Singer Susan Boyle’s “outburst” at Heathrow Airport has been attributed to her Asperger’s diagnosis.
She was due to fly to Scotland when police were called to reports of a woman in distress in the airport lounge.
Following Monday’s incident, a spokeswoman for the former Britain’s Got Talent star, 55, said her behaviour was characteristic of Asperger Syndrome, the condition she was diagnosed with in 2013.
Susan Boyle (David Davies/PA)
She said: “The incident at Heathrow occurred because of Susan’s well-documented Asperger syndrome.
“It is a lifelong condition and one of the many characteristics is outbursts.
“She continues to enjoy her music career. That is very important to her and brings happiness to her life whilst trying to balance the many challenges that Asperger’s brings.”
Susan, who found international fame after impressing talent show judges with her performance of I Dreamed A Dream, was said to be “absolutely fine” after the incident in Terminal 5 which saw officers speak to her before she made her way home to Scotland.
Susan Boyle performs during the 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony at Celtic Park, Glasgow (Peter Byrne/PA)
The entertainer, from Blackburn, West Lothian, has previously spoken of her relief at receiving a medical explanation for the “emotional outbursts” and “acute anxiety” that have afflicted her throughout her life.
Asperger’s is a form of autism which typically means people with the condition struggle with their emotions and have difficulty in social situations, often unable to pick up on non-verbal cues.
Susan said in a 2014 interview: “It’s a very difficult subject to talk about because you always feel that eyes are on you, and people view you as different.
“I like to see myself as someone with a problem, but one I can solve. It is definitely getting better. “
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article