Greta Thunberg and Asperger Awareness

In The Politics of Autism, I write:  "Support from the general public will be an important political asset for autistic people. Another will be their sheer numbers, since a larger population of identified autistic adults will mean more autistic voters and activists."  Perhaps the most prominent is climate activist Rachel Thunberg.

At The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Micah Hartwell, Ashley Keener, Sara Coffey, Tessa Chesher, Trevor Torgerson & Matt Vassar have a brief report titled "Public Awareness of Asperger Syndrome Following Greta Thunberg Appearances." 

Results from our study suggest that Thunberg’s increased media attention during the climate summit and subsequently being named Time’s person of the year was strongly associated with increased public awareness for AS. More than 1.3 million searches for AS occurred in September in concordance with the UN summit, nearly double the volume from the previous month. The search trend for AS remained well above the forecasted values through the end of the year. In turn, the executive director of the Asperger/Autism Network stated the organization sees increased call volumes, specifically related to acquiring a diagnosis, when prominent figures such as Thunberg receive heightened media attention and reveal their diagnosis (Ortiz 2019). Additional evidence of increased help-seeking behavior during this period may be supported by the increased internet traffic for the Asperger/Autism Network (AANE) and Autism Speaks websites.

Trump insulted her. 

Rush Limbaugh Says Greta Thunberg Is "Not Well"

In The Politics of Autism, I write about the everyday struggles facing autistic people and their families -- including prejudice.  Rush Limbaugh recently followed Trump's example by disparaging Greta Thunberg.

Rex Huppke at The Chicago Tribune:

“The first thing to notice about Greta Thunberg is that she's 16 years old. She claims she has Ansperger's type — Ausperger's — or autism — Asperger's — some kind of problem in that area.

“And so she is made the Person of the Year by Time magazine, which is what? A political news magazine. Greta Thunberg has been introduced into the political arena by the worldwide left, including the Democrat Party. They have made her a political figure. They do this on purpose.

“So she’s out tweeting and politicizing, and she is free to lie and say whatever she wants to say about climate change and who’s responsible for it. And nobody is permitted to question her, you see, because she has — what did they call it? She is in the autism spectrum, so you can’t disagree, you can’t question, because she’s not well.”

She’s not well. That’s what set me off. While you can pick and choose the offensive aspects of those comments, the casual remark that Thunberg is “not well” highlights Limbaugh’s reckless disregard for anyone who isn’t just like him.

Greta Thunberg Wins Honor, Trump Insults Her

In The Politics of Autism, I write:  "Support from the general public will be an important political asset for autistic people. Another will be their sheer numbers, since a larger population of identified autistic adults will mean more autistic voters and activists."  Perhaps the most prominent is climate activist Rachel Thunberg:

Rachel DeSantis at People:

The Swedish 16 year old — who was named TIME‘s Person of the Year on Wednesday, making her the youngest person to ever be given the honor — hasn’t shied away from flipping the script on her Asperger’s, at one point referring to it not as an obstacle but as her “superpower.”

“Being different is a good thing,” she told PEOPLE in October. “It’s something we should aspire to be.”

The pride with which she embraces her diagnosis has not been lost on others with Asperger’s, who now view Thunberg as a role model. Case in point: the trending Twitter hashtag “Autistics for Greta.”

“She is my SHERO!” user @hmcooperauthor wrote in September. “Such a fearless, articulate young woman. We might be considered ‘odd, weird, quirky….’ Or whatever adjectives that you prefer to insert but I’m convinced folks on the Autism Spectrum have superpowers that you all just don’t…”

User @ThruThePrismArt agreed, writing, “I’m on the spectrum. Anyone who underestimates Greta has NO IDEA how powerful the autistic brain is when set to a specific goal. The strength of being #ActuallyAutistic is LIMITLESS.”

...
Those strengths have served Thunberg well, as she explained on CBS This Morning that her Asperger’s actually helps her in seeing the world through a different lens.

“In some circumstances it can definitely be an advantage to have some kind of neurotypical diagnosis, to be neurodiverse, because that makes you different, that makes you think differently,” she said. “And especially in such a big crisis like this, when we need to think outside the box. We need to think outside our current system, we need people who think outside the box and who aren’t like everyone else.”

Trump insults her:

So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! https://t.co/M8ZtS8okzE

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2019