‘Britain’s Got Talent’ star Susan Boyle opens up on Asperger’s diagnosis

Over the past four and a half years, few people have seen a greater explosion into international super-stardom than Susan Boyle. This is a woman who was once a church volunteer in Blackburn, West Lothian, who had only a small group of people around her who knew who she was. However, “Britain’s Got Talent” literally made her an international star overnight, and that was quite an ordeal for anyone to deal with. If you add to that all of the positive and negative attention that she was receiving, it had to be overwhelming for her. It’s no surprise that she was admitted for exhaustion after the end of the final live show.

But now, we are learning that there was another struggle that Susan was going through while also trying to handle being an overnight star. Speaking to the Observer, she opens up for the first time about being diagnosed last year with Asperger’s, a disorder that makes some parts of her life (including social interactions) more difficult. However, she says that in the past year she has learned to handle it more, and hopes that having the information out there will help both herself and others:

“I would say I have relationship difficulties, communicative difficulties, which lead to a lot of frustration. If people were a bit more patient, that would help … Asperger’s doesn’t define me. It’s a condition that I have to live with and work through, but I feel more relaxed about myself. People will have a much greater understanding of who I am and why I do the things I do.”

This interview is obviously coming out at the right time for Susan, who is promoting a new album entitled “Home For Christmas” that will hopefully continue to draw strong sales and support from her loyal following. She also is preparing to embark on her first major concert tour, something that she has wanted to do for many years. Now that she and her team both understand better her daily life and her struggles, it may be easier for the 52-year-old singer to go about traveling every day and seeing such a variety of new faces.

Hopefully, this tour will lead to more opportunities for Susan to go outside of the United Kingdom; but, let’s take this one step at a time.

Photo: Syco