Like most people, people with autism need a role model to keep their minds in line & serve as inspiration to be successful in life. Role models give impact on other people as well as their surroundings because of the things they’ve done, such as playing sports, acting, involving in politics & activism, and more.
Role models are there in plenty of shapes & sizes, from family members, friends, relatives, and more, not just famous people. As an example, I view Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the Gran Turismo racing video game franchise, as an inspiration to follow my passion & use it to impact others, just like his video games affected me & my view of the world. Here are 3 of the most influential role models with autism.
First is Dan Aykroyd, a comedian, singer, actor & screenwriter. He’s diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome when he was 12 that cause physical & verbal tics as well as grunting noises that made him feel nervous and Asperger’s Syndrome in his thirties. He’s also obsessed with ghosts & law enforcement (cops, FBI, etc.), which enabled him to create the Ghostbusters movie series, as well as criminology that helps him to create Blues Brothers movie series. His AS also grants him the ability to hyperfocus, which enhances his creativity & imagination in his area of interest.
Second is Satoshi Tajiri, the man behind the Pokemon video game franchise. He’s obsessed with collecting bugs (hence the nickname of Dr. Bug as a kid), and eventually video games, so much that he cut class just to play arcade video games.
Satoshi spent his childhood exploring, discovering & collecting, in which he injected his childhood experience into all the Pokemon games he created. He also started Game Freak magazine when he was 17 that contained video game tips, strategies, cheats & hacks with the aid of Ken Sugimori as the illustrator, which later became a game company in which Satoshi founded it.
He had an idea of a video game in which the players can share & collect different characters from his love of collecting bugs, but it costs too much for a new video game franchise when he presented his proposal to Nintendo. But, with the help of Shigeru Miyamoto (which became his mentor) as well as Ken Sugimori designing the characters & art, he created Pokemon video games, which became a worldwide phenomenon and spread into playing cards, comics, apps, anime & even a life-action movie. Satoshi is 1 of the most influential people that made the modern video game market by Electronic Gaming Monthly, as well as 1 of the top 100 all time game creators from his Pokemon game franchise.
Last but not least, is Dr. Temple Grandin. She’s well known as a spokesperson for people with autism & animal behavior. Her life experience as a person within this spectrum made her share knowledge of autism with the world, and became 1 of the most respected experts in ASD & animal behaviors in the world. She’s currently the professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University as well as a consultant on animal welfare & livestock handling equipment design. She didn’t talk until she’s 3.5 years old and received early speech therapy, and labeled as someone with brain damage due to her different mental development & special needs, and wasn’t diagnosed with autism until her adulthood.
Dr. Grandin developed her special interest in animals (especially lifestock) from her high school days at her aunt’s cattle ranch in which she created a hug box to calm people with ASD, inspired by squeeze chutes used to calm cattle down. From her experience studying cattle’s behavior & reaction to ranchers, movements, object & light, she created curved corrals to cut stress, panic & injury for animals led to slaughter, as well as various thoughtful & humane animal handling equipment.
Her photo-realistic visual thinking ability images enable her to recall details, which help her design humane livestock facilities. In fact, half of the cattle in the US are handled in facilities she had designed. This animal expert is also a proponent for humane treatment for slaughter & the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior, as well as being 1 of the 1st individuals with ASD to document the insights of her experience as someone within this spectrum.
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