David Byrne opens up on being neurodivergent and says he has “never thought of it as a disability”
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has discussed being neurodivergent and how this has impacted his life.
The singer, who has a mild form of autism, has spoken openly over the years about the subject which played a role in reducing the stigma around neurodivergency.
Now, on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Byrne revealed that it was during the 1990s when he first became aware that he could possibly be on the spectrum. “There were articles in magazines and things like that about this idea of spectrum,” he explained to the host.
He also clarified, “I’ve never thought of it as a disability, but, yeah, I can see that there’s a part of me that is like that.”
Of his own condition, Byrne explained, “There’s milder and milder, and until it’s on the very mild side, it’s tends to be people who can be very focused on an idea, maybe have difficulty in social situations and things like that. And I said, “oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I’ve recognised that”.
He then explained an example of how he is affected by autism, sharing, “I’ve had the experience where someone will say, well, I clearly said no and then I’ll kind of replay the conversation and the word no was not there. But they expected their expressions or their facial expression or the nuances of what they were saying to be read and clearly interpreted as a no. This is not me trying to do something inappropriate.”
The Talking Heads frontman also shared, “I’m a lot better at that now than I was in the past. I’m a lot more comfortable with people now than I was in the past.”
The avant-garde star then detailed how music has played a pivotal role in helping him, revealing, “Working with other people on music, playing together with musicians on stage, it becomes this very ecstatic, transcendent kind of social thing.”
Byrne’s honest comments about his autism comes shortly after actor Hollywood actor Anthony Hopkins, whose wife suspects he has autism, claimed it was a “nonsense” label.
He shared: “I’m obsessed with numbers. I’m obsessed with detail. I like everything in order. And memorising. Stella looked it up and she said, ‘You must be Asperger’s.’ I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. I don’t even believe it.”
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Byrne was confirmed as the headliner of Latitude Festival next July, which is a UK exclusive booking.
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