American Idol and Neurology

I was watching AI the other night, because my wife had it on and because the show was about auditions that happened in Louisville.

One failed contestant, that they spent some time on poking fun of, both with an interview before his audition and showing his audition at length, seemed strange indeed. He was apparently quite gifted intellectually yet had his own take on things, like wanting to make his own particular arrangement of Chinese glyphs, and he also was rather socially inept -- when asked if he wanted something to drink, he went over and drank from Paula Abdul's cup, using her straw. Needless to say, the quality of his singing compared to his own assessment was bad.

My wife's assessment, and I think it was likely correct, was that he probably has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism in which those affected can be high-functioning, yet show this marked social ineptness.

What I think this brings up is the inappropriateness of American Idol organization using and making fun of this man. To be sure, this is someone who, because of the Asperger's is not in a position or likely to complain about how he was used, but of course that's the nature of his problem. This does not, however, mitigate against the AI staff for their decision-making.

If he had some obvious physical disability, some disfigurement, we can safely say this would not have been seen as so much fun, but behaviorally it should have been obvious that something wasn't right here.