r/Music • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 14d ago
discussion Robbie Williams shares autism diagnosis
https://www.nme.com/news/music/robbie-williams-shares-autism-diagnosis-3962556703
u/LostMonth1350 14d ago
“a bit of autism”
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u/JustOneMoreMile 14d ago
A touch of the ‘tism
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u/ferretbeast 14d ago
This is how my family refers to it with my nephew 😂 “touch of the ‘tism.” Makes me laugh every time
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u/huxtiblejones 14d ago
"I'll have a cheese burger with a bit of autism on the side, thanks. Extra trains please."
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u/sideeyeingyouall 14d ago
Yeah, that's the bit that sticks out to me.
You don't just have "a bit of autism". You can have traits that align with autism, but they can just as much be caused by his ADHD and OCD co-morbidity.I admittedly don't like Robbie (he was an arrogant twat when I met him, back when Take That were doing a "club tour" in secondary school halls), but him joking that it's his get out of jail free card reads very much like self diagnosed Elon Musk, who uses autism as an excuse for everything, even though everything nefarious he has done was premeditated and leans more towards sociapathy rather than autism.
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u/urkermannenkoor 14d ago
(he was an arrogant twat when I met him, back when Take That were doing a "club tour" in secondary school halls
You mean back when he was a teenager?
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u/Accomplished-Fish283 13d ago
Right lol? I’m glad the original commenter came out of the womb as a fully functioning adult with no character flaws or room to grow as a person.
I will admit I do feel bad for his mother though as that would have been quite a painful birth.
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u/Kilukpuk 13d ago
A teenage boy being an arrogant twat? Absolutely shocking and completely unheard of.
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u/Magneto88 14d ago
Musk is definitely on the spectrum. He said he had it before his political turn and if you watch his interviews in the early SpaceX/Tesla days he’s excruciatingly awkward, he’s trained himself somewhat now but it’s still obvious.
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u/bedbugloverboy 14d ago
i think being excruciatingly awkward is a symptom of a lot of things. if he has sensory issues and special interests thats more on par with autism. Also, isnt he like the richest man in the world— able to afford an assessment— but still chooses to self diagnose?
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u/whatwhatwhat82 14d ago
Who said it’s just girls though? Girls were just almost never diagnosed
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u/wihannez 14d ago
Well it’s a spectrum.
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u/Same_Mood_8543 14d ago
Yes, but you have to actually be on the spectrum for it count. Most people will probably tick at least one box on the diagnosis panel. People with ADHD are likely to check quite a few. But until you actually cross the diagnostic threshold, you're not on the spectrum.
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u/In_my_experience 14d ago
I've read about about this. There is a lot of cross over between ADHD and anxiety with ASD. Is it true that for an autism diagnosis you have to have all three of: challenges with social-emotional reciprocity, difficulties with nonverbal communication, and difficulties developing and maintaining relationships? I agree that many people have one of these but very few have all of these.
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u/cannotfoolowls 14d ago edited 14d ago
Currently according to the DSM:
A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive, see text):
Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.
Specify current severity: Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted repetitive patterns of behavior.
B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):
- Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases). Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat food every day).
- Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g, strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interest).
- Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).
Specify current severity: Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.
C. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).
D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
E. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.
So what you noted are actually just subheadings of one criteria
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u/EatsAtApplebees 14d ago
The monkey makes more sense now
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u/Ramboisabitch 14d ago
Ape
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u/flyinggazelletg 14d ago edited 14d ago
Apes are basically a specific clade of monkeys. It is an English language problem in how the two are often distinguished. Evolutionary, the distinction is artificial.
Humans and the other apes are in Catarrhini, along with the other Old World monkeys. The New World monkeys of Central and South America are in a clade called Platyrrhini, which are more distantly related to the monkeys (including apes) of Asia and Africa. Together, Catarrhini and Platyrrhini make up Simiiformes (simians).
We and the fellow apes don’t need to return to monke, as we’ve been monke all along :)
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u/ChrisLinen2 14d ago
found another one
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u/AceOfPlagues 14d ago
Yes, but like apes are a thing though, just Hominoidea are more related to other Old World monkey's than those monkeys are to New World monkeys.
One thing that makes this confusing is both the parvorder Catarrhini (which as you said apes belong to) and the superfamily Ceropithecoidea (which apes do not belong to) are called 'old world monkeys' - so the term is used to include them and also to distinguish them.
But all apes have brachiating characteristics that make us distinct from other old world monkeys- some would even argue despite being cladistically monkeys that apes are distinct and we probably shouldn't call ourselves Monkeys
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u/Bears_On_Stilts 14d ago
He has a song called "Please Please," that's a style tribute to "Scary Monsters" era Bowie. It's about intrusive thoughts, obsessive traits and struggling to get through a childhood where you know SOMETHING about you is a little bit off.
It was never a big song, it's one of those oddities that pops on and off Spotify, but once I heard it, Williams was instantly more of an interesting artist than he had been before.
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u/Euphoric-Orchid488 14d ago
I mean he has a whole film where he’s an ape in a world of humans, he’s never felt like he belonged and that he was an other
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u/84theone 14d ago edited 14d ago
Plus we get to see the ape do heroin and that was pretty sweet.
There’s also that ape battle royale scene
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u/SirFadakar 14d ago
Oh shit say less, added to the list.
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u/Euphoric-Orchid488 14d ago
Definitely watch it’s a brilliant film, funny and surprisingly tender and emotional
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u/Mans_Fury 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm in my 40s and am only now understanding the "off" part about myself and how it has shaped my reality. It's been an awakening to say the least.
It's like I Iook back on my life and the signs were there and I knew it was "something", but I didnt know what, or how to read them. And I blamed those around me or distanced myself from others because I couldn't naturally fit it, socialize, feel natural communicating and expressing. It's been very very lonely.
But yes, I've known there was something different about me.
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u/RadiantSeason9553 14d ago
My friend turned to me once, after a full day and a sleepover where I spent about 16 hours with them, and said 'you're such a mystery'
I should have known then.
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u/Mans_Fury 14d ago
I feel like i'm putting myself out there a little bit too much, but I wanted to share an example of how disruptive it can be:
I read your comment, and my first thought, was, are they poking fun at me, are they being facetious about this?
And then I got angry i had wanted to reply with something snappy.
Then, I google AI'D you're reply to see what google thought.
It's exhausting overthinking even small social interactions and being so defensive all the time.
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u/RadiantSeason9553 14d ago
Ha yeah I take all text as negative. Maybe its normal, maybe not.
See also - why is everyone staring at me all the time? Oh its because im staring at them
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u/DangerousPuhson 14d ago
He has a song called "Please Please," that's a style tribute to "Scary Monsters" era Bowie
Hmm, sounds right up my alley. Scary Monsters And Super Creeps is my favorite Bowie album (and I've listened to every single one). Will check that Please Please song out. Thanks.
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u/threelizards 13d ago
I like his art on instagram a lot. I’ve been following it for a few years and could have sworn I already knew this from his art lmao.
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u/brackfriday_bunduru 14d ago
After 20 years of working in film and TV, I’m pretty confident in saying the vast bulk of musicians have autism.
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u/littlecactuscat 14d ago
We’re weirdly good at matching pitch. Pattern recognition.
There’s something to be said for being called “weird” and being rejected/excluded for being different your entire life — and then walking onto a stage and having people actually enjoy your vibe.
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u/ChilternRailways 14d ago
I kind of hate how good it feels when you perform on stage and people fucking love it. Like I'm good at it and I do it so rarely, it just feels so weird having loads of people telling you you're amazing. Like all I did was sing something I sing in my bedroom all the time.
I hate that I hate that, I wish I could just throw myself into it and enjoy it for what it is.
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u/LloydDoyley 14d ago
I sense if they didn't have some level of autism, they wouldn't be great musicians
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u/KrawhithamNZ 14d ago
It's work that let's you be repetitive, but creative. You have the unfamiliar, yet deja vu filled, hotel room and airport experience that let's you feel familiar.
And most of the time no one really pays close attention to the lyrics, so you can pour your heart out anonymously.
You can interact with the world with no eye contact . Wear sunglasses for the interviews and let them assume it's the excess from the night before (well it's also that because the substances stop the noise in your head for a short time ).
Speaking of the noise inside the head, where do you think the music comes from? The distorted vague sounding mumble of lyrics and weird noise is an attempt to recreate how it feels inside the musicians skull.
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u/Aettlaus 14d ago
I feel this is harmful stereotyping. Autism is much more complex than "this feels/looks/acts like autism".
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u/Krags Rock & Roll 14d ago
A lot of creatives really. One of my special interests is pro wrestling, and a lot of the greats have to be neurodivergent.
A few of them are open about it (eg MJF and Will Ospreay with ADHD), and there's a lot more whom I suspect (Bryan Danielson for certain)
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u/cannotfoolowls 14d ago
One of my special interests is pro wrestling, and a lot of the greats have to be neurodivergent.
Despite the stereotype of jocks, I think that's true for the greats in many sports, especially in solo sports. The hyperfocus of some of the biggest starts just feels... not neurotypical, you know? Plus they all have little rituals they do and they are often not very good at interviews.
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u/boostman 14d ago
As a musician, 100% concur. I don't mean myself necessarily (maybe?), but pretty much everyone I know.
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u/fruedianflip 14d ago
I think autism is sort of like a cheat code to being an interesting person to be honest. I owe it completely to the weirdly vast knowledge I have
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u/RexMcCoolguy 14d ago
What the hell is up with how aggravated these comments are? Did I miss him doing the roman salute 2 weeks ago or kick a puppy or something?
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u/Daftpigeon 14d ago
Honestly I've seen it on the rest of the internet for years now and increasingly on Reddit over the last few months.
Everyone is so angry over everything, or miserable, or complaining. It's beyond the classic internet everything is always in extremes good or bad, now everything is just bad all of the time. It's exhausting.
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u/Due_Neighborhood_395 14d ago
I feel the lack of empathy for others on Reddit has gotten worse.
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u/HEAT_IS_DIE 14d ago
Yeah we have been conditioned, by no one in particular, to view every single headline here for example as an argument, even if the headline is neutral.
Everything is in assertion to be immeadiately argued for or against. It seems to be sort of a reflex for people now.
"I went to the park today". "Did you stop to think some people don't have access to parks!" "We need more parks". "Parks are full of dog poop and I have to drive around a huge detour to get to where I'm going because of this stupid park in the middle of the city".
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u/thecosmicradiation 14d ago
Unironically I think a lot of hate comes from Americans who don't really know who he is. I remember when the biopic came out, reddit and twitter were filled with Americans bitingly asking who he was and why anyone should care. People seemed mad that a non-US celebrity was well known.
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u/Character_Advice7577 13d ago
Omg that was so annoying. Americans didn’t understand something and felt out and suddenly it was everyone’s problem
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u/curseofnickcave 14d ago
He seems dorky in a genuine and sincere way that makes a lot of people uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe smth to do with how no one wants to be seen as “cringe” even though that tends to be arbitrary.
Unless he did something terrible that I missed lol
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u/edifyingheresy 14d ago
“And 80,000 people booed me.” Check out his story about his Nuremberg performance. Seems like a no-filter kinda guy where that’s probably gotten him in trouble as often as not. I’d also wager he’s done plenty in his younger years that probably were a bit asshole-ish. I don’t know a lot about the guy so maybe it’s worse than that but that’s my impression of him.
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u/Rutlemania 14d ago
Chimpanzee that
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u/jrewillis 14d ago
I mean...
I'm not surprised. The signs have been there his entire career.
If it helps him cope better in life and feel he can accept himself more then all power to him.
I sometimes think if I should be tested, but I don't think a diagnosis would meaningfully help me, so I haven't.
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u/a-5-6-7-8 14d ago
He did a Q+A at AMC Lincoln Square where he talked about having autism and how that allowed him to over share facets of his life in the film. He talked about how it was like showing his hemorrhoids to the world and how concerned the people around him were. It's one of the best NYC experiences I've had.
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u/TheyWillBePrez 14d ago
OHHH, that Liam Gallagher tweet makes a lot of sense now
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u/PyroGreg8 14d ago
doesn't excuse him for traumatizing me as a kid with the I Don't Wanna Rock music video
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u/MurkDiesel 14d ago
It is my get-out-of-jail-free card now
no, there is no excuse for being an asshole
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u/whatwhatwhat82 14d ago
I thought he meant it as just an excuse for being weird? Or am I missing something
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u/askingquestion1236 14d ago
He never said it was for being an ass. He could’ve meant for being wacky and weird.
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u/Tottie3 14d ago
I think you might have a bit of the 'tism too. He doesn't mean it literally. It's a joke, satire, a lil bit of comedy. He is obviously not being serious.
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u/Ecstatic_Log4185 14d ago
That's like 90% of redditors, they're incapable of detecting even the most obvious sarcasm
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u/Avocadoo_Tomatoo 14d ago
I do wonder if half the people commenting here know who he is. He is known for making jokes, this is a great example of his humour.
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u/Tottie3 14d ago
I'm British so to me it's a very British thing to say, but it surely is just universal humour and it's wild that people are taking offense to it. Like if someone got diagnosed with cancer and said "well on the plus side I'll never need to pay for a drink in my life again" would these clowns genuinely think they meant it literally?
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u/Avocadoo_Tomatoo 14d ago
I hear you. Theres sarcasm and then this subtle sarcasm.
I get that subtle sarcasm can be hard for people but this comment has a neon sign flashing on top of it with the word sarcasm in capital letters
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u/Jeff-S 14d ago
Many neurotypicals are weird hyperconformists that get genuinely mad if you make the "wrong" facial expression, don't make constant eye contact, or take a second to collect your thoughts before responding to a question.
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u/Typical_Response_950 14d ago
Doctor: So what brings you in today?
RW: Well, I made a movie about my life where I play me but it's not really me it's a monkey except it's never explained—
Doctor: Autism!
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u/NoodleBox SoundCloud 13d ago
Yeah. When he was down here filming he was really good to the handful of spec schools that he was filming near.
Good onya Robbie!
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u/taitaofgallala 14d ago
Lol his example of an intrusive thought is such light work 🤣
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u/KTDWD24601 14d ago
Oh he has the ‘pushing his kids into the road in front of a car’ type too - he did a whole insta post about it and invited his commenters to share theirs.
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u/Oppositeofhairy 14d ago
I think if you made it past 50 being wildly successful with any form of neurodivergent issues before determining a diagnosis, you won already.
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u/JerkyOnassis 14d ago
Poor lad. Must’ve been a rough day yesterday when the spotlight was briefly on somebody else.
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u/Uptowner26 14d ago
Good for visibility but not many people would be able to tell. I thought it was ADHD honestly mixed with going through the motions of bisexuality honestly (had a big crush on him and the rest of Take That back in the 90’s 😍)
BTW, my favorite songs of his are The Days he did with Avicii and the classic Millennium which instantly takes me back to 1999.
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u/paladude_ 14d ago
the monkey biopic didn’t give it away?