Elon Musk made big news last week when he announced on Saturday Night Live that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. While I can’t say I’m surprised, I’m excited for the opportunity this is for the people who may know little about the autism spectrum to see what is possible for autistic individuals. I can understand people having some mixed feelings about Musk’s revelation: while he is wildly successful, he has also said some pretty unusual and unhelpful things, particularly when Covid first became a problem. Additionally, it was interesting that he identified as having Asperger’s rather than being autistic.

For a long time, Asperger’s was a separate diagnosis on the autism spectrum that was characterized by “high functioning” autistic traits, average to above average language and cognitive abilities, and ability to converse with adults better than childhood peers. In 2013, the DSM5 collapsed several distinct “categories” of autism, including Asperger’s into one: Autism Spectrum Disorder. While in many ways this made sense, it has also been problematic because the spectrum is so broad, and it can be difficult to generalize the needs and supports required based on that diagnosis alone. The reasons for this change involve some unclear distinctions between diagnoses under the original ASD umbrella, and perhaps information that Hans Asperger, the person for whom the diagnosis was named, was a German medical officer during World War 2 and did some unsavory things.

Asperger's Symptoms

It is hypothesized that many of the geniuses and pioneers of new technology and our understanding of the world may have been on the autism spectrum. While many people are fortunate to have careers that they love and value, for autistic individuals who are able to find that which aligns with their area of interest, their capacity can be almost limitless. Autism affects the way people perceive information and other sensory inputs, and it affects the way their brain processes information—this might allow someone to visualize electric cars before they were cool or conceptualize space travel for civilians.

He is not the first to share his diagnosis publicly, and I think it can only help the Autistic community to have powerful and successful individuals be open about their diagnosis. In addition to autistic adults, I think this can be extremely important for parents of autistic individuals to see—with love, support and the right fit, anything is possible