#the above post applies solely to musk's description of his own autism btw

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

I feel like this will be somewhat controversial, but *takes deep breath*…

Elon Musk being a total dickhead doesn't change the fact that if he is autistic then he is allowed to describe his own personal identity however he wants.

Like yes, he uses "Aspergers"— a lot of people use Aspergers. If he was diagnosed before 2013 then that might have been his official diagnosis. Yes, he described himself as "running human in emulation mode"— a lot of nd people describe themselves as not feeling human, or joke about being robots or aliens or something of that sort.

I love the autistic community on Tumblr, but one of it's major flaws is it's assumption that there is One True Way in which autism should be viewed, and that anyone who deviates from that is Wrong and Bad, even if they are autistic themselves.

(Again, not saying that Elon Musk isn't Wrong and Bad for totally separate reasons, but being autistic and not following the party line isn't something I feel people should be blamed for. We're real human people, not Tumblr talking points come to life.)

This attitude can be extremely alienating to people who don't feel 100% happy and positive about their autism (I know I've avoided talking about negative feelings on here before, because I felt like I wasn't Allowed to be feeling that way) and in some cases has literally lead to self-identified low functioning people experiencing harassment from within the community, because they're using Bad Words to describe themselves and thus Letting The Side Down.

Musk is shitty. Autistic people can be shitty sometimes, just like any other group. I am in no way saying that he is Good Representation— but I do think that the idea that autistic people are only allowed to talk about our identities if we are fluent in Tumblr and constantly work to keep up the veneer of Good Representation is a toxic one that we shouldn't indulge. Even if it means losing an opportunity to have a go at Elon Musk.

It's not as if there aren't plenty of other things to have a go at him for.

#autism #actuallyautistic #elon musk #snl #the above post applies solely to musk's description of his own autism btw #not his attempt to use it as an excuse for tweeting offensive things and not apologising #as i say- autism doesn't mean you can't still be shitty #*mentally prepares self for accusations of being an elon musk fangirl* #*mentally prepares self for accusations of being a Bad Autistic Person* #seriously tho this is something the community needs to address #i'm not saying don't be happy about being autistic #the positivity is one of the reasons that i love this community so much #but sometimes it feels like it tips over a bit into *forced positivity* #especially when it comes to people who use labels like 'low functioning' or 'severe autism' #like i have seen multiple posts from people who use those labels saying that they don't feel welcome in the community #because they don't fit the ideal #and like #we shouldn't *have* an ideal #we should be supporting everyone #no matter how they experience autism