AIBU to feel conflicted about Elon Musk having ASD?

[Apparentlychanged]

Elon Musk announced he has Asperger's disorder on SNL. On one hand I'm glad someone famous is openly stating that they are on the spectrum, but on the other, I feel that it perpetuates a stereotype of people with ASD being male tech gurus with a serious case of 'being a bit of an asshole'. AIBU to think that way? Should I just be happy for more representation?

We don't know when Elon was diagnosed, I have Asperger's, it's the diagnosis I got and that's how I describe it, it's how I always will, the same could be said for him.

He might be ASC but he doesn't speak for me.
But don't bully him for his condition, it's him.

People who are ASC don't have any choice. We can't put it down because you don't like it. And why should we? It's who we are.

Aspergers went from the DSM years ago (as it should). If anyone is still using ICD 10, they will note that Asperger’s is described as a syndrome of “uncertain nosological validity”. As a condition, it’s never been without controversy and is now largely redundant. It will be gone everywhere by the end of this year.

That's what I said. It's still valid using ICD 10 and can and is still diagnosed within the UK.

@HazeyJaneII

There are people who have had it as a diagnosis though, and will probably still use it as a descriptor (off the top of my head, Greta Thunberg said she had Asperger's in a recent piece and I recently read an interview with David Byrne where he talked about having Asperger's)

Quite, I find it quite grim that someone talking about themselves is criticised because they should have done x, y or z, when it's not like it's a made up name or whatever.

Because it perpetuates the myth that autistic + posh/clever = Asperger’s.

Never seen this myth anywhere. It's my diagnosis and I use it sometimes, outdated or not. Other times, I use autistic or ASC or ASD. I don't like the word "Aspie" but many use it and people can choose to use their own diagnosis how/if they want.

I don't know much about Elon Musk, so not sure what terrible thing he's said or done but from the little I've seen of him talking about his projects or answering some questions, I'm not at all surprised he's autistic. Just a case of 'odd recognises odd', and not anything to do with any bad behaviour (Haven't seen any as I don't follow his life). Although, I don't think being an arsehole = autistic.

I think this is a very odd AIBU. You are entitled to feel however you do about Elon Musk. He is a very unusual person with a very unusual life. You can’t really separate him from his diagnosis of aspergers though - he is who he is and experiences the world how he does - all of that will have made him who he is today - including the incredible things he’s done (becoming very rich, taking the risks he has done, the ambitions for space travel to Mars, Tesla etc) and the silly things he does (calling a the man who rescued the boys from a Thai cave a ‘pedo’ and calling his son a ridiculous name).

He is VERY famous and VERY rich though and has achieved a lot and if that helps put neurodiversity out there then good for him, I say. Just think he should not tweet random accusations at people helping rescue missions but hey ho.

I think it’s great that it shows having a non neuro typical brain will not in all cases stop you achieving great things. Sometimes it can be an asset depending how it presents itself I have ADHD and there are some amazing positives as well as negatives for me.

But as with everyone people will achieve different things, what matters is they do the best for them.

But seeing the world in a different way to the majority can sometimes work to your advantage

Given his age, a diagnosis would have used the term Aspergers. He doesn’t have to ret-con his identity to fit the current trends.

It is really hard to have conversations about ASD. People don’t like the term high-functioning. They really don’t like the term aspergers. I personally like “absent minded professor” because it fits me well and it harkens back to old movies that spoke to me when I was a child. Some people hear autism and immediately think it means non-verbal kids who are going to need a lifetime of care. They don’t think about the fact that in girls it often presents as being extremely intelligent and highly verbal. They don’t think about those of us that are going to do really well in school, get degrees, get awesome jobs, find another oddball, and have a family. Yet when we are kids we are going to need extra support on certain things and even as adults we will have to make sure to mask outside the house so we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves.

Sounds like a bad move on his part!