Does Barry Bonds have Aspergar's Disorder? (And if so, does it matter?)....
Working my way through the new BB bio by Jeff Pearlman,"Love Me, Hate Me". Also, recently read "Game of Shadows". Both books lead me to a question I can't believe no one in the national media has asked: "Does Barry Bonds suffer from a milder form of autism known as Asperger's Syndrome?".
Wait...damn...there actually IS a book that mentions Bonds name in it's discussion of "loners". Haven't read the book; the reviews are poor, but there is at least one writer out there who has made the connection between Bonds unbelievably boorish behavior throughout his entire life and a diagnosable medical condition.
According to Gillberg's Criteria for Asperger's Disorder there are six parts to the diagnosis: all six must be met.
1) Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction: As for BB...well, duh. He has consistently displayed an "inability to interact with peers" and shown "socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior", as well as a "lack of appreciation of social cues". Ask Andy Van Slyke or Jim Leyland, his teammates at Serra High or ASU about that. Check.
2) All-absorbing narrow interest: Baseball has always been Barry's life, from the time he was old enough to swing a bat; Gillberg requires this one interest to be followed at the "exclusion of other activites" with "repetitive adherance". Check.
3) Imposition of routines and interests on self and/or others: Barry has always listened only to Barry. And gets away with it now because he is statistically one of, if not THE, greatest players in the history of the game. But he was always allowed to get his way from childhood on. As promising athletes so often are coddled, Barry is exhibit A. Check.
4) Speech and language problems: Now it gets tougher. For this criteria to be met, at least three of the following must apply:
a) delayed development
b) superficially perfect expressive language
c) formal, pedantic language
d) odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics
e) impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings
Physically, Bonds was an early developer. We do not know about his verbal skills though. No check.
5) Non-verbal communication problems (at least one of the following):
a) Limited use of gestures - Does giving the finger to the world count?
b) Clumsy/ gauche body language -
c) Limited facial expression - does a permanent scowl count as "limited"?
d) Inappropriate expression -
e) Peculiar, stiff gaze -
I say "check", because Bonds DOES have a peculiar, stiff gaze. Anytime anyone with such a freakishly large head looks at ya, it's feels "peculiar".
6) Motor clumsiness: Poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination. Well this one, i guess, won't apply...unless it's a late inning situation with men on base. THEN BB shows "poor performance", or at least has for a good part of his career.
So maybe four or five of the criteria of a very respected diagnosis tool; Barry, poor poor Barry, probably cannot be diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. In my mind this is regrettable: it leaves him with no excuse/reason for Barry being Barry. Maybe he is just a jerk.
I'll leave you with a quote from Pete Diana, former Pirates team photographer back when BB was a member of the team: "Personally, I hope he dies." Wow; not much love there.
Wait...damn...there actually IS a book that mentions Bonds name in it's discussion of "loners". Haven't read the book; the reviews are poor, but there is at least one writer out there who has made the connection between Bonds unbelievably boorish behavior throughout his entire life and a diagnosable medical condition.
According to Gillberg's Criteria for Asperger's Disorder there are six parts to the diagnosis: all six must be met.
1) Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction: As for BB...well, duh. He has consistently displayed an "inability to interact with peers" and shown "socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior", as well as a "lack of appreciation of social cues". Ask Andy Van Slyke or Jim Leyland, his teammates at Serra High or ASU about that. Check.
2) All-absorbing narrow interest: Baseball has always been Barry's life, from the time he was old enough to swing a bat; Gillberg requires this one interest to be followed at the "exclusion of other activites" with "repetitive adherance". Check.
3) Imposition of routines and interests on self and/or others: Barry has always listened only to Barry. And gets away with it now because he is statistically one of, if not THE, greatest players in the history of the game. But he was always allowed to get his way from childhood on. As promising athletes so often are coddled, Barry is exhibit A. Check.
4) Speech and language problems: Now it gets tougher. For this criteria to be met, at least three of the following must apply:
a) delayed development
b) superficially perfect expressive language
c) formal, pedantic language
d) odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics
e) impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings
Physically, Bonds was an early developer. We do not know about his verbal skills though. No check.
5) Non-verbal communication problems (at least one of the following):
a) Limited use of gestures - Does giving the finger to the world count?
b) Clumsy/ gauche body language -
c) Limited facial expression - does a permanent scowl count as "limited"?
d) Inappropriate expression -
e) Peculiar, stiff gaze -
I say "check", because Bonds DOES have a peculiar, stiff gaze. Anytime anyone with such a freakishly large head looks at ya, it's feels "peculiar".
6) Motor clumsiness: Poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination. Well this one, i guess, won't apply...unless it's a late inning situation with men on base. THEN BB shows "poor performance", or at least has for a good part of his career.
So maybe four or five of the criteria of a very respected diagnosis tool; Barry, poor poor Barry, probably cannot be diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. In my mind this is regrettable: it leaves him with no excuse/reason for Barry being Barry. Maybe he is just a jerk.
I'll leave you with a quote from Pete Diana, former Pirates team photographer back when BB was a member of the team: "Personally, I hope he dies." Wow; not much love there.
posted by joe sweeney at 8:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home