Neurodivergence is not a brand.
this article is motivated after watching and hearing Elon Musk repeat that his poor behavior is a result of him being autistic.
I find myself in a very awkward position. i was recently diagnosed with type 1 autism, formerly known as aspergers. i do not use it to explain why i am mean to people. at most i have tried to use the term to get accommodation.
i will not do it again.
when normal people who live with these conditions express to others they have them, we are targeted. due to something else Mr. Musk peddles, eugenics.
sometimes poor behavior is just poor behavior. autistic people react to external stimuli. often stimuli that others cannot feel. we can feel wifi, em waves, acoustic waves. sound is louder to us often. light is brighter. certain manners of speaking are triggering. our “behavior” is not behavior- it is a reaction as simple as someone pulling their hand away from a hot plate when they touch it.
that others cannot see or feel what we can is the unfortunate reality in which we live.
the extreme danger of someone like Musk using autism as his excuse is that the rest of us get to pay for it. ive followed musk for a while. and i have also followed another individual who does share a neuro condition with me and is also extremely rich. Richard Branson.
Branson:
branson does not talk about being dyslexic alot. he shared a story once about being in a board room and someone used an acronym, “ROI” and he had to ask what it meant.
lets be clear- man knows what a return on investment is. he dosent know its called “ROI”. it was a very relatable thing for me. i move industries alot and the first month is just getting used to the jargon.
he does not make his condition his identity. nor does he imply he is a in acquisition of some enviable thing. the reason is simple. we all try to hide we have these conditions. coming out and asking for help is not a great experience.
Musk:
in addition to walter issacsons biography, musk has a prior one. the more you read about his own narration of his life the more puzzling musk is. he lies.
the biggest indicator of autism is we do not lie. you may not understand our truth, and maybe our truth lacks the required information. we might be wrong as we understand the facts- that is extremely likely. however we do not lie.
we will change our conclusions based on new facts. we are effectively mathematical.
in addition most autistic people have an almost personal relationship with nature. the most “stereotypical” autistic person who is verbal and smart is actually Greta Thunberg. she must be raised by exceptional parents. she does not mask. i would assume her parents knew early and made sure she knew not to.
the other way to understand autism is to read a book written by a young autistic boy, who was born to amazing japanese parents: The reason i jump by Naoki Higashida.
the autistic struggle is to have our stymies, the things we do to release variant energy, appear normal to non neurodivergent people. this can look odd to some people. in the same way that someone who has turrets will blurt out a swear. they are not directing that anywhere. their body just needs to release that energy in that manner. it is not an indication of their morality or their opinion.
it would be easier if we had some kind of guide, that told us where to act how. and then we could program the rest of our needs around what other people find comfortable.
it would be like wearing heels to a party and then when no one is looking, we can take them off and relax. a room where a bunch of us go, swear at each other, itch to our content and walk out looking “normal”.
the challenge with Mr. Musk adopting autism as a brand is that he is not being an advocate. he is not sharing how he deals with it, or like Branson, he is not providing the contextual parts in which we are used to living.
i dont know if he has autism. it is not for me to diagnose. many people are fixated on the fact that he diagnosed himself. this is not a-typical. alot of ppl on the spectrum diagnose themselves. there is no one size fits all diagnostic test for autism. that is beyond the scope of his reality.
the truth is, there are so many deviations in Musks own recorded truths that no autistic person can understand how he can have such a divergent spectrum of realities.
if he is autistic it is a new form that i am unfamiliar with. i accept my ignorance is possible here. there are also alot of differences between men and women on the spectrum. men can be, women are not allowed to be. so we hide more than men as we pay a much larger social price.
reading a few things online and self diagnosing is dangerous. alot of conditions can be explained by simpler means. some of us have paid a fairly high cost to be able to finally accept that we are autistic, not as the world wishes, crazy.
if mr. musk is autistic, with his wealth — he should get a formal diagnostic test. it would help him to not only manage his social peculiarities but he can afford to get a nutritionist and a physical trainer to create a personalized plan an help optimize his superpower for his needs.
the rest of us could learn how he is doing it if he would be kind enough to let the world know and then we can modify our own plans and see if there are commonalities.
most autistic people, especially people with type 1 understand with personal biological certainty that climate change is real, it is imminently going to impact every life on earth and we — as a cohort- can feel the natural deviation of harmony in the planet. it seems awkward to me that someone who claims to be biologically connected to nature would campaign for a man who denies as much reality as his chosen candidate.
not to mention, a candidate who stands against the movement of the environmental movement. however i have just learned that i was on this spectrum a year or so ago. i might not know everything here and am open to being corrected. personally- i am on the same spectrum as greta- whom i follow for a lead on the climate side.
