Since Greta Thunberg, the sixteen year old environmental campaigner from Sweden, revealed she has Asperger Syndrome, much of the autism support community has been hailing her as a great role model or hero. Many see her as a shining example of how someone on the autistic spectrum can speak out and try to make a difference in the world.
This may sound controversial to some - and I may even be labeled as a "hater"...but I am rather dismayed by all the praise Thunberg is receiving in the autism world.
For the record, I don't wish this blog to become political, even though I have some strong views on a number of matters. I also don't wish to be critical of Thunberg here - if I had been given the same opportunities as her as a sixteen year old, I suspect I would have taken them up. But therein lies the problem. Suppose as a teenager I decided one day that I wasn't going to do any homework - that homework as a violation of my human rights, so I went on a 'strike' from school, got the train to the Houses of Parliament and protested with a 'Stop Homework' placard. Do you think the government would take any notice of me? Do you think the media would be interested? Do you think world leaders from other countries would invite me to a meeting? What I think is far more likely is that my parents would get a call from the headteacher, and I would be sat in their office for detention the next day!
In the same way, I simply cannot believe that a random teenage girl, Asperger's or not, who decided to go on a school 'strike' and protest outside a parliamentary building, and get their friends to join them, could suddenly win over masses of grassroots support to the point that within a few months they are invited to meet with world leaders, speak at UN conferences and become an international celebrity!
To me, there has got to be some more powerful forces behind what she is doing, promoting her initiative, funding her trips - and without going into details there is plenty of evidence for this. Asperger or not, mental health issues of not, she is being used by the political establishment to further an agenda.
As I said earlier, this is not a criticism of Thunberg, but whatever one thinks about climate change, a sixteen year old who has not yet completed a high school education is not qualified to be an 'expert' on scientific mattes on the world stage. While I may be wrong, I think its highly unlikely that her campaign is based upon independent study on the earth science, thoroughly researching all possible scenarios and coming to the conclusion that we're in a 'climate emergency' - she's probably just repeating what she has been taught and school and heard in the media.
So for all these reasons, there is no justifiable reason to put Thunberg on a pedestal as one of the autistic greats. More likely, she's someone in need of real help.
Who Are The Real Autistic Role Models?
Of course, if a teenager with Asperger's did embark on some ground-breaking scientific research, and discovered solutions to genuine problems, then they would undoubtedly be a real hero of the autism world. I know that many of the great scientists and inventors of the past are now speculated to have had Asperger's, and Thunberg is correct in saying that those of us on the spectrum can have "a unique way of looking at the world."
One particular strength can be critical thinking - having a eye for detail that enables one to see the problems with an issue, that will just go unnoticed by neurotypicals. In fact, without wanting to put myself on a pedestal, I could argue that being Asperger's has enabled me to see behind all the hype around Greta Thunberg and think critically around this issue, rather than just going along with the crowd.
May I suggest that more widely, the real autistic role models are the ordinary people on the spectrum who do not have any special skills, who struggle yet make the most of their day-to-day lives, finding or doing work, making social connections, often being misunderstood or rejected. I was fortunate to get a diagnosis at age 13. There are many people older than myself who have never been diagnosed, and as a result have never had the help they've needed. It is these types of the autism support community needs to give a voice to, what they say will resonate far more with the rest of us, than the voice of autistic celebrities.
