My daughter loves Monk, because she recognizes how much alike the two of them are with their OCD. By the way, if you watch some of the episodes that deal with Monk's college years, childhood, etc., they do make it clear that he always suffered from OCD and that it was genetic. It wasn't caused by the trauma, but it was exacerbated by it. They show flashbacks of him being made fun of in high school and college for OCD symptoms, things like that. It was after the trauma of his wife's death that the OCD became debilitating- he was functional before that. I like this aspect of the show- I think it helps people to understand how genetics and trauma can interact.

A lot of people for some reason get the idea that the show is implying he didn't have OCD till after she was killed. I guess because trauma can cause OCD behaviors that were so minor in as to be easily overlooked in the past to become much worse suddenly that it seems as if the person spontaneously developed it.

My son also has AS, and I have several family members with OCD. My grandmother is so much like Monk that sometimes it feels like the character was based on her. I love this show because I have known (and loved) people like him all of my life.

I agree with you that there are a lot of similarities between OCD and AS, and I have seen an article or two speculating on the possibility that Monk has undiagnosed AS. Obsessive compulsive behavior is listed as one of the possible criteria for an AS diagnosis, and when my son was being evaluated, the doctors even asked me “Does he display any obsessive or compulsive tendencies?” and “Does he have any unusual phobias or fears?”

I have been curious whether a correlation has been found between OCD, AS and ADD, (*and PKU) because my daughter and I both were diagnosed with ADD and there are some common symptoms there as well.

*They have only recently found that there is a correlation between ADD and PKU, a very high percentage of people diagnosed with PKU also have ADD. PKU is a genetic, metabolic disorder that, untreated, leads to neurological damage and even death. I am especially interested in this because my son was also diagnosed with transient PKU soon after birth, and because PKU is diagnosed with blood tests, which makes it harder to dispute it’s existence. Most people with ADD, AS or OCD or a child with one of these three conditions have been subjected to people who refuse to believe that these conditions really exist. They believe that people who have one or more of these conditions are just using them as a way to excuse what they see as bad or inappropriate behavior or they think it's something drug companies and doctors made up. If a real correlation could be found, maybe that can eventually find a way to test for them that is harder for the non-believers to dismiss.