What a passionate indictment of our ignorance and its consequences, as well as so much else of real value, for example that autism does not equate with racism or other defects of character. Also your presentation of the effects of intergenerational trauma among American Indigenous peoples was spot on. I've watched a few Canadian productions originating from First Peoples and they make no bones about this. When I try explaining it to those without a stake in the situation, however, they look at me blankly. As I'm a pretty good 'explainer,' I think it's mainly about them, not my shortcomings. White male, conscious and unconscious bias is one of the most profound problems in this country, and at the root of the majority or its problems. Once you see it, you can't unsee it, and it harms white men via its distorted beliefs, at least as much as it harms others, if not as obviously. Bless you, and keep writing.
I have a diagnosed relative who has a hard time functioning but has NEVER displayed any sign of violence or even vile language. I suspect a LOT of people have similar friends or relatives.
I think we ALL have vile moments internally. How many times have you thought "better not post THAT or the Secret Service will be after me?" or similar. The question is whether we keep such moments from surfacing. And I completely agree with you that it is not "mental illness" that releases the moments to the surface. It is simply the loss of belief that it's "not OK" to be vile--something kindergarten tried to instill in all of us, at least once upon a time.
What has happened since the golden escalator ride is the PERMISSION now given to be vile. If your role model is vile, it is clearly OK to be so--at least on the issues where HE is vile. Trump may be a malignant narcissist (ok, a mental illness) but it is his USE of vileness to obtain his ends that has led to the permissions he has given.
Thanks you for making the point so forcefully. Mental illness is a mostly a chemical thing; the spectrum is a wiring thing as I understand it. Feeling left out or disrespected is neither. Nor is looking for someone else to blame. Nor is embracing selfishness as some sort of virtue. Nor is following a role model, personal or ideological. It is looking for someone else to blame and permission to be selfish that our national "role models" have inflicted on so many who lack any trace of "mental illness."
I totally agree, & you’ve expressed it better than I do. I’ve often thought that Donald Trump being elected President has made it permissible to be a nasty person, as he can say & do vile things without being punished for doing so. He brings out the worst in people who have harbored this vile behavior but (mostly) kept it hidden. I don’t know why such behavior has become socially acceptable. Some people are just awful. Not because they are ill or on the spectrum, but because they are nasty, and should be shunned.
Susan, your words are so well written and I agree with all you said. He gave the ultimate green light to hate, bigotry, racism. I have to remind myself that it was there before him.. it was just given permission. 💔
I am autistic. Was diagnosed when I was 43 (I am now 50). I do NOT want anyone to pawn these sh*theads on us EVER again. No. We don't want them. They are not one of ours. We maybe a lot to deal with at time - but they are NOT us.
I received mine through a medical school doing a study on the comorbidity of ASD and prosopagnosia. I didn’t know I had either one, turned out I had both. I was recommended for the study by a participant. You can see if there any current calls for research participants. This usually leads to free extensive testing and evaluation.
If that's not an option, speak with your primary care about a referral to a psychologist for assessment. If they ask why it matters for an adult, remind them that there are health implications specific to the neurodivergent. An autism diagnosis isn’t just for getting an IEP for a child.
Holy crow, I think I have prosopagnosia! Not as severely as some, but I'm real slow with faces. Everyone has the same features stacked in the same order, so how am I supposed to tell them all apart? (This was a serious problem when I spent time in the Midwest. SO MANY BLONDS.)
The research was done over 15 years ago now, but one of their conclusions—after finding prosopagnosia was 85% more common among people with ASD—was part of the issue we have with social cues and social interactions is directly related to our level of face blindness.
My face blindness is very mild and my social scores in my autism assessment were quite good. The friend who recommended me for the study had profound face blindness. He couldn't recognize his own parents in a crowd of people (that must have been terrifying as a child). His social scores were extremely poor.
I don't know if you've read this piece I did last year describing my autism experience, but you might recognize some other commonalities.
I got mine by telling my primary care provider I wanted to be evaluated and why, and she referred me to a mental health provider for official evaluation and diagnosis.
Thanks so much for this thoughtful, well-written piece. People who spew racist, misogynist or anti-semitic insults after a drink or two [hello, Mel Gibson] will always blame the alcohol. Nevermind that most people who have a couple of drinks would never do that in a million years. Because even though their inhibitions were lowered, too, there wasn't a POS lurking in them.
When I hear all the Musk, Kanye apologists racing to excuse their odious behavior because of their neurodivergence or mental health problems, I wonder how many of them joined the chorus of jackals who made fun of Gus Walz becoming emotional at seeing his dad being nominated for VP.
It is an epidemic problem and has been for decades. We whites are so slow to recognize the peril in our own little lives. Compassion and knowledge could begin illuminate this problem. Thank you for being so candid. Your integrity is admirable. Be well.
The difference between Musk or Trump and that crazy uncle at the family union whom you tolerate a short while, but spend as little time with as possible and get away from as fast as you can is that our reward systems have given Musk and Trump the power that the crazy uncle does not have.
As a therapist, I couldn't agree more. Some people are just evil. You could chalk it up to severe personality disorders but, frankly, personality disorders don't "make" people evil. What neurodivergence can do is take away the filters that some people use to hide how disgusting they are, as alcohol can do. So, giving people a "diagnosis" does not excuse them. It can explain behavior just as history of abuse can explain behavior. That's why it important to understand both mental illness and neurodivergence. But, neither excuses cruel and evil behavior, and we should not assume that it does. In fact, is is most likely that damage is done to evil people in childhood and that the lack the insight and/or motivation to either recognize it or treat it. Thus, we get Musk, Trump, Navarro and their ilk. As far as Trump goes, it appears that he is not only intellectually limited, damaged and demented, but he is also a sadist. He should never have been elected.
Thank you for this very good and necessary article. I do want to make one correction. Musk's goal in buying Twitter was to destroy the parts of it that made it valuable & he's been effective in reaching that goal.
I have to disagree as there was no plan to buy Twitter. Musk did what he's done repeatedly—made boastful claims touting his prowess to fix anything/everything—and got called on it. People forget he had to be forced to follow through on his overpriced offer. Once he did buy it, his total lack of talent went on full display because the people who maintained the other businesses he bought into had mostly left Twitter and those that hadn't his ego eliminated after they openly questioned him.
I think he just wanted a platform where he could say whatever he wanted. Which meant eliminating or changing the controls, so positive contributors were discouraged, and trolls encouraged. End of Twitter as we knew it.
Thank you for this. Thank you *so much* for this.
What a great article. Thank you for sharing your story and for all the important information in this article.
What a passionate indictment of our ignorance and its consequences, as well as so much else of real value, for example that autism does not equate with racism or other defects of character. Also your presentation of the effects of intergenerational trauma among American Indigenous peoples was spot on. I've watched a few Canadian productions originating from First Peoples and they make no bones about this. When I try explaining it to those without a stake in the situation, however, they look at me blankly. As I'm a pretty good 'explainer,' I think it's mainly about them, not my shortcomings. White male, conscious and unconscious bias is one of the most profound problems in this country, and at the root of the majority or its problems. Once you see it, you can't unsee it, and it harms white men via its distorted beliefs, at least as much as it harms others, if not as obviously. Bless you, and keep writing.
Beautifully well stated, Leigh.
Amelia, thank you immensely for taking the time to detail these truths.
My neuro-divergent grandson said to me, "I may be neuro-divergent, but that doesn't make me want to stim by throwing a Nazi salute."
THIS.
I have a diagnosed relative who has a hard time functioning but has NEVER displayed any sign of violence or even vile language. I suspect a LOT of people have similar friends or relatives.
I think we ALL have vile moments internally. How many times have you thought "better not post THAT or the Secret Service will be after me?" or similar. The question is whether we keep such moments from surfacing. And I completely agree with you that it is not "mental illness" that releases the moments to the surface. It is simply the loss of belief that it's "not OK" to be vile--something kindergarten tried to instill in all of us, at least once upon a time.
What has happened since the golden escalator ride is the PERMISSION now given to be vile. If your role model is vile, it is clearly OK to be so--at least on the issues where HE is vile. Trump may be a malignant narcissist (ok, a mental illness) but it is his USE of vileness to obtain his ends that has led to the permissions he has given.
Thanks you for making the point so forcefully. Mental illness is a mostly a chemical thing; the spectrum is a wiring thing as I understand it. Feeling left out or disrespected is neither. Nor is looking for someone else to blame. Nor is embracing selfishness as some sort of virtue. Nor is following a role model, personal or ideological. It is looking for someone else to blame and permission to be selfish that our national "role models" have inflicted on so many who lack any trace of "mental illness."
I totally agree, & you’ve expressed it better than I do. I’ve often thought that Donald Trump being elected President has made it permissible to be a nasty person, as he can say & do vile things without being punished for doing so. He brings out the worst in people who have harbored this vile behavior but (mostly) kept it hidden. I don’t know why such behavior has become socially acceptable. Some people are just awful. Not because they are ill or on the spectrum, but because they are nasty, and should be shunned.
Susan, your words are so well written and I agree with all you said. He gave the ultimate green light to hate, bigotry, racism. I have to remind myself that it was there before him.. it was just given permission. 💔
I still weep over the death of Elijah McClain at the hands of police and EMTs.
Thank you for this article. I have ADHD and my husband is Aspy. We've had a great life together.
Bravo very effectively stated.
Terrific article. Thank you.
I am autistic. Was diagnosed when I was 43 (I am now 50). I do NOT want anyone to pawn these sh*theads on us EVER again. No. We don't want them. They are not one of ours. We maybe a lot to deal with at time - but they are NOT us.
How does a person even get an adult diagnosis? People talk about it so often, but I can't find clear answers about this online.
I received mine through a medical school doing a study on the comorbidity of ASD and prosopagnosia. I didn’t know I had either one, turned out I had both. I was recommended for the study by a participant. You can see if there any current calls for research participants. This usually leads to free extensive testing and evaluation.
If that's not an option, speak with your primary care about a referral to a psychologist for assessment. If they ask why it matters for an adult, remind them that there are health implications specific to the neurodivergent. An autism diagnosis isn’t just for getting an IEP for a child.
Holy crow, I think I have prosopagnosia! Not as severely as some, but I'm real slow with faces. Everyone has the same features stacked in the same order, so how am I supposed to tell them all apart? (This was a serious problem when I spent time in the Midwest. SO MANY BLONDS.)
Thanks for the advice, I'll see what I can find.
The research was done over 15 years ago now, but one of their conclusions—after finding prosopagnosia was 85% more common among people with ASD—was part of the issue we have with social cues and social interactions is directly related to our level of face blindness.
My face blindness is very mild and my social scores in my autism assessment were quite good. The friend who recommended me for the study had profound face blindness. He couldn't recognize his own parents in a crowd of people (that must have been terrifying as a child). His social scores were extremely poor.
I don't know if you've read this piece I did last year describing my autism experience, but you might recognize some other commonalities.
https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/autism-acceptance-first-person-experience
Neuropsyche test. Referral by your PCP.
I got mine by telling my primary care provider I wanted to be evaluated and why, and she referred me to a mental health provider for official evaluation and diagnosis.
Thanks! Did it cost you an arm and a leg? I've heard it can.
I honestly don't remember - it was seven years ago.
Thanks so much for this thoughtful, well-written piece. People who spew racist, misogynist or anti-semitic insults after a drink or two [hello, Mel Gibson] will always blame the alcohol. Nevermind that most people who have a couple of drinks would never do that in a million years. Because even though their inhibitions were lowered, too, there wasn't a POS lurking in them.
When I hear all the Musk, Kanye apologists racing to excuse their odious behavior because of their neurodivergence or mental health problems, I wonder how many of them joined the chorus of jackals who made fun of Gus Walz becoming emotional at seeing his dad being nominated for VP.
It is an epidemic problem and has been for decades. We whites are so slow to recognize the peril in our own little lives. Compassion and knowledge could begin illuminate this problem. Thank you for being so candid. Your integrity is admirable. Be well.
Superb. Sharing...
The difference between Musk or Trump and that crazy uncle at the family union whom you tolerate a short while, but spend as little time with as possible and get away from as fast as you can is that our reward systems have given Musk and Trump the power that the crazy uncle does not have.
Spot on.
As a therapist, I couldn't agree more. Some people are just evil. You could chalk it up to severe personality disorders but, frankly, personality disorders don't "make" people evil. What neurodivergence can do is take away the filters that some people use to hide how disgusting they are, as alcohol can do. So, giving people a "diagnosis" does not excuse them. It can explain behavior just as history of abuse can explain behavior. That's why it important to understand both mental illness and neurodivergence. But, neither excuses cruel and evil behavior, and we should not assume that it does. In fact, is is most likely that damage is done to evil people in childhood and that the lack the insight and/or motivation to either recognize it or treat it. Thus, we get Musk, Trump, Navarro and their ilk. As far as Trump goes, it appears that he is not only intellectually limited, damaged and demented, but he is also a sadist. He should never have been elected.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you for this very good and necessary article. I do want to make one correction. Musk's goal in buying Twitter was to destroy the parts of it that made it valuable & he's been effective in reaching that goal.
similar to what DOGE is doing now...
I have to disagree as there was no plan to buy Twitter. Musk did what he's done repeatedly—made boastful claims touting his prowess to fix anything/everything—and got called on it. People forget he had to be forced to follow through on his overpriced offer. Once he did buy it, his total lack of talent went on full display because the people who maintained the other businesses he bought into had mostly left Twitter and those that hadn't his ego eliminated after they openly questioned him.
I think he just wanted a platform where he could say whatever he wanted. Which meant eliminating or changing the controls, so positive contributors were discouraged, and trolls encouraged. End of Twitter as we knew it.