Was Ted Heath an Aspie?

[Colin_and_Shelagh]

Sir: In your articles and obituary on Sir Edward Heath (18 July), the following aspects of his personality were noted: abrasive style; never tried to be liked; prone to stony silences in interviews; enjoyed his own company; sour and graceless reputation, and so on. One could say that all of this was out of keeping with his intelligence as he was a very gifted person. All the above could be descriptive of somebody with mild Asperger's syndrome, which could explain why things went wrong for him.

 

Independent

 

Not convinced myself, but if true then an Aspie PM gives us all hope

[Tez]

My husband watched a documentary on Ted Heath after his death and he commented to me that he thought that he was an Aspie based on everything that he saw in the programme.

[hopeful]

Well many of the symptoms of Aspergers are certainly being used to describe Sir Ted.

Edited August 3, 2005 by hopeful

[Canopus]

I'm more inclined to say he was a traitor. He signed away Britain's sovereignty by joining the EU and lied to us all by firmly stating that it was only a trading arrangement, and that our sovereignty and the right to determine our own affairs would not be compromised. Reports of Cabinet meetings (which are secret for 30 years) from the early 1970s confirm that Ted Heath and his cabinet ministers fully well knew about the single currency, that Britain was no longer in control of certain things such as agriculture and VAT, and the long term aim of the EU was to create a superstate where national governments will have about as much power as a town council has today.

[TuX]

Sir: In your articles and obituary on Sir Edward Heath (18 July), the following aspects of his personality were noted: abrasive style; never tried to be liked; prone to stony silences in interviews; enjoyed his own company; sour and graceless reputation, and so on. One could say that all of this was out of keeping with his intelligence as he was a very gifted person. All the above could be descriptive of somebody with mild Asperger's syndrome, which could explain why things went wrong for him.

That could also be a description of non ASDers though,it looks more like a personality difference than AS,they might describe some of the behaviors of ASDers,but NTs can have the same traits to.

In his type of job,I believe he would have to unforgiving,brash and abrasive,if anyone sees a weakness in a politician,especially the prime minister,they are going to use it against them,or use it to justify not trusting them.

Edited August 3, 2005 by TuX

[Tez]

When my husband watched the documentary he was struck by his obsessiveness in his private life as well as his political life. He would research subjects in minute detail, collating all his research and working out all scenarios. He had books and books of lists that he had created on subjects that interested him. He devoted himself totally to everything that he did, he won the round the world single handed yacht race just months after taking up the sport, he was totally obsessed with his music.

 

He was socially very naive, despite his political position. He could not understand how other leaders had difficulties with the loyalty of their cabinet, to him you discussed the problems in private, agreed an approach and then presented a united front and this was at the root of his problems with Margaret Thatcher. He just could not handle what happened with press leaks to other political leaders.

 

It's not like my husband to pick up on signs of ASD in others but he said that it was so striking that anyone with even the slightest knowledge of autism would pick up on it. He did not like Ted Heath but having watched the programme he said it explained alot and certainly gave him a different view on him as a person.