this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2026
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They have a very outdated, paternalistic, rightwing view of autism. They mostly view it as a disease on the level of cancer that needs to be cured, versus the "neurodiversity" view that most autistic autism activists have, and they have almost no (openly) autistic people in leadership positions (in stark contrast to many other autism advocacy groups). Also held on to the "vaccines cause autism" myth for a long time.
Genuine question: can an autistic person be a leader?
My exposure to autistic people has been very limited.
Autism is a much larger spectrum than you might have been led to believe from popular media depiction and social stigma, and you probably have met a few people in your life who had some degree of autism but you thought "they seem normal?"
One could argue they'll be the best. Everything would run smooth and optimized and everyone would only have to work one day a week. Cars would be replaced with trains in 2 weeks.
As an Autist, yes. Plenty of autistic folks can and will do decent in leadership positions. Now if they like it that's a lot more variable, personally I'd probably power trip for a day get bored organize away my responsibilities and then fuck off to do literally anything else.
Mind you this mostly applies to more socially functional autsits, for example I am despite my dislike for it generally good in social situations and don't get pegged as autistic by default since my vaguely depressive Redneck aura is so strong, but there are others who will basically lock up and then either shutdown or meltdown. The funs of a spectrum syndrome, where there are no rules just guidelines.
I do agree that it doesn't necessarily come naturally to autists, but it seems to work fine for all the autist-led autism advocacy groups. Lots of autists have substantial skill in social masking, anyway - doing it around the clock is damaging to them, but it's not like non-autistic leaders are always their fully authentic self in public, either. A good advocacy group enables, where possible, the participation of people who are directly affected.
As a prominent example for leaders of activist groups with autism, consider Greta Thunberg.
Greta is pretty controversial, but thank you very much for the well elaborated answer!
Lots of people are controversial and most of them aren't openly autistic ... she certainly inspired and mobilized people.
genuine answer: yes. i've been in local organizations where they were and their input was valued.
Yes.