And i mean the young and the older Sheldon as well. He totally crossed the line on last nights episode. Nearly ruining his family's reputations, not to mention their lives and nearly getting his dad fired. He is so selfish that he'll strive to get anything he wants, no matter what the cost!
shareSheldon is likely on the autism spectrum. It’s quite common for those on the spectrum to struggle with empathy. Sheldon simply does not see that his actions affect others. We see that in The Big Bang Theory as well.
shareThe writers and producers have consistently stated he is not autistic.
shareYes, but that’s more of them not wanting to label him rather than objectively denying that he exhibits many behaviors and tendencies of someone on the spectrum.
They aren’t qualified to diagnose autism or any other neurological disorder. Neither am I. All I can really say is that I’ve observed many of the same behaviors, anxieties and difficulties in understanding social norm in individuals on the spectrum.
To put it another way, “If it acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are, it’s a duck.”
People are pretty sick of being labeled and demonized just because they happen to be a tiny bit different than some kind of imagined norm that does not exist anyway.
Teach Tolerance.
That’s exactly why I said he’s likely on the Autism Spectrum. It’s unfair (and inaccurate) to label Sheldon as “selfish” and “uncaring.” Sheldon sees the world differently, and that’s not a bad thing. It simply is how it is. He is who he is. He’s not being selfish. He’s simply applying who he is and what he knows to the situation. Understanding and recognizing this about him helps one appreciate him more.
shareI used to work with a colleague who had Asperger's. He reminded me a bit of Sheldon. An IQ of 140 (though it's not true that all who have Asperger's are geniuses, their spread of IQ is the same as the general populace) and very good at his job; he worked a job where he could not be easily replaced, and he was the only one the company kept when they did major layoffs and shut down the whole factory in that town. He would say inappropriate and offensive things because I guess his disability made him totally clueless of the social boundaries. Very "punchable" personality... if you didn't know he was disabled and had sympathy for it, that is. He also had a squeaky-sounding voice (as when a boy's voice breaks when hitting puberty) like Sheldon can have at times, but Sheldon's isn't as extreme as his was.
The differences I see is that Sheldon doesn't take all things literally and understands sarcasm. He can proceed normal social conversations a lot better than this guy could. Sheldon doesn't seem to have difficulty maintaining eye contact and so forth. This colleague, when you were talking to him, you could clearly tell there was something 'off'. I'm not sure all people with autism are like that, though. There are traits and degrees, and I think the criteria is not as strict these days as to require all points on the scale to get a diagnosis. I know two parents who have two children each, and all four of them combined are diagnosed with it. Then I have cousins on both my parents sides and they have children who are diagnosed with ADHD and one with traits or tendency to autism. Then finally, I've been told by a psychologist that he thought I may have had Asperger's too.
The family has tried repeatedly to explain things to Sheldon in the past, but his mind, being on another plateau, is unable to comprehend simple language, common sense, and nonverbal gestures to help communicate those ideas to him in a manner he can understand. This is ironic given Sheldon's incredible intelligence and inclination to instantly recognize patterns such as the time he demonstrated to the school music teacher his uncanny ability to play a tune without practice or rehearsal.
Sheldon is so smart, he is dumb. In the very episode we're describing in this thread, "A Loaf of Bread and a Grand Old Flag" (S2, Ep. 16), he makes the comment "Bread in Russia must be good because the bread lines are long there" [paraphrased] when speaking to Georgie in the high school hallway lined with lockers before class starts.
~~/o/
Maybe he'd stop being a little asshole if the family stopped giving in to him 100% of the time.
share