Joe Walsh Talks “Difficulty” Of Asperger's At Facing Addiction ...

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So we recently learned that musician Joe Walsh, famous for many musical associations including The Eagles, has Asperger’s.

In the ever expanding world of musicians coming out as Asperger, Walsh told a crowd at the Facing Addiction/NCADD gala of the difficulties of growing up with a set of traits that weren’t well known in his younger days.

“There was no awareness of what that was. … You were just difficult. I was difficult,” he said. “I was different that way from the other kids, and because of that I was terrified. I was truly terrified because I felt stupid and alone and that nobody understood.”

While autism and Asperger’s are certainly no foreign words today, decades ago, understanding it may have depended upon the region of the world you lived in. As early as the mid 1940s, children were already identified by certain traits like special interests. The movement in Europe didn’t really reach the U.S. until the 1980s, like many other pushes to understand differences in wiring and cognition. By the 1990s, it was not only received as official in other parts of the world besides Europe, it gained popularity among clinicians, parents and those with the disorder.

Today we have numerous campaigns pushing for early screening for autism in children, especially populations that may likely be missed. While there’s much work to be done, it’s a good bet that kids and adolescents like Joe Walsh won’t have to suffer from the same feelings he felt growing up.

Joe Walsh / Creative Commons