Elon Musk is Autistic, and Also, Unrelatedly, a Horrible Person

There is no contradiction there.

I’ve been writing and thinking a good bit about autism and neurodivergence over the last couple of weeks. (In part because of this piece at Public Notice). In the course of researching and talking about these issues, it’s been brought to my attention that a lot of people feel strongly that Elon Musk is not autistic.

I disagree. I’m going to talk about why briefly, because I think it touches on a number of important issues around autism and disability. Specifically: self ID is crucial to autistic people—and I think it’s also crucial to recognize that autism is not, in any way, a moral diagnosis.

Self ID and Autism

The main reason to believe that Musk is autistic is that he’s said repeatedly that he has Asperger’s syndrome—an older name for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). “Asperger’s” is not generally used now because it’s confusing and also because it’s named after a guy who had ugly ties to the Nazis.

In any case, Musk has said that he thinks his fascination with programming, his tendency to hyper focus on problems and work without stopping, his difficulty reading social cues, and his tendency to take people’s statements literally, are all related to his autism. Those are all, in fact, pretty typical autistic traits, and Musk’s description of himself as autistic makes sense based on what we know about those on the spectrum.

Musk has not said whether he has a formal diagnosis. But a lot of people with autism (like, say, me) do not get formal diagnoses. That’s because getting diagnosed can be a lengthy, tedious and unpleasant process; diagnostics often focus on deficits, and it’s not a lot of fun to spend a ton of time talking to someone about how you can’t do this thing or that thing or how you don’t work right.

In addition, doctors are not necessarily always great at diagnosing autism themselves. Historically, the medical profession has struggled to recognize autistic people; for a long time, autism was only diagnosed in children, and people thought autistic adults essentially didn’t exist. Many doctors still don’t really recognize or accept that adults can be autistic.

More a formal autism diagnosis can put people in jeopardy in a range of ways; it may make it more difficult to immigrate to some countries; it may put you at greater risk of medical conservatorship; it can lead to medical discrimination for care such as organ transplants.

Finally, there’s an increasing body of research showing that self-ID tends to be consistent with medical diagnosis. In other words, autistic people do tend to be able to recognize their conditions accurately without diagnosis. And self-ID has a range of benefits for autistic people. The autistic-run charity Reframing Autism lists some of those benefits as:

· helping your loved ones and allies — like family, friends, and mental health professionals – better understand your unique ways of thinking and behaving;

· helping you better understand yourself and recognise your strengths;

· providing opportunities for meaningful connections and finding a sense of belonging within the Autistic community;

· creating a special bond with your own Autistic children – recognising shared Autistic traits can feel like a “gift”;

· providing a sense of relief;

· and allowing for self-compassion and the opportunity to develop a positive Autistic identity.

I wouldn’t say that my own self-ID has changed my life. But it has made me less hard on myself when I use fidget toys, or get obsessed with making lists of music I like, or want to never leave the house again, or don’t want to try new foods, or can’t stop playing Tetris. Autistic people often feel that they’ve failed to be normal or to do the things you’re supposed to do as an adult. Recognizing you’re autistic means in part recognizing that neurotypical standards are just neurotypical standards; lots of us can’t jump through those hoops, but that doesn’t mean we’re wrong or a failure. It just means we’re different.

So, when Elon Musk says he is autistic, there’s good reason to believe he is correct, because autistic adults are generally correct when they self ID. And there’s important ethical reasons to accept his self ID, because getting official diagnoses can be difficult and even dangerous, and because autistic people who self ID gain important benefits.

That’s why I say, with little in the way of reservation, that Elon Musk is autistic.

Elon Musk is a horrible person

Not everyone is so certain about Musk. And they’re uncertain in part because Elon Musk is a liar and a scumbag, who has used autism to try to excuse or downplay some of his heinous shit.

For example, after Musk made a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, one of his fascist cronies, Andrea Stroppa, claimed that “that gesture, which some mistook for a Nazi salute, is simply Elon, who has autism, expressing his feelings by saying, ‘I want to give my heart to you.’”

This is horseshit. I am autistic, I know many people who are autistic. None of us go out in public and make Nazi salutes. Being autistic (contra Rain Man) doesn’t mean you are unable to make moral choices. It doesn’t mean you are unable to interpret or understand symbols, either. Musk didn’t make a Nazi salute because he’s autistic. He made a Nazi salute because he’s an asshole and a fucking Nazi.

You do not want people using autism as an excuse for ugly and evil behavior. Musk hurts all autistic people when he claims that autistic people can’t identify a Nazi salute. He and Neil Gaiman both harm autistic people when they claim that their autism somehow excuses or defuses the accusations against them of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. There’s plenty of research that shows that autistic people are in fact more likely to be targets of bullying, domestic violence, and sexual violence than their peers, so using autism to minimize this kind of violence is particularly disgusting.

Autism is not an excuse for ugly, immoral, cruel, despicable acts. Autism doesn’t make anyone do evil. But, at the same time, I think it’s important to recognize that autistic people can in fact do bad things and be bad people.

This seems like it should be pretty obvious. But media representations of autistic people tend to be weirdly bifurcated. Autism is sometimes presented as a cause of violent and deviant behavior (some news reports suggested the Columbine shooters were motivated by autism.) And then, a lot of media representations (from Rain Man to Love on the Spectrum) present autistic people as innocent, childlike, and harmless or saintly.

The common denominator here is the idea that autistic people lack the ability to make moral choices; neurodivergence explains all their actions, so they cannot meaningfully do good or evil. They may be dangerous or harmless, but either way it’s really the condition that is dangerous or harmless. There is no soul there to act.

Of course, this is nonsense. Autistic people are people. That means they can be good people or shitty people, and sometimes both at once or in sequence. Autism doesn’t make you harm people, but it doesn’t prevent you from harming them either. It’s a neurological condition, not a moral state.

Elon Musk is an extraordinarily evil man; his gutting of US AID is expected to lead to 3 million deaths a year, which places him among the most monstrous mass murderers in history, vying with such luminaries as Hitler and Stalin. He’s also autistic. There’s no contradiction, and not really any overlap.

It’s important to acknowledge autistic people’s self ID. It’s important to reject the use of autism as a cause of, or an excuse for, cruelty and violence. And it’s important to recognize that Elon Musk, whatever else he is, is a violent, abusive mass murderer, who should face justice for his crimes.