Autistics Do Not "Accidentally" Salute Nazis

 This is not an accident, and it is not autism. 

People are actually claiming that Elon accidentally made a Nazi salute. Twice. Because he was just so excited. 

This happened at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on Jan, 20, 2025. Musk was talking about how excited he was for the new administration when he did this.  

He then turned and repeated the gesture to the people behind him. 

Some people are claiming that he was trying to indicate, "From my heart to yours." But we've all seen people make a "from me to you" gesture, and it looks nothing like a Sieg Heil. 

As a former loyal fan of Musk, I've observed a pattern of behavior where he does something offensive, then sits back and lets his most loyal fans defend his honor until the issue dies down, all the while retweeting comments with laughing emojis. 

If this was truly an accident wouldn't any reasonable person apologize for the confusion and explain themselves? 

Elon laughs it off. Because he can. 

To those using autism to explain this away, think about what you are saying. You are telling people that we don't know the different between an act of hate (sieg heil) and an act of love (from my heart to yours). 

You're saying that a middle-aged man, the owner of multiple million/billion dollar companies is too ignorant to know that he just made a disgusting gesture. 

We're out here trying to convince the world to treat us as complete humans, and you using autism to excuse behavior like this makes life harder for all of us. 

Excuse Me, Mr Refrigerator

Do you speak to inanimate objects as if they are alive? 

I say "thank you" to the vending machine when it produces my selection.  If I accidentally slam the car door too hard I say sorry and rub the door a little. If I walk into the door jamb while going through a door I scowl at it and tell it to stop bumping into me. 

I've heard that some experts claim that autists get confused about objects, and that is why we do this. 

I'm not confused. 

I know a refrigerator is technically just a hunk if metal. Nonetheless, it feels like everything is alive, and by extension, it feels like everything is worthy of respect.  

Is that really so bad? 

I go through life conscious of how my actions might affect others. If those others happen to be inanimate and have no consciousness of my interaction, well then no harm, no foul. So what's the big deal?

I wonder how many people think that what I am doing is wrong? 

How many of those same people talk to their car, on a freezing cold morning? "Come on baby!" while pressing the gas, trying to encourage the car to start. 

How many of those same people yell at the TV set when watching the news, or watching sports ball? 

I notice that autistic behaviors are often criticized unfairly, while regular people engage in the same behavior, just at different times. 

Live and let live. 

 

Autism Simulation

Here's another one of those simulations to give you an idea of what it is like to be autistic. It's quite short but  I think it does a pretty good job of illustrating the disorder.