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In researching the educational foundations of famous Asperger er.. Einstein Syndrome people, we are finding that they were likely homeschooled, had private tutors or were apprenticed into their field of interest. This is not thought to be coincidental. Please consider the following:

Nobel Prize Winners' Achievements Don't Prove School Is Good for Learners

One of the most laughable defenses of the government-operated school system, sure to come from the keyboard of hundreds of people who participate in on-line discussion of education policy, is the notion that Nobel Prize winners and other eminent persons prove the effectiveness of our school system. Well, what do the Nobel Prize winners themselves have to say about this? Below are some quotations by or about Nobel Prize winners, describing their views of school. If you know another, please let us know.

Albert Einstein -- born 1879, Ulm, Germany; died 1955 winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics

. . . I worked most of the time in the physical laboratory [at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich], fascinated by the direct contact with experience. The balance of the time I used in the main in order to study at home the works of Kirchoff, Helmholtz, Hertz, etc. . . . In [physics], however, I soon learned to scent out that which was able to lead to fundamentals and to turn aside from everything else, from the multitude of things which clutter up the mind and divert it from the essential. The hitch in this was, of course, the fact that one had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect [upon me] that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year. In justice I must add, moreover, that in Switzerland we had to suffer far less under such coercion, which smothers every truly scientific impulse, than is the case in many another locality. There were altogether only two examinations; aside from these, one could just about do as one pleased. This was especially the case if one had a friend, as did I, who attended the lectures regularly and who worked over their content conscientiously. This gave one freedom in the choice of pursuits until a few months before the examination, a freedom which I enjoyed to a great extent and have gladly taken into the bargain the bad conscience connected with it as by far the lesser evil. It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly.
"Autobiographical Notes," in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, Paul Schilpp, ed. (1951), pp. 17-19 by the Library of Living Philosophers, Inc.

Biographer Albrecht Fulsing's book Albert Einstein: A Biography (New York: Viking, English translation 1997) records Einstein's general high ability in school, which was coupled with a disdain for compulsion and a tendency to do things his own way. Einstein remembered his schooling in both Germany and Switzerland as an unhappy experience, contrary to the recollections of several of his less famous classmates. Yet he got good scores in school subjects when he wanted to, but spent much of his free time at home building with construction model sets or reading serious books about science. Einstein attributed the school problems he sometimes had to an unwillingness to do the work required by his teachers.

George Bernard Shaw -- born 1856, Dublin; died 1950.. winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize in literature

. . . and there is, on the whole, nothing on earth intended for innocent people so horrible as a school. To begin with, it is a prison. But it is in some respects more cruel than a prison. In a prison, for instance, you are not forced to read books written by the warders (who of course would not be warders and governors if they could write readable books), and beaten or otherwise tormented if you cannot remember their utterly unmemorable contents. In the prison you are not forced to sit listening to the turnkeys discoursing without charm or interest on subjects that they don't understand and don't care about, and are therefore incapable of making you understand or care about. In a prison they may torture your body; but they do not torture your brains; and they protect you against violence and outrage from your fellow-prisoners. In a school you have none of these advantages. With the world's bookshelves loaded with fascinating and inspired books, the very manna sent down from Heaven to feed your souls, you are forced to read a hideous imposture called a school book, written by a man who cannot write: A book from which no human can learn anything: a book which, though you may decipher it, you cannot in any fruitful sense read, though the enforced attempt will make you loathe the sight of a book all the rest of your life.
"A Treatise on Parents and Children," preface to Misalliance (1909), reprinted in Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, volume IV (1972), page 35.

Sigrid Undset -- born 1882; died 1949 winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize in literature

I hated school so intensely. It interfered with my freedom. I avoided the discipline by an elaborate technique of being absent-minded during classes.
from her autobiographical sketch written for Twentieth Century Authors, Kunitz and Haycraft, editors (1942), page 1432

Bertrand Russell -- born 1872; died 1970 winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize in literature

The question of home versus school is difficult to argue in the abstract. If ideal homes are contrasted with actual schools, the balance tips one way; if ideal schools are contrasted with actual homes, the balance tips the other way. I have no doubt in my own mind that the ideal school is better than the ideal home, at any rate the ideal urban home, because it allows more light and air, more freedom of movement, and more companionship of contemporaries. But it by no means follows that the actual school will be better than the actual home. The majority of parents feel affection for their children, and this sets limits to the harm they do them. But education authorities have no affection for the children concerned; at best, they are actuated by public spirit, which is directed towards the community as a whole, and not merely towards the children; at worst, they are politicians engaged in squabbles for plums. At present, the home plays an important part in forming the mentality of the young, a part which is by no means wholly good, but perhaps better than that which would be played by the State if it were in sole control of children. Home gives the child experience of affection, and of a small community in which he is important; also of relations with people of both sexes and of different ages, and of the multifarious business of adult life. In this way it is useful as a corrective of the artificial simplification of school.
Another merit of home is that it preserves the diversity between individuals. If we were all alike, it might be convenient for the bureaucrat and the statistician, but it would be very dull, and would lead to a very unprogressive society. At present, the differences between individuals are greatly accentuated by the differences between their homes. Too much difference is a barrier to social solidarity, but some difference is essential to the best form of co-operation. An orchestra requires men with different talents and, within limits, different tastes; if all men insisted upon playing the trombone, orchestral music would be impossible. Social co-operation, in like manner, requires differences of taste and aptitude, which are less likely to exist if all children are exposed to the same influences than if parental differences are allowed to affect them. This is to my mind an important argument against the Platonic doctrine that children should be wholly reared by the State.

Education and the Social Order (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1932) pages 69-71; (London: Unwin Books edition, 1967) pages 41-42.

Winston Churchill -- born 1874; died 1965 winner of the 1953 Nobel Prize in literature

Winston Churchill drew on his excellent memory and penchant for historical investigation to give us a detailed description of his school experience in My Early Life, first published in 1930. Churchill learned to read and do arithmetic at home, in the care of a governess. He was sent to school at age seven, and recalled the experience in these words:

But now a much worse peril began to threaten. I was to go to school. I was now seven years old, and I was what grown-up people in their offhand way called "a troublesome boy." It appeared that I was to go away from home for many weeks at a stretch in order to do lessons under masters. . . . . Although much that I had heard about school had made a distinctly disagreeable impression on my mind, an impression, I may add, thoroughly borne out by the actual experience, I was also excited and agitated by this great change in my life. I thought in spite of the lessons, it would be fun living with so many other boys, and that we should make friends together and have great adventures. Also, I was told that "school days were the happiest time in one's life." Several grown-up people added that in their day, when they were young, schools were very rough: there was bullying, they didn't get enough to eat, they had "to break the ice in their pitchers" each morning (a thing I had never seen done in my life). But now it was all changed. School life nowadays was one long treat. All the boys enjoyed it. Some of my cousins who were a little older were quite sorry--I was told--to come home for the holidays. Cross-examined the cousins did not confirm this; they only grinned. Anyhow I was perfectly helpless. Irresistible tides drew me swiftly forward. . . . . How I hated this school, and what a life of anxiety I lived there for more than two years. I made very little progress in my lessons, and none at all at games. I counted the days and the hours to the end of every term, when I should return home from this hateful servitude and range my soldiers in line of battle on the nursery floor. The greatest pleasure I had in those days was reading. When I was nine and a half my father gave me Treasure Island, and I remember the delight with which I devoured it. My teachers saw me at once backward and precocious, reading books beyond my years and yet at the bottom of the Form. They were offended. They had large resources of compulsion at their disposal, but I was stubborn. Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.
My Early Life (1988 reprint), pages 8-9, 12-13.

Andrei Sakharov winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for world peace

Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov thought school was a "waste of time" after his homeschooling during Stalin's rule, which is described in his memoirs. That rare educational background perhaps accounts for his intellectual courage and willingness to resist tyranny even at the risk of his own life.

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And please check out these:

PARTIAL BIOS OF FAMOUS ASPIES
that this website has begun preparing from a
List of Einstein and other Famous Aspies

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where her father was a rector. She was the second daughter and seventh child in a family of eight. The first 25 years of her life Austen spent in Hampshire. She was tutored at home. Her parents were avid readers and she received a broader education than many women of her time.
http://www.geocities.com/richardg_uk/famousac.html

Alexander Graham Bell

As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, however, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at age 15, completing the first four forms only.[18] His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology, while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his demanding father.[19] Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself.[20] At age 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy, at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and ?10 per session.[21] The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh; joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year.

Emily Dickenson

Emily attended West Middle District Public School, which was near her home. Despite frequently missing classes due to frequent illness, Emily was a focused, competent student who kept atop her studies. After graduating from West Middle District, Emily attended Amherst Academy for six years. There she studied philosophy, Latin, geology, botany, astronomy, theology, church history, ancient history, geography, chemistry, grammar and composition, among other subjects. Emily was particularly enchanted by botany, and her proficiency in the subject attracted the attention of Amherst Academy's young principal, Leonard Humphrey, himself an avid botany scholar. He loaned Emily many books on botany from his own library. Emily had to hide the books from her father, who would have considered them unacceptably light reading.

Thomas Edison

Edison started school late due to childhood illness. His mind often wandered and his teacher Alexander Crawford often called him "addled". He was kicked out of school three months after starting. Edison was then home-schooled by his mother, who was previously a teacher. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. Many of his lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's School of natural philosophy.