Neurodivergent art is rebellion against authoritarianism
And a sign that you are human and worthy of support and love.
If you’ve been paying attention (and who are we kidding, you likely are), the American President and Health Secretary made an announcement saying they’ve found a cure for autism. By insinuating that autism needs to be cured in American society indicates not only a sore lack of basic understanding of neurodivergence, but a disdain for anyone who struggles with mental health issues; as if neurodivergence is a disease you can catch or pass on to someone else and causes people to be social outcasts. The dangerous subtext here is that neurodivergence is not acceptable within civilized society. Here is how the American authoritarian (fascist) regime is wrong.
Why should we want to cure neurodivergence?
Historically, fascist regimes have pushed harsh policies to make the kind of people they see as “undesirable” seemingly disappear. Of course, this included people with mental and physical disabilities. If you couldn’t hide your disability from the eyes of the public or you needed assistance in daily life, the regime would single you out for “rehabilitation.” They were rarely allowed back into society, and you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that this isn’t exactly what the American authoritarian regime wants. The sentiment for most of the 20th and into the 21st century is that if you need special accomodations, you are a net loss in society and not worth taking care in the long term; even well-meaning people and organizations have this sentiment. Many people who’d qualify for work and disability due to their brains have to contend with a new technological advancement, generative artificial intelligence.
Why Gen AI is a neurodiversity replacement and antithetical to the creative process
The advent of generative artificial intelligence in the wake of this administration has exploded. While Gen AI is widely used as a popular technological advancement that each of us will be incorporating into our lives each day, it is also being heralded by the fascist regime in ways that take away from the artistic community. It started with artists complaining about AI art during the Biden administration. Now, it is almost impossible to go a day without running into a picture, an Instagram reel, or commercial that doesn’t use AI-generated art. And why? Because it’s cheap and quick, and because the more you use it, the better it gets. People are hired to train these AI bots now and wannabe artists don’t have the patience or interest in acquiring the skills. They don’t even consider hiring a real artist to create for them, and end up using Gen AI to make whatever they want.
This authoritarian regime is normalizing cruelty
Even within the last nine months, the White House itself engaged in weaponizing AI-generated art for propaganda against Hispanic and South American immigrants to push a harmful and fascist agenda. They stole from the art style of beloved children’s’ filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and the famous Studio Ghibli, which isn’t just cruel, but theft. No AI art produced for this reason was sourced ethically or a reflection of real humanity.
Taking away from neurodivergence creates a hostile environment for everyone
It is obtuse at best and malicious at worst to say that art and neurodivergence have no practical or important role in our modern world. That stigma was the issue for the longest time, but now is being propagandized overtly in the US. Maybe it’s because we are people and not machines, or people pretending to be machines that authoritarians and capitalists cannot control. The person with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia cannot fit themselves into the cog in the machine model that colonial, capitalistic, or fascist regimes run on. Artists cannot make art unless they are free to break boundaries and defy expectations to make their art, and that cannot happen under the boot of fascism.
Fascism is hypocritical about the value of art
None of this is new or surprising. If art doesn’t grow food, clean the house, keep a roof from leaking, or provide direct medical care, what good is it? The fascist would say there is no practicality in art so it is ultimately useless and frivolous. Hence, anyone who creates art shouldn’t be taken as seriously as someone who farms, heals, feeds, or repairs. But that isn’t true now, is it?
See, they use Gen AI art and writing to propagandize, a very important and essential tool for fascism. They create their propaganda and memes at lightning speed using AI to get more people to listen to their message or scare them with their latest contrived boogeyman. Fascists cannot abide neurodivergent artists in particular because if there’s one thing they can’t have, it’s people they deem as unworthy outdoing them in spreading ideas authentically and doing in a way they cannot fathom. Fascism requires us not engage creatively or think outside the box, and neurodivergent people can naturally default to creative and outside-the-box thinking.
People on the spectrum are normal people whose brains have been around for all of time
Prominent and influential people like Albert Einstein and Greta Thünberg are just two examples of neurodivergent people who we laud for their contributions to history and the world through their creativity, adaptability, and sense of justice. Fascism fears the neurodivergent artist or activist, for they are the stark contrast of what fascists aspire to be and are more effective and disarming authoritarianism that anyone else.
Neurodiversity is human and worthy to be cherished and valued for all it gives human society; when we accept neurodivergence, we accept ourselves as human. That means when you see art in a gallery that is made by a real person, that person cared enough to lean into the sides of themselves that society didn’t appreciate them for or actively tried to kill. They are your friend and ally and worthy of your support, and they see you and accept your humanity.
