I have been super hard on Phelps for the past 2-years but when a commenter stated he may have "spectrum issues" I felt like a jerk and almost cried. (Yeah, I freely admit it.) I did a bunch of research on the net to see if this suggestion was true but there was no official statement only armchair psychs giving their opinions.
Finally I began reading Amazing Pace, a Phelps biography that a writer recommended after a long chat we had on the subject and within that read it is all there why he is the way he is.
The moral of this quasi-apology to Michael Phelps and what I have learned as a result of mistakingly assuming "everyone sees the world as I do" is the following: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" -- John Watson
I am going to remember it this way. "Everyone you meet is fighting a private battle." I am going to remember that people play their cards so close to their chest that those mortals we feel are dynamic powerful and perfect are really just as broken as everybody else. Personality is modular, we are good at some things, great at others, losers at most.
So, three days in a row the Rousey' slam has appeared in the press in some form or another; to Michael Phelps' credit he hasn't responded. I blogged it at the time since it agreed with how I felt rather than what was real. If Rousey's intent was to get on the national radar, Phelps' name recognition and/or successfully associating her name with it with it has made her nationally known at Michael Phelps' expense. Rousey wasn't talking to a friend at a kitchen table or in a coffee shop, she made a hurtful statement without understanding who she was criticizing.
Rousey needs that tall glass of humble juice and she should make it a double!
6 comments:
Assuming you mean his ADHD issue? That is exactly why he should keep swimming until he cannot anymore. Through 2020 he would be competitive. Because when he isn't focussed on the only thing he knows, he gets into trouble. Hence what happened during his 'training breaks' after each of the last 2 Olympics. Young, all that money and no focus does not bode well for MP.
Asperger's Syndrome Autism not ADDHD
Many online are suggesting that he has the same form of autism that that makes social contact awkward due to an inability to empathize with social queues or to empathize correctly at all.
It also includes repetitive patterns of behavior and interests such as swimming in Michael Phelps' case, astrophysics in Einstein's case, politics in Keith Olbermann's case, and
Also, these people can't let go of their autistic fixation.
For instance a dismayed Bill Gates once asked an employee who was giving a poor PowerPoint presentation if she was actually on the Microsoft payroll. This was extraordinarily hurtful but he did not have the ability to comprehend that these comments could be hurtful.
It's not like a personality disorder like a Psychopath for a Psychopath knows that you have feelings and does not care.
I want to make it clear that those with Asperger's can fall in love, they do feel emotions; in fact probably stronger than we "normals" do, and we owe a lot of gratitude to the contributions that these people who have it have made.
The best book to understand Asperger's is "Look me in the Eye" by John Elder Robinson.
His description of his childhood loneliness is heartbreaking, and he is honest about "pranks" he played to vent his frustration at being an outcast. He learned to make his arson inspired pranks something socially acceptable and became the pyrotechnics designer for the band Kiss.
We don’t need to diagnose Michael Phelps with Asperger’s or anything else. It’s none of our business.
Perhaps this is a good lesson for you not to post scurrilous things publicly without fact checking, and not to continually slam on someone you really know little about. In his case, you seem to pick up all the negative and none of the positive.
No, I don’t know Michael Phelps but people I know who have met him have nothing but positive things to say. And yes, I do have Asperger’s.
I think it was my spectrum comment. Now you made me feel bad!
Not being in any position to diagnose but know enough about the issue to guess there could be a grain of truth to the once in a while speculation that he has ADHD or Asperger's. And I agree with the other Anon. that its not really our business. It is easy enough to forget that the fellow Olympian critics, beautiful as they are, probably don't have the maturity or experience to understand why he might be the way he is.
I agree with you, I have not heard anything critical from Lochte who seems content to let MP be who he is and to play with the roles they share. I look forward to seeing what their rivalry might spur them to.
As to the Ronda Rousey angle: I had no clue who she was until I read your original post. What an incredible athlete!! (I saw some of her fights after reading your post.) Being an ex-judo player converted to swimmer due to injuries, I respect what she is doing in MMA. She has great aggression and confidence, but - as you noted - probably has an agenda that can't be taken at face value.
I think it was my spectrum comment. Now you made me feel bad!
Not being in any position to diagnose but know enough about the issue to guess there could be a grain of truth to the once in a while speculation that he has ADHD or Asperger's. And I agree with the other Anon. that its not really our business. It is easy enough to forget that the fellow Olympian critics, beautiful as they are, probably don't have the maturity or experience to understand why he might be the way he is.
I agree with you, I have not heard anything critical from Lochte who seems content to let MP be who he is and to play with the roles they share. I look forward to seeing what their rivalry might spur them to.
As to the Ronda Rousey angle: I had no clue who she was until I read your original post. What an incredible athlete!! (I saw some of her fights after reading your post.) Being an ex-judo player converted to swimmer due to injuries, I respect what she is doing in MMA. She has great aggression and confidence, but - as you noted - probably has an agenda that can't be taken at face value.
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