Is Trump intellectually disabled?

[NewsCenter28]

Here's the definition and I googled first to make sure that it was a generally accepted term to use in polite conversation:

Intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem solving) and in adaptive behavior, which covers a range of everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.

To me, he clearly exhibits signs of the above along with features of autism/Asperger's along with various mal-adaptive behaviors that one might see in those suffering from autism/Asperger's. He could also suffer from any number of learning disabilities I suggest along with innumerable sociopathic/narcissistic traits, which aggravate greatly whatever condition he has.

His multiple failed marriages would indicate that he is incapable of exhibiting love and perhaps his disabilities don't allow him to be able to successfully maintain a romantic relationship. His behavior may also scare off friends, as there are reports he has very few close friends as well.

There are reports that he has trouble reading briefings prepared by his advisers. Perhaps he is dyslexic or suffering from a language comprehension disorder? His tweets today misspelling Nobel and Pulitzer are perhaps indications of this (?)

It's possible to be learning disabled/intellectually disabled, and hide it. It's also possible to have that developmental condition and be gifted in certain areas that perhaps allow one to hide the disability. The above would explain why every venture he has ever engaged in has been a miserable failure but also why he had the opportunity to engage in the venture in the first place.

There are also reports that Fred Trump was abusive. Perhaps, he is exhibiting the neuroses that one who grew up being abused by their parents may have?

No one "right" medically would ever suggest drinking a toxic substance such as bleach or other disinfectant. That's the final straw for me.

I am in no way excusing his behavior. All I am doing here is saying that it helps me understand why he is narcissistic/sociopathic/evil. It's troubling that in his formative years, Academia didn't recognize his deficits and work to try to mitigate them as they would with any other child with challenges entering the school system.

He's an interesting case study to be sure. It'd be fascinating to truly understand why he is the arrogant buffoon that he is.

If he's not suffering from intellectual disability, the other hypotheses for suggesting people drink bleach or disinfectant are that he is suffering from sundowner's or another form of dementia, or that he is just genuinely evil and enjoys encouraging people to die.

The onset of dementia doesn't explain why all his ventures failed earlier on in his life though, I might add. He is just a failure across every aspect of his life, ever, and there surely has to be something underlying to explain this.

[SoonerPride]

1. I would help fund a dissection of his brain

If they could find one

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Intellectually, morally, ethically, socially, and any other "-ally" out there.

[malaise]

6. then add

stark raving mad

[Aristus]

3. No. he's not developmentally disabled.

He's just incurious and doesn't like to read.

One of the misconceptions about intellectual markers such as IQ is the idea that they're immutable, innate, something we're born with and can't change. But IQ goes up the more we read, the more we discover, the better we become at teaching ourselves.

Trump might have something approaching normal intellectual faculties if he would ever do anything to hone them and make them better; reading, investigating, satisfying intellectual curiosity, becoming proficient at articulating his ideas to others.

[NewsCenter28]

5. reading, investigating, satisfying intellectual curiosity, becoming proficient at articulating his

Ideas to others. He exhibits none of those traits interestingly.

[Progressive Jones]

20. He has never had to develop intellectually. So much has been done for him.

He never had to "claw his way to the top". He's always been "The Boss".
He took money from his father, and used smarter people than himself to do deals.
He's probably had some talented people working for him over the years.
They did the work. Trump merely put his name on the buildings.

[MineralMan]

4. Duh...

[NewsCenter28]

7. Dude's just not normal or

"all there" and we're stuck with it.

[unblock]

8. The autism spectrum is fairly broad, but

I know plenty of people who are diagnosed (including mini-unblock) on the spectrum and who aren't but probably are on the spectrum (myself, I rather suspect), and there's not a ton in common with Donnie.

Not all difficult or awkward social behaviors mean you're on the spectrum. I think there are much better explanations/diagnoses for Donnie'a behavior than autism.

[NewsCenter28]

10. Good points unblock.

Then, perhaps, he didn't experience love, perhaps abuse instead, in his formative years, and, therefore, developed his sociopathic/narcissistic tendencies and behaviors that way. Fred was a Klansman after all. Not being shown love in his formative years could greatly hinder his ability to be empathetic towards others. We could be seeing a mix of Fred's racism, abuse, and lack of love for his son exhibiting in Donny today (if he's not suffering from ID). But...who knows?

[unblock]

14. Frankly I'm beyond much caring about his developmental history

I'm more focused these days on his enablers. Other republicans and the media. People who may have problems if their own, but who surely aren't as damaged as Donnie and should know better.

[NewsCenter28]

17. Always remember, he's their useful idiot and they could care less

as long as they get regulations gutted, civil rights like abortion and gay marriage threatened or outright banned, and numerous federal judicial appointments. No one in a position of power to stop him in that party will ever do so. Only the voters can do that, unfortunately.

What a deranged sick party the KGOP is.

[unblock]

21. Except they'd be better off with someone more reasonable

If he were the only way for them to get tax cuts or to cut regulation, sure, I'd agree with you. But *any* Republican would do the same on tax cuts, regulation, and judges.

Donnie, though, has the unique potential to take down the whole party with him, something that pence couldn't possibly do.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. He's the opposite of autism/Aspergers.

People on the spectrum tend to focus intently on things but Trump can't focus on anything; he's completely scatterbrained. His social awkwardness comes from not caring about other people but only about himself, not from having difficulty reading social cues. And he seeks the limelight obsessively, which isn't characteristic.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. What a shitty thing to say.

[NewsCenter28]

13. Perhaps this (?)

Savant syndrome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Savant syndrome
Other names
Autistic savant, idiot savant (historical)[1]

Kim Peek, the savant who was the inspiration for the main character in the movie Rain Man
Specialty
Neurology, psychiatry
Symptoms
General mental disability with certain abilities far in excess of average[1][2]
Types
Congenital, acquired[3]
Causes
Neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism spectrum disorder, brain injury[1]
Frequency
c. 1 in a million people[4]
Savant syndrome is a condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average.[1][2] The skills at which savants excel are generally related to memory.[1] This may include rapid calculation, artistic ability, map making, or musical ability.[1] Usually just one special skill is present.[1]

Those with the condition generally have a neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism spectrum disorder or have a brain injury.[1] About half of the cases are associated with autism and may be known as "autistic savants".[1] While the condition usually becomes apparent in childhood, some cases may develop later in life.[1] It is not recognized as a mental disorder within the DSM-5.[5]

Interesting that Donny may not be classifiable under the DSM-V.

[unblock]

18. No no no no no! He is in no way savant!

Being good at exploiting weaknesses in normal social interactions to manipulate people and perceptions is not (e.g., doubling down on a lie makes people think maybe you're telling the truth after all) is *not* a savant skill. It's psychopathy.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

19. He's simply an amoral jerk who desperately craves the love he didn't get as a child.

He may be going into mental decline. But to attribute his behavior and personality flaws to a disability is ableist.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. If Dr. Birx sent a progress report to his parents/guardians...

“Although he is easily distracted and does not focus enough on his studies, Donnie continues to make strides with his intellectual development. He is displaying curiosity by asking questions, and he continues to work on critical thinking skills as he verbalizes his ideas.”

“He remains separated from the girls because of the incidents we discussed a few months ago.”

[Nevilledog]

27. *snort*

[Rorey]

12. He has been compensating for his decline

If you listen carefully, as unpleasant as it is to do so, you can see where he compensates when he forgets simple words or just flat out makes a big mistake.

"I've got a good you know what." Now why would anyone call a "brain" a "you know what"? He's declining, just like his father.

[NewsCenter28]

15. Except he's failed at everything he's ever done in his life

His bankruptcies, divorces, schemes, all occurred long before the onset of any Sundowners I would argue.

[Different Drummer]

25. I agree he's failed in all his ventures.

Which makes me wonder why anyone would want him to be a world leader.

[Rorey]

36. Yes, he's a failure. Always has been.

I was just saying that he's in mental decline. I mean, we all forget words sometimes, but what's going on with him goes beyond that. It's scary that he's got so much power.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. No Way To Tell He's Got Dementia

He's always been like this. Always!

[SmartGreekGirl]

22. Disabled in General

"Mafia Don" has more than one disability and many psychological and emotional disturbances. I think it's time to invoke the 25th amendment for everyone's safety and welfare.

After he passes away, they could study his brain. His case is good for the textbooks and for study and research.

[mercuryblues]

23. No he is not

It is because of his narcissism to the extreme he does not feel the need to learn, as he is already the smartest person in the room.

[USALiberal]

24. Nope! nt

[bdamomma]

26. yes and

more. Psychiatrists and Psychologists have been warning us for a while now. 25th Amendment please now.



Science does matter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. No, he's just stupid. There's a big difference between

being intellectually or developmentally disabled and being stupid. Stupid implies willful ignorance on the part of someone who has no organic brain damage or other disability. There's been speculation that Trump is starting to show signs of Alzheimer's; I'll leave that to the experts. But all his life he's said and done things that indicate average-ish basic intelligence - he seems to have been a mediocre student, at best, but not deficient enough to suggest there was something wrong with him other than laziness, an attitude of entitlement and generally being an asshole who didn't think he had to know anything. Trump is a narcissist who thinks he's smarter than everyone else just because he naturally knows stuff, and therefore he does not attempt to acquire any information from any source other than what he has decided he knows. He's stupid because he has chosen to be ignorant.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

30. I think this is accurate.

His IQ might be around 100 (average), but his mental laziness and sense of entitlement makes it worse.

Like some “pretty girls” who try to skate by on their appearance alone.

[nocoincidences]

29. I'm a retired Neuropsychologist.

This is my assessment:

Low average to Average IQ.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Dementia of unknown origin

Possible ongoing drug abuse

The dementia symptoms are dominating his language and reasoning deficits right now, and he wasn't a rocket scientist to begin with.

I can't begin to speculate on the origins of all this, but it is a deadly mix, and it isn't going to get better.

He needs to go, and he needs a good neuropsychological evaluation. Then throw him in the slammer and forget about him.

[winetourdriver01]

31. This is beyond enough

Trump's presidency has turned into a tragedy. Yes, so many lives lost needlessly. But there is something else. The man is mentally ill. Keeping him in the public spot light is cruel and indecent. I would think there would be ONE responsible member of his family who understands the situation. I know people who have mental issues, putting them under the glare of scrutiny, by one person or many, would be horrifying to me, mortifying to them, and an insult to decency.

[meadowlander]

32. Autism/Aspergers is not an intellectual or a learning disability.

It's a neurological difference. People with autism tend to be very literal in the way they interpret things and express themselves (i.e. they tend to be very honest, even brutally so, because it would never occur to them to say something that wasn't true). Does that sound like Trump to you?

Other common characteristics of Aspergers include hating being in the spotlight, showing intense focus on topics of interest, having a strong preference for order and routine, approaching problems in a systematic and logical fashion, being extremely detail oriented etc.

Trump doesn't have any of those characteristics. If anything he's the anti-Aspie, an attention-whoring, narcissistic chaos beast.

He has obvious NPD and maybe some dyslexia explaining why he never reads (although that could just be lack of intellectual curiosity brought on by rich spoiled child syndrome).

Please don't insult people with intellectual or learning disabilities or autism by lumping Trump in with them based on armchair psychology.

[Marrah_Goodman]

33. He suffers from Affluenza

Spoiled rich boy who never grew up

[Dem2]

34. He's just as dumb as most of rural white America

I just didn't realize, until recently, just how brutally stupid most Americans are.

[Funtatlaguy]

35. You would never go broke betting on American stupidity. Sad.

[lpbk2713]

37. I wouldn't want to provide him with justification for being a thief and liar.

But there really is some sort of cognitive dissonance going on there.

[Chainfire]

38. I am no doctor

but, I think he has a laundry list of emotional and psychological problems. It is apparent that he is quite ignorant, whether that is attributed to mental illness is academic. In modern psychological terminology, he is a basket case.

He is unfit to lead at any level. He would **** up a two car funeral.

[Ferrets are Cool]

40. Is this a trick question?