Back in 2009, Susan Boyle made her first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. She sang “I Dreamed a Dream” on her first appearance, and the video ended up going viral. Susan, a frumpy-looking older woman who proclaimed that she still dreamt of becoming a professional singer, performed the song beautifully, much to the stunned amazement of Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and the entire audience. Susan didn’t win The X Factor that year, but she did become a professional singer and now, four years later, she’s sold millions of albums, she’s headlined tours and performed for the Pope. She’s made millions of dollars and she seems somewhat happy. But there was always something eccentric about her – she just seemed like a woman who marched to the beat of her own drummer, who was perhaps very awkward in many social situations. And now we have an explanation for it – Susan was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome:

Susan Boyle says she has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism – and feels relief at finally having the right label for her condition. Boyle told the Observer newspaper that she saw a specialist a year ago, who told her she had Asperger’s and an above-average IQ.

Boyle, 52, had learning difficulties as a child, which she was told were the result of brain damage from oxygen deprivation at birth. She struggled in school and was bullied by other children.

“I have always known that I have had an unfair label put upon me,” Boyle said in the interview, published Sunday. “Now I have a clearer understanding of what’s wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself.”

The church volunteer from a small Scottish town became a global sensation when she sang the Les Miserables number “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009.

The contrast between her shy manner and soaring voice won Boyle legions of fans. She has sold more than 14 million records around the world and recently released her fourth album, Home for Christmas. She makes her big-screen debut in holiday movie The Christmas Candle.

Boyle has occasionally struggled with the pressures of fame, and was treated for nervous exhaustion soon after her stint on Britain’s Got Talent.

The singer said she was glad she, and others, would now have a better understanding of the struggles she experiences.

“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,” she told the newspaper.

“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.”

[From People]

Daryl Hannah also recently revealed that she had been diagnosed with Asperger’s too, but she was diagnosed as a child. Susan has only been diagnosed recently, but my guess is that there were probably some people in her family who suspected something like this, wouldn’t you think? It’s not that Susan comes across as a bad person or even a dumb person, she just seems eccentric, a bit odd and awkward. Which is one of the big parts of Asperger’s – social awkwardness, not knowing how to “behave correctly” in social situations. People who Asperger’s often have a streak of genius too, or an ability to focus obsessively on one thing until it’s perfect. I imagine it is a great relief for Susan to finally have a label to put on herself and this really does explain so much about her.

Photos courtesy of WENN.