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Critics of Hannah Gadsby Don’t Understand Autism
Being a “high-functioning” autistic myself, I’ve seen firsthand how people can mistake austistic behavior for veiled narcissism
At one point in Douglas, the new stand-up special from Hannah Gadsby, the comedian addresses a common misconception about her recent autism diagnosis. “I have high-functioning autism and it’s a terrible thing to have,” she says, “in that it gives you the impression that you are functioning highly.”
That statement, though seemingly honest and benign, was enough to irk New Yorker critic Hilton Als. In his review of Douglas, Als posits that Gadsby is invoking her autism to insulate herself from criticism: “Of course, this confession silences or nearly silences any criticism you may have been harboring: How can you criticize that?” he writes. He seems to believe that autistic people are granted a level of consideration and patience as a result of our neurology, and that we can exploit that to evade judgement.
Being a “high-functioning” autistic myself, I can assure you that most of us are not in the habit of playing offensive defense with our neurology. Far from granting us leeway, disclosure about autism often leads to increased scrutiny. When I started opening up about my diagnosis, the most common…
