Existentialism and Autism

• Monday 28th March 2022

The existential perspective can be helpful in understanding some of the challenges autistic people experience.  For example, many autistic and neurodivergent people can find making choices difficult and overwhelming. In everyday life we are often faced with hundreds of options, what washing machine should I buy, when is the best time to call someone, where should I go on holiday? Not only are there lots of different options, it is likely that there isn’t a straight forward choice, there are pro’s and con’s on both sides. Non-autistic people will often make choices by taking a risk and going for the one that “looks like” it will be the best, or maybe the one that others have done. Some autistic people can find that really hard, they can stuck overwhelmed by all the choice, how is it possible to just choose without clear evidence?!

These situations could actually be seen in terms of the existential idea of “freedom”. Existentialists believe that humans are not pre-determined, we are born and we have the freedom to choose what we do, who we become. Even though sometimes the options might be really hard, or very limited, there is always some kind of choice, even if it is just how we respond to what is happened to us. You might think that having all this choice would be fantastic…but ever been in an ice cream parlour and found yourself paralysed by the decision of salted caramel or strawberry delight? Existentialist argue that the choices we have and the responsibility this give us becomes overwhelming and anxiety provoking. One of the famous existentialist Kierkegaard described the anxiety we face in response to our ability to choose “the dizziness of freedom”. So much so that we often hide our head in the sand. How do we do this? Well lots of ways, just copying what others do, telling ourselves that we didn’t have a choice, distracting ourselves with life. When really everyday we are making decision about how we want to live and who we want to be, and we can avoid it. Feel a bit scary? In this way the difficulties some autistic people experience in making everyday decision is a honest reflection of the overwhelming amount of choices we all face.

Another famous existential thinker called Nietzsche talked about the “herd instinct”. This is the tendency to follow without thinking what the society or “the masses” do. Nietzsche argues that we should be courageous and seek out our own path, irrespective of what others are saying or doing. This is not an easy task though, as we mentioned choosing our path can be difficult, and defying social expectations can led to negative consequences. In fact another existential thinker called Heidegger said that most of us shift between being authentic and inauthentic. Many autistic people describe “masking” or hiding their autism in order to protect themselves from discrimination or to be more accepted by the non-autistic majority. On a daily basis they can be faced with decisions about whether they adapt themselves to fit in with the group, or choose not to, but potentially face rejection. From an existential point of view they are tackling a key dilemma, (that everyone faces to some extent) how and when do I be “me”.