Bill Gates reflects on childhood, says he’d be diagnosed with autism today: ‘I didn’t behave in a standard way’

Microsoft founder Gates said in a recent interview that he would be diagnosed with autism if he were a child today. The billionaire noted that autism had a very narrow definition back then, and that some of his childhood traits would fit today’s accepted norms.

In an interaction with Wall Street Journal, Gates said, “This whole thing of Asperger’s or on the spectrum is a fairly new thing, you know? It used to be autism had a fairly narrow definition that was you know clearly identifiable,”

“But this idea that if you’re slow socializing — you know, I have a behavior where I rock that bothers people, but that’s also common so-called self-esteeming type thing. So I realized, wow, there’s a bit of a pattern match there,” Gates added.

As per World Health Organization (WHO), Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a diverse group of conditions that are “characterized by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication”. Autism is estimated to affect every 1 in 100 children globally and 1 in 36 children in the United States.

Bill Gates on impact of his non-standard childhood behaviour:

However, the 69-year-old does not believe that his childhood limitations had a negative impact on him. Instead, Gates says his non-standard behaviour helped him develop the deep concentration needed to excel in maths, science and, later, programming.

“Looking back on that, because I didn’t behave in a standard way, and yet, you know, that deep concentration that got applied to math and science and eventually to all those programming experiences I had, that became a strength,” Gates noted.

In particular, Gates’ biography ‘Source Code’, which traces the journey of a young boy to the creation of one of the world’s biggest companies, will be launched on 4 February. The book begins with his childhood and ends in the late 1970s, when Microsoft signed its first deal with Apple.