Does Lionel Messi Have Autism?
Lionel Messi is a professional soccer player from Argentina. He plays for both the international teams of Argentina and Barcelona. Many people have been discussing as to whether he has autism or asperger's.
Why People Think Messi Has Autism
The video on the YouTube channel Soccer Series - Oh My Goal's video where Romario quotes the journalist Roberto Amado claims that Messi has problems with reading social cues and interacting with other people when he was a child. These are all typical autistic traits. A journalist for El Pais explained that "Messi came onto the field with a plastic spoon in his mouth and didn't remove it until the end of the session."
This could be considered an autism-related behavior, but it's also possible that he was showing how annoyed he was. However, nobody knew why he was annoyed, and nobody tried to find out either.
When Messi was a child, a friend of Messi's raised their hand for him when the teacher asked him a question. As a child, Messi showed traits of shyness which could happen whether or not someone has autism.
According to Cameron Ridgway for Wessex Scene, “there are unconfirmed reports that Messi was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome” at the age of 9. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as a child, Messi was believed to be nicknamed ‘el pequeno mudito,’ which means ‘the little mute’ because “he would rarely speak to his peers or team-mates outside of necessary interactions on the pitch in games and during training.”
In short, we don't know if Messi definitely has autism, but there are many signs that show us he probably has autism or asperger's.
