Autism Memes

He’s a prolific example and while the veracity of his diagnosis can be debated (I don’t think it’s a stretch but I also agree it’s not a given) it’s not hard to come across people with autism who are racist, fascist, homophobic, etc. especially young people.

I’ve done autism focused counseling for well over a decade. I’ve talked to a bunch of people with autism who were super into ww2 and Hitler (like in a they thought he was super cool way), who got swept up into tea party and maga rhetoric, etc. some don’t give a shit about politics but are still really vindictive and their tendency to ruminate and obsess about things leads to shit like doxxing people who they fight with online or form parasocial relationships around. Some of the more capable people I’ve worked with have deeply internalized ableism and resentment towards anyone who needs accommodations because they’ve managed to power through high school and college and now they have a high paying tech job (though often their career is stalled because while their output is stellar they are considered socially awkward so moving to supervisory roles that would earn them more significant pay are locked away, adding an extra dimension to the resentment)

Toxic behavior is human, it’s up to us to reflect on what parts of us are shitty and try to improve. This is true regardless of neurodiversity status