Psychiatrist says de Valera and Yeats displayed Asperger's traits

Eamon de Valera and W.B.Yeats were among a number of prominent figures to suffer from an extreme form of autism, a Dublin-based psychiatrist has claimed.

The politician and the poet both displayed classic symptoms of Asperger's syndrome, a neurobiological disorder characterised by poor social skills but also, in some cases, genius, according to Prof Michael Fitzgerald from the department of child and adolescent psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin.

In a book to be published at the end of this month, Prof Fitzgerald has claimed the syndrome, previously linked to figures like Newton and Einstein, is much more prevalent than previously thought.

He has diagnosed about 800 cases through his practice in Dublin, and he estimated about 36 in 10,000 people suffer from the disorder.

Individuals with the syndrome tend to show impairment in social relations, lack empathy, struggle with conventional language-use, display naivety and childishness, and have narrow or obsessive interests as well as an unusual sense of humour. "They are capable of remarkably original ideas but may lack common sense, while their intelligence is often above average," Prof Fitzgerald explained. Yeats shares many, if not all of these qualities, including difficulties with language - he could not read until he was nine years old - and notoriously-strained personal relationships.

"He [Yeats] failed to get into Trinity College and was described by his teachers as 'pedestrian and demoralised'. His parents were told he would never amount to anything," he added.

"This is typical of people with the condition. They don't fit in, are odd and eccentric and relate poorly with others. Most are bullied at school, as Yeats was."

De Valera shared similar qualities, including a voice once compared to "a crackled, or muffled bell" and a "very grisly sense of humour. One anecdote recalls him telling students at Blackrock College a story about a (religious) cross being eaten by worms."

He said part of his motivation for writing the book, In Autism and Creativity: Is There a Link Between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability, was to portray a more positive side to the syndrome, which is usually found in males.