More Silly Speculation about Asperger's

There has been much silly speculation that certain famous people may have been (or are) on the spectrum. Nicola Harley writes at The Telegraph:

Field Marshal Montgomery's "high handed" approach to his superiors and "strange" behaviour may have been an indication he had Asperger's Syndrome, one historian has suggested.

Historian Antony Beevor believes Montgomery, who was once described by Dwight Eisenhower as a "psychopath", showed signs of the condition in the way he misjudged situations and people.

Montgomery, one of the best known British generals of the Second World War, became famous after his victory at El Alamein in November 1942.

During the Second World War he commanded the British Eighth Army from August 1942 in the Western Desert until the final Allied victory in Tunisia, this command included the Battle of El Alamein, a turning point in the Western Desert Campaign. He subsequently commanded the British Eighth Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily and then during the Allied invasion of Italy.

Montgomery's step-grandson Tom Carver also believes he may have had Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of autism where people find it more difficult to communicate and interact with others and can lead to high levels of anxiety and confusion.

Mr Beevor said: "I believe he had high functioning Aspergers Syndrome. Montgomery was always very, very strange in his behaviour. He had no idea how people would react to him.

This explanation is highly unlikely. A more sensible theory is that his brittleness came from his background in a highly dysfunctional high-class  family.