand?
 
I recently read a study that strongly suggests communication between individuals on the spectrum is just as effective as communication between NTs, and at times even more. Only problem is communication between NTs and NDs. So individuals on the spectrum may relate to each other well based on things like interviews. (If I find the link to the study I'll insert it later)
 
I am always leery when people retro dx, but wow, this one seems bang on. It's also hard when you are dealing with artist because sometime their oddities make people think they are autistic. However, he says stuff like he ate Campbell soup EVERY DAY, and other things to suggest he was. An odd artist who is great with people, no routine, no sensory issues, no other issues than oddity is NOT autistic. But an odd artist with all the other stuff? YUP. (IMO)
 
I've long thought that he was, considering his early art and later his art films and much of his commerical work. He innovated quite a bit and had unusual subjects and an 'out of the ordinary' colour palette. He was not liked inititially by the established art community of the time, considered too commerical. He did influence many artists of the time, and afterwards.
 
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I recently read a study that strongly suggests communication between individuals on the spectrum is just as effective as communication between NTs, and at times even more. Only problem is communication between NTs and NDs. So individuals on the spectrum may relate to each other well based on things like interviews. (If I find the link to the study I'll insert it later)

I think I may have read about this same study or one similar. If I recall the study I read about said that NDs together communicate well. NTs together communicate well, but NTs and NDs...not so much. That is to say if there was a room full of NDs and a single NT, the NT would have trouble communicating with the NDs. A conclusion I came to was that NDs are often blamed as being poor communicators when in actuality it could simply be that there are more NTs and if an NT was in the minority they'd have similar difficulty communicating with an ND dominate group.

I have personal experience that I believe supports the study I read: I formed a local adult autism support group in my area. We had one meeting that all who attended found to be wonderful and we all said we heartily wished to have it continue on a regular basis. That first (and last) meeting was January 2020 just before Covid derailed the entire plan. Worth noting was that we all communicated well with each other. We were on the same "wavelength". No one was left out of the conversations. I acted as a facilitator to keep things going. It was a great experience.
 
It seems I've always been drawn to autistics also.
Whether it is people I know, famous people of today, or those from the past that are deceased,
but, there's always specultation they were on the spectrum.

That is a question I've often wondered about.
Could it be possible there is some connection that we sense, but, just don't understand?

Could we have "A-dar" (Autism Radar)? I think there might be something to it. I had never heard about the claims that Warhol may have been autistic, but after watching only that first video with Warhol wearing Walkman headphones and Talking with William S. Burroughs, my "A-dar" was active.:)

I've semi-joked with an autistic friend that I think (autistics) are all on the same wavelength and that we all share some level of shared consciousness. Maybe there's some truth to it.

Another interesting Warhol fact: He would only wear a certain type and certain color (green) underwear. He said that color green felt different than underwear of any other color. He had face blindness and had difficulty recognizing people including those known to him.
 
The section in the interview below starting at 1:23 is very interesting to me. Especially the section of 2:31-2:42 in which he is exhibiting echolalia to the chagrin of the interviewer.

 
He said how to him life is like watching TV, which is something I can relate to due to my autism.

Quote by Andy Warhol: “Before I was shot, I always thought that I was ...”

I can certainly relate to the "half there" feeling.

“Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television – you don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television.” Andy Warhol
 
Agree with the degree of caution one must have when dealing with retro-diagnosis. It will remain a guessing game of sorts unless (or perhaps just until) technological advances make it otherwise.

Take Einstein's poor brain for instance. They removed it and keep it for study. They recently did one study on it looking for physilogical differences between his and the statistical medians. I believe the two differences noted were a very slightly larger then average size and a more pronounced increased connectivity between left and right lobes of the brain. These lined up well with another recent study (post mortem) of about 30 ASD identified brains. Not empirical by any means but an example that post mortem diagnosis may one day be possible. I would guess DNA studies a likely avenue for it.

Btw, do not volunteer for this type of study!

Personally, I do believe there may well be something to one Aspie recognizing another by hard to identify/explain means (as Magna and perhaps others already alluded to). I get that feeling quite often, and always have, having previously called it a kindred spirit. Now I lean more towards thinking it is another Aspie.

Species and smaller groups recognize each other by various means.

"How do animals recognise other members of their own species?

In much the same way as we do – using a combination of appearance, calls, behaviour and smell. The exact contribution of each sense to the overall assessment varies from one species to another, according to how generally reliant they are on that sense."

How do animals recognise other members of their own species?

What catches my eye here is recognizing likes by behavior.
 
One thing that really caught my attention was his hands and how he keeps touching his face, especially
around the lip area and how he held the other hands and fingers.
It so reminds me of how I do the same.

I've done it since birth!
They had to put me in what I call a "baby straightjacket" as soon as I was taken to the nursery
observation room. I was put in a top that had very long arms that could be wrapped around and tied
in the back because I continously scratched at my face and would make it sore.
 
One thing that really caught my attention was his hands and how he keeps touching his face, especially
around the lip area and how he held the other hands and fingers.
It so reminds me of how I do the same.

I've done it since birth!
They had to put me in what I call a "baby straightjacket" as soon as I was taken to the nursery
observation room. I was put in a top that had very long arms that could be wrapped around and tied
in the back because I continously scratched at my face and would make it sore.

Ah yes, the baby straightjacket. I'm familiar. I think they put that on at least one of our kids in the nursery. Baby fingernails are like fine little razors right off and it's very easy for the baby to cut/scratch themselves.
 
Finally I had fulfilled my chance to make a single video on my autistic YouTube channel "Aspie With Attitude" discussing why is that Andy Warhol is autistic. In this video content I explain his traits and how he used to talk with monosyllabolic speech. I had explained his obsessions with numbers, consumer labelling and repetition that for example had made his works on the Campbell's soup tin cans very iconic to the Pop Art Movement from 1955 up until 1970.

 
Warhol seemed to have had overwhelming autistic characteristics; such as those mentioned and not liking to be touched.

Lou Reed (spent time in the Warhol factory) was also said to have received shock therapy for autistic schizophrenia (as it was sometimes referred to at the time).
 

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