Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Superheroes and Asperger's

As I was reading other peoples sites on Asperger's and wondering what comments to make it occurred to me to that I could speculate if their were any super-heroes that may have Asperger's Syndrome. Obviously when one thinks of super-heroes Superman is one of the first to pop into anyone's mind. After further consideration I don't think Superman fits the Bill. First and for most he is from another planet literally and the DSMIV does not address extra terrestrials. He also has a steady job with adequate peer relationship and even has a girlfriend. He does not appear to have sensory issues or trouble with transitions. The next Super Hero that came to mind was Batman. Here is someone who definitely may be on the spectrum.

Batman is a loner. He has two notable people who he confides in his butler (Alfred) who is considerable older then him and is paid. The other is his ward (Robin) who is much younger. In addation Batman has an unusual intense interest in Bats and has a passion for computers and technology. He is also millionaire (Bruce Wayne) and does not seem to ever go to work. He prefers to come out at night maybe due to a sensory thing with light.

What about his pragmatic skills. He shows up out of no where immediately interrupts commissioner Gordon and the sergeant. He gives his theory on the criminals motives which is a complete monologue. Then he does not wait for a response and just leaves with out proper termination of the conversation. Unfortunately, his parents were killed so we are unable to get a proper history on his language development so assuming he had the normal milestones Asperger's would seem the most appropriate diagnosis.

I remember one time on the TV show Batman played by Adam West jumps in the Bat-mobile with Robin. Batman refuses to chase after the criminals because Robin is not wearing his seat belt. This demonstrates a person who is rule driven too a fault. Also his purpose-seems to be to stop criminals that interfere with daily routine of Gotham's citizens.

There are those critiques who would point out that his parents were killed in front of him and Post Traumatic Stress disorder would be more appropriate which may be the underlining cause to his sleep disorder. Batman may have a dual diagnosis I am unsure because he is fictional but the disorder is real. I write this because we speculate if great man and woman in history had this condition. Why not a super hero? My hope is that people will read this and think hey you might be right and having a super hero on your side is not a bad thing. How great would it be to have two kids talking and one mentions having Asperger's and the other saying doesn't Batman have that too. We all need to relate too something and have hereos that we can identify with.