Award for assistive device for those with Asperger's

Asperger's Syndrome has been very much in the public eye recently. A major storyline on the popular television show "Boston Legal" this season has revolved around a character being denied a partnership in the show's law firm because he "makes the clients feel uncomfortable". This is despite the fact that he is the firm's top researcher with an encyclopedic knowledge of tort law and legal precedents. It turns out that he is able to obtain a settlement form the firm because he recieves a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome.

The show also touches on the question of whether or not those with Asperger's are violent by nature or not. This we will discuss at another time.

Another recent event that has brought Asperger's syndrome and those who have it into the public eye is Motorola corporation's MOTOFWRD contest. This year's winner has developed an idea for a cell phone that gives cues to its owner as to the emotional state of others. This device is the Mood Phone, created by John Finan, a student at Duke University.

While the phone does not physically exist at this time, it may be developed by Motorola, or another technology company in the future.

Did Andy Warhol have Asperger's?

There is a fascinating article called Illness: the pathway to creative genius? which explores conditions that may have contributed to the great masters of the arts and sciences. Aside from a fascinating discussion of the influence of cataracts on the development of impressionism, the article goes on to single out Warhol as a likely Person With Asperger's:

At Oxford, Ioan James, a professor of geometry, is writing a book in which he investigates whether 20 influential figures, including Einstein and Newton, the composer Bartók, the mathematician Alan Turing and the artist Andy Warhol, had Asperger’s syndrome, a mild autism characterised by extremely focused attention. James argues that the obsessive and repetitious behaviour often associated with autism was a positive thing in these people. “Perseverance, perfectionism, disregard for social conventions and unconcern about the opinions of others could be seen as a prerequisite for creativity, and these are also behaviours associated with Asperger’s,” he says.

A great read, I recommend it to all.