“I think, on a very drawn-out scale, I think I’m on the spectrum,” Seinfeld told NBC Nightly News’ Brian Williams. "Basic social engagement is really a struggle." I'm very literal, when people talk to me and they use expressions, sometimes I don't know what they're saying," he said. "But I don't see it as dysfunctional, I just think of it as an alternate mindset." It is important to remember that autism spectrum disorder is a spectrum disorder, said Tonia Ferguson of the Autism Society: “We have to continue to make people aware of what the spectrum of autism is.”
– Jerry Seinfeld is making headlines for an interview with Brian Williams of NBC in which he says he thinks he's at least mildly autistic. "I think, on a very drawn-out scale, I think I'm on the spectrum," he says. Williams presses him for details, recounts USA Today, and the comedian elaborates: "You know, never paying attention to the right things. Basic social engagement is really a struggle." "I'm very literal. When people talk to me and they use expressions, sometimes I don't know what they're saying. But I don't see it as dysfunctional. I just think of it as an alternate mindset." This appears to be a self-diagnosis, and a follow-up story at NBC quotes the president of the National Autism Association who worries that it might oversimplify the disorder. But the president of the Autistic Advocacy Network takes a different view: "Think about what this does for a closeted autistic person who goes into the workplace knowing that their co-workers have just seen somebody they know, respect, and have a positive opinion of, like Jerry Seinfeld, identify in this way—it’s a valuable and important step in building a greater tolerance for autism."