When Courtney Love was in elementary school, she had difficulties making friends and struggled academically. At age 9, she was diagnosed with autism. In the years to follow, Courtney continued to have challenges, was in and out of foster homes, and was in trouble with the law. Today, it’s hard to know how much of her personality is connected with autism and how much is connected with life experience.
She is not autistic. Her mother, Linda Harrison, is a licensed marriage counselor and in her biography she mentioned that the only truth to this is that she took her to therapists when she was younger. However, the therapists told her that she had a habit of lying for attention and that her behavior would only grow worse over time. None of Courtney’s behavior or neurological status could be considered to be autistic or even mildly so according to Courtney’s own biography. In two different instances in the public sphere she’s been open about her mental health. In the early 2000’s she told Howard Stern on his talk show that she went to one of the top therapists in NYC and he told her that she needed to take something to slow down her talking. However he never told her that this was due to any autistic nature. In the second instance she would have clearly had the opportunity to outline that she was autistic for her Bust Magazine interview this past year to add context to her behavior. She highlighted that she had recently visited some experts and they told her that she was perfectly fine. You can find the article here : http://www.bust.com/courtney-love-discusses-nirvana-rage-and-not-being-crazy.html