In recent weeks I have heard two people refer to Napolean Dynamite as having autism. These were moms both referring to their own children as having “the same type of autism as Napolean Dynamite” and one mom said that he had aspergers! I laughed out loud both times. The character ND has autism? While in school for many, many years, eventually getting my CA teaching credential I did A LOT of research, discussions and learning about learning dissabilities- and autism was at the top of the list. I would have never placed ND in this category- but I am no doctor.
Since two separate people made this reference I thought I should check it out. So, I did!
* The first link was movie review. This guy said that it is obvious that ND has asperger’s and compared him to Rain Man! Rain Man had zero social skills (could not relate to other people), had problems communicating what her wanted and he was very factual- no imagination, could not understand humor… and he had one subject that he was a “genius” in. The prime example of a person with aspergers.
* The next few articles were written by psychiatrists and printed in medical journals- I would take these a bit more seriously than a movie review. They confirmed my belief that ND was just socially awkward, weird, quirky, unusual, eccentric, strange, kooky, odd, peculiar, strange… whatever adjective you want to put in there! He was a TEENAGER. I have known a few ND in my time… some you reading this…
To the lady who told me her son has aspergers, the kind ND has- news for ya- your kid is just weird! Embrace it!
4 responses to “news on Napolean Dynomite”
Oh gosh! People are so odd. What is Ozzy Ozborne’s excuse? He isn’t very “socially able”. Come to think of it, not very many people are…I was pretty awkward in high school too. Hmmm…
I think there is just an overload of diagnosing going on in the US!
I totally agree on the over-diagnosis thing.
This really illustrates how that boundary is being crossed, when moms are “diagnosing” their kids with diseases instead of recognizing their uniqueness and dealing with behavioral issues if needed.
Of course, there are some kids who have legitimate disorders, but at the same time it strikes me as odd that society has functioned (and flourished) for decades without the kind of widespread medication, etc. that we are trained to expect today. My fear is that all we’re doing is grooming our kids (as a society) for mediocrity and valuing conformity above all else.
groomed for mediocrity would be a good band name.
i remember hoping i had some sorta diagnosable disease when i was a kid. i would occasionally ask my parents if i should see a psychiatrist or something…that way they could just give me some pills and *poof* i would be normal. i dunno, maybe everyone goes through that.
YEAH!! Put that in your “I have to put a diagnosis on my kid cause he doesn’t fit in and I need to feel better about myself around my child’s uniqueness” pipe and smoke it. I was a ND in Jr. High, I wore black, listen to strange music, I even gave myself home made tattoos. There wasn’t anything wrong with me then or now. Parents back then didn’t call it Aspergers, but us kids had several names for “this” type of behavior; Goths, 2 tones, Heshers, Geeks, Loadies, do I need to go on? Sometimes I feel the internet, Parent Magazines and the media feed parental fears of how and when their kids should act a certain way. What happened to being an individual? Did it get brain washed away with cubicle culture?