Posted on 06/16/2004 1:11:35 PM PDT by Willie Green
Hmmmm... I think this one is more widespread than what is being reported.
When he took that subway train for a ride at the age of 15, the thing that really impressed the NYC transit police was how much he knew about the subway system, operating the train, etc.
You would think he would have gotten a JOB with the subway system.
By the time he was old enough, he was disqualified by his convictions.
But the other poster is right. In specialized areas you often meet people who are obsessed by the subject matter. Usually, it's fairly harmless.
So9
I have never heard of this guy before, but I like him.
No-one I know.
Its sufferers often become obsessed with specific topics, talking endlessly about them with stunning expertise; they have problems socializing, make inappropriate comments and avoid eye contact. Obsession with trains and train trivia is common among sufferers of Asperger's. 
"I'm an excellent driver."
Of course when I cranked that controller into 4th position parallel, the regular driver almost had a fit. My passengers, however, thought it has hilarious.
I really meant to stay on the straight and narrow and then apply at 18 or 21. I agree that after you take the trains and busses for unauthorized rides they aren't going to hire you.
He was told to drive it at a "reasonable speed," which he took to mean 180 mph or so. There was a lot of concern among the crew members that day as he whipped around the track.
Oh, and he was 84 years old at the time, too. LOL.
Up until then it was the railroad's fault?
Willie,
Apsberger's (sp?) is pretty widespread. Lot of computer geeks have it to one extent or another. People who have it are often quite intelligent, but they are shockingly lacking in social skills. It doesn't mean they can't function in society, just that they come across as weird. If it's what this guy has, he has a very severe case.
Been hitting the books on it for a while; it's a tentative diagnosis of a young nephew of mine.
Most sufferers don't have a problem keeping their obsession at least, if not under control, within the bounds of legality.
The wife sounds like an immigrant's marriage of convenience. I was surprized to find out from a Fed buddy that they have no compunction at all about declaring a marriage a sham, getting a judge to nullify it, and deporting people (they don't look for sham marriages, but they often stumble across them while investigating serious crimes). I hope I am wrong about this, and it's just true love between a weirdo obsessed with trains and a middle-aged woman who happens to be foreign.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
No kidding, It has been commented that a Science Fiction Convention is an Asperger's Convention.
It probably applies to everyone who was a computer geek in the 70s or early 80s, to serious car nuts, and collectors of every kind.
So9
Wow
This puts the Trekkie thing on a whole new light.
I've never heard of the specific terms "Asperger" or "little professor" syndrome before.
But over the years, I've certainly known people who display the symptoms.
Usually harmless, but excessively focused obsession that's unproductive.
Michelangelo may have suffered Asperger's syndrome
WILLIAM LYONS
AS AN artist, he was unmatched, an icon of tortured genius whose name became synonymous with the word "masterpiece".
But new evidence has shed fresh light on Michelangelo’s artistic achievements, suggesting that the Renaissance artist might have suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.
Writing in the Journal of Medical Biography, Muhammad Arshad, a psychiatrist, and his Irish colleague, Michael Fitzgerald, say that the artist’s behaviour and personality provide clear evidence of Asperger’s or high-performing autism.
...
His dexterity with brush and chisel was in sharp contrast to his complete inability to conduct normal human relationships.
...
If Michelangelo had Asperger’s syndrome, he would be in good company. According to the two scientists, fellow sufferers have included the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the father of modern physics, Isaac Newton.
Other researchers have suggested the Greek philosopher Socrates and the founder of the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin, were sufferers too.
LOL!
It probably applies to everyone who was a computer geek in the 70s or early 80s, to serious car nuts, and collectors of every kind.
Uh-oh. Um, ahem. UNIX geeks maybe. Yeah, that's it...
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