"Is Sheldon Autistic?" Article

[Shawn D]

Is Sheldon autistic? Amy from The Big Bang Theory has a brilliant answer

 

[AsheSkyler]

Amy really does have a PhD? Wow.

And what we’re trying to show with our show is that this is a group of people who likely were teased, mocked, told that they will never be appreciated or loved, and we have a group of people who have successful careers, active social lives (that involve things like Dungeons and Dragons and video games), but they also have relationships, and that’s a fulfilling and satisfying life.

And bless her for that! Until recently, I've known far more nerds than Aspies, and that is the part most of them stand by. Along with the fact they can be normal people instead of the super-genius mass murderer that is obsessed with highschool and killing his highschool classmates like how TV normally depicts nerds. When they don't go with the tired "loser always in Mom's basement" stereotype.

 

[Progster]

Well said, Mayim Bailik!

 

[Rob]

Fantastic! I really enjoyed Mayim's take on the characters on this popular and very funny program. It is far too easy to pathologize everyone on this show as being on the spectrum
and ignore the huge potential for people like them for success and fulfilling relationships.
I know someone who works for us at Chevron in Revelstoke who has some strong OCD and perhaps Aspie traits but does not have all the markers for Asperger's who has proven himself very capable and level-headed.

Nice work, Mayim!

 

[Judge]

Amy really does have a PhD? Wow.

In neuroscience of all things.

She really does know what she's talking about. Yeah, Sheldon is far more about OCD than anything else. But then we should all keep perspective that this is a fictional character developed by two NTs- Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

I wouldn't dream of using Sheldon as an example of much of anything.

But then as someone with OCD I marvel at what a junk yard Sheldon and Leonard's apartment always is. So much stuff all over the place, and not in truly neat order. Amusing, but highly fictitious to me personally. To me it's a glaring continuity error.

 

[AsheSkyler]

In neuroscience of all things.

She really does know what she's talking about. Yeah, Sheldon is far more about OCD than anything else. But then we should all keep perspective that this is a fictional character developed by two NTs- Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

I wouldn't dream of using Sheldon as an example of much of anything.

But then as someone with OCD I marvel at what a junk yard Sheldon and Leonard's apartment always is. So much stuff all over the place, and not in truly neat order. Amusing, but highly fictitious to me personally. To me it's a glaring continuity error.

They seem an awful lot like some nerds I use to know. Horribly, terribly, anally picky about some subjects, but the house is always a wreck. I remember reading somewhere that the writers were shocked when it was first presented to them that some of the characters should strong traits of being on a spectrum (or many spectrums). Can't say I blame them. One of my first times reading over a more comprehensive list of symptoms and displays, I wondered if there needed to be a few psychologists sent to raid comic cons.

 

[Judge]

They seem an awful lot like some nerds I use to know. Horribly, terribly, anally picky about some subjects, but the house is always a wreck. I remember reading somewhere that the writers were shocked when it was first presented to them that some of the characters should strong traits of being on a spectrum (or many spectrums). Can't say I blame them. One of my first times reading over a more comprehensive list of symptoms and displays, I wondered if there needed to be a few psychologists sent to raid comic cons.

Interesting.... Of course if you were to mention another television character like Tony Shaloub's "Monk"...I'm afraid he would strike me much more like the real deal. But then much like Sheldon, I'm referring only to OCD and not autism. I'm WAY more like Monk....where everything must be "just so" in placement and location.

What's that term I've been called? Oh yeah- "neatnik". A trait that ultimately more often repels people than draws them to me. Unless I do their cleaning.

Yet neither am I a germophobe either. Strange thing, OCD.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Interesting.... Of course if you were to mention another television character like Tony Shaloub's "Monk"...I'm afraid he would strike me much more like the real deal. But then much like Sheldon, I'm referring only to OCD and not autism. I'm WAY more like Monk....where everything must be "just so" in placement and location.

What's that term I've been called? Oh yeah- "neatnik". A trait that ultimately more often repels people than draws them to me. Unless I do their cleaning.

Yet neither am I a germophobe either. Strange thing, OCD.

Aye, I missed the germaphobe strain too. Well, except a persistence to wash my hands after a trip to the bathroom or before I eat or when I've been handling something yucky like the garbage, but that's also encouraged by regular folk. Funny thing is, cleanliness isn't as high ranking as other strains of OCD. And another one of those things where I think they only focus on the disruptive and extreme cases of OCD and ignore the good ones. I score high for OCD on a lot of fun tests and the clinically validated tests, but I find it vital to both my life and a lot of others I have contact with.

 

[StephF]

I would classify (in an un-qualfied way) Sheldon to be part aspie and highly OCD.
Either that or he's just an obnoxious jerk with a sense of superiority.

I hope its the first

 

[Xenocity]

He might have AS.
Or he might just be selfish and uninterested.

Either way the show is awful.

 

[Bellatrix]

He might have AS.
Or he might just be selfish and uninterested.

Either way the show is awful.

Yes, and one of the worst things about it is the 'live studio audience' that sounds so completely fake. It plays almost every ten seconds, and quite often when there is really nothing to laugh at (ex. in one episode before I gave up watching the show, Sheldon mentions the fallacy 'Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc' while on the phone with his mother, and the 'audience' laughed. Why?).

 

[Xenocity]

Yes, and one of the worst things about it is the 'live studio audience' that sounds so completely fake. It plays almost every ten seconds, and quite often when there is really nothing to laugh at (ex. in one episode before I gave up watching the show, Sheldon mentions the fallacy 'Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc' while on the phone with his mother, and the 'audience' laughed. Why?).

Actually the show never claims it's filmed in front of a live audience.

But either way the show is awful.

 

[Bellatrix]

Xenocity, are you also a member of 'Wrong Planet'? I've seen your avatar (is that the right term? I'm a bit of a computer novice) before, and I have to say that whenever I look at it I am reminded of the 'Leonard' character from that show.

 

[Hopeless_Aspie_Guy]

Yeah, Sheldon is far more about OCD than anything else.

Um no, not really. Sheldon's humor is as much based around his inept (but gradually developing) lack of social awareness/intelligence as he is the complimentary (perhaps secondary) OCD. So there

Amy farah fowler on the other hand was introduced as an aspie really and yet she became far less so (to the point of almost not being at all) after just a few series (which was a shame).

Actually the show never claims it's filmed in front of a live audience.

But either way the show is awful.

It's better than anything you'll ever know. Now GO HOME!!

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

While, I, personally, am a fan of the show, I'd like to point out that hating on a thread topic is bad behavior. You can choose to do it, but you can't look good doing it. AC enjoys a reputation as a positive place to be. You might notice there were 17 positive reactions to starting this thread.

There are plenty of other places to be negative.

 

[Bellatrix]

While, I, personally, am a fan of the show, I'd like to point out that hating on a thread topic is bad behavior. You can choose to do it, but you can't look good doing it. AC enjoys a reputation as a positive place to be. You might notice there were 17 positive reactions to starting this thread.

There are plenty of other places to be negative.

As far as I am aware, there is no rule here against expressing dislike for a T.V. show, and it's hard to do that without appearing to some to be 'negative'. I don't like 'The Big Bang Theory' either, even though when it first appeared I remember I thought to myself at the time, "Finally, there is a character in a mainstream show that I can actually relate to" - i.e. Sheldon, not Penny. It has its moments, and it is sometimes genuinely funny, but... well, I won't go into the things I see wrong with it, if only because I know I will upset the fans of the show here, and the list would end up being extraordinarily long.

 

[Divrom]

It might not claim it, but it is still true.

Actually the show never claims it's filmed in front of a live audience.

But either way the show is awful.

 

[dragonwolf]

Amy really does have a PhD? Wow.

A bit off-topic, but Pauly Perrette (Abby on NCIS) has a Master's Degree in Criminal Science. She might have been an actual federal agent had the whole "playing one on TV" thing not panned out.

More on-topic, I recall the whole crew being adamant about not giving Sheldon an official diagnosis and leaving it ambiguous, so Mayim's response is right in line with what they've maintained. I'm not a fan of the "undiagnosed or pathologized and medicated" dichotomy, though. You could have a character with a diagnosis and have it just be a background thing.

 

[dregj]

would be nice if she hadnt previously vigorously denied his austism a few years back
its one thing to have a funny character in a sit com its another to have an aspie
in a comedy as a figure of fun

 

[SonoranPrincess]

In many respects Sheldon seems Aspie. In the show his symptoms are exaggerated to the extreme, so another Aspie watching the show may not see all of themselves in his character. It's common for Aspies to also be diagnosed with OCD and/or bipolar disorder (my Dad had both). Someone in a previous comment said that identifying Sheldon as Aspie would "pathologize" him. Can we possibly, for once and forever, NOT identify ourselves as defective simply because we are on the spectrum? Yes, we are different from N/Ts, not "less than." I wouldn't change, if given the opportunity.