The Black Autist

I, Timotheus Gordon, Jr., as a representative of the Black Neurotribe (or, as I call it, a global league of Black Autists and Neurodivergents), welcome SZA to our group! I’m proud of her for revealing her identity to her fanbase. I hope that, with that and her music, SZA can build a wide autistic and neurodivergent fanbase while exploring ways to support her newfound community.

For those who don’t know, SZA posted her autistic identity and diagnosis yesterday on one of her IG accounts. This is huge for Black neurodivergents and autists like myself; we don’t have many celebrities we can relate to who are out as neurodivergent. Her announcement becomes more significant because she’s a star among stars in the R&B world, and we have plenty of Black neurodivergent folks in the music world, like 50 Tyson, Questlove, Sean McRae, VVN, Chrisette Michele, Kaishawna, TR Sun, Morgan Janay, Solange Knowles, and Kelly Rowland. The more Black neurodivergent people that represents our interests and prospective careers, the more encouragement we can receive in pursuing our dreams and living our lives out loud (with and without supports).

As a Black autistic artist and self-advocate myself, I have two takes on SZA’s announcement.

SZA stated in the comments of her initial Instagram post: “Finally took the time n got formally diagnosed .. Asperger’s / high functioning autism / smarter than u n****s so stop playing in my face cause pattern recognition told me and I WILL get to the bottom if it thanks. — Pretty sure this is why I’m taking Ai so personally, btw lol. And also why I’m in every comment section.”

I can understand why the mention of Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning autism will piss off some in the mainstream autistic community. Due to the updates in the DSM diagnostic protocols, we view autism as a spectrum of experiences instead of categories/types of autism, for the autistic experience is more complex and nuanced depending on each autistic person. There are instances of successful autistic people, like myself, who may speak verbally but need lots of support to function in a neurotypical world, while there are many successful autistic people who use typing, spelling boards, and other forms of communication devices to speak up and speak out. We can discuss the experiences of people who may show autistic traits or need support, depending on the situation (e.g., sensory overload, needing to type rather than speak in great detail, needing more time to process information or get thoughts together, etc.). Hence, we all say “we are autistic”, “we have autism,” or “we are on the autism spectrum”, regardless of how any of us may express our autistic identity at any given time or place. Don’t forget that how people live their autistic lives may also vary by gender, ethnicity, religion, interests, and more.

Also, Asperger’s syndrome and high-function autism were terms formally used to separate those who can speak verbally and blend into neurotypical society from those who cannot speak verbally and/or blend into neurotypical society. That’s discriminatory! No one is better than another just because they can speak like a neurotypical. Speaking of Asperger’s syndrome…there’s some Nazi history behind that term….and Asperger himself was a Nazi, so we don’t talk about that Bruno!

However, I often see the mainstream autistic community police and punish each other every time they say a controversial term to describe autism, instead of encouraging new members of the community to learn autistic culture and connect with people with similar interests and paths. I was once like SZA, so excited to vocalize my autistic pride that I unknowingly used terms that divide the community. I used to identify as a “highly functioning autistic person” before I realized why that term is problematic. I, too, like SZA (possibly, I imagine), got lectures on how to describe autistic people, especially the preferred use of identity-first descriptors (e.g., “autistic”).

That’s where I stop. Yes, I learned to use identity-first descriptors. But I have also learned to allow people to have grace and self-determination on how they want to describe their autistic being, so long as how they describe it is not derogatory.

Rather, I think we should welcome newcomers to the global autistic community, including BIPOC autistic communities, by supporting their dreams, connecting them with key people and resources that can help them succeed, and showing them around networks where they can find their tribes. Add those with teaching newly self-diagnosed or diagnosed autistic people how to address themselves and fellow autistic and neurodivergent folks. Part of the reason I created the Black Autist was to share information and stories about the many ways to celebrate and represent autistic culture & pride, intersectionally. My platform combines neurodivergent/disability/autistic culture with intersectional identities, so people can connect through a circular, intersectional approach to experiencing neurodivergence and autism.

In conclusion, if we want to welcome SZA into mainstream and ethnic autistic/neurodivergent spaces, let’s focus more on connecting her with fellow Black neurodivergent & autistic people and organizations that support (and preferably are run by) Black neurodivergent & autistic people. Share your interests with SZA, for she may share those interests with you. Encourage SZA to embrace her womanhood, Blackness, and neurdivergence simultaneously, for all of her identities together make her SZA. Let’s help SZA find her tribes and get accustomed to them. That’s how we should help SZA.