My Asperger’s is a superpower: Thunberg

Greta Thunberg has struck back, saying the syndrome makes her “a bit different from the norm”.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Picture: AFP

The environmental activist Greta Thunberg has struck back at critics who deride her for having Asperger syndrome, saying that it makes her “a bit different from the norm” but can act as a “superpower”.

The 16-year-old Swede arrived in New York last week after crossing the Atlantic in a zero-carbon yacht to attend the UN Climate Action Summit in the city later this month.

Ms Thunberg’s supporters say that opponents who reject mainstream climate science are engaging in “autism bashing” of the schoolgirl in an attempt to discredit her ideas. Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace activist who claims that there is no scientific basis for climate change, has described her as a puppet with a mental disorder who is being abused by her parents, and likened her and her allies to the Hitler Youth.

Ms Thunberg defended herself on social media over the weekend, writing: “When haters go after your looks and differences it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning! I have Asperger’s and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And — given the right circumstances — being different is a superpower.”

Thunberg outside the UN headquarters. Picture: AFP

Several years ago doctors diagnosed Asperger syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and selective mutism, meaning that she speaks only when she thinks it is necessary. “I’m not public about my diagnosis to ‘hide’ behind it, but because I know many ignorant people still see it as an “illness”, or something negative,” she said. “And believe me, my diagnosis has limited me before. Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder.”

She added: “All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning in a world that sometimes seems meaningless to so many people.”

Asperger syndrome is a milder autism spectrum disorder often characterised by difficulties in social interaction and restricted interests. Its positive traits can include remarkable focus and persistence and attention to detail.

Ms Thunberg came to prominence last year after she skipped school to protest outside the Swedish parliament about inaction over tackling the human causes of climate change. She became the spearhead of global school strikes over the issue this year that involved more than a million pupils. She has since met President Macron of France, Pope Francis and British politicians.

She complained in February about “many rumours circulating about me and enormous amounts of hate”. As she set out to cross the Atlantic last month, Arron Banks, the businessman and Brexit backer, tweeted: “Freak yachting accidents do happen in August.”

Steve Milloy, a former environment specialist on President Trump’s transition team, has described Ms Thunberg as an “adult-exploited empty-headed child” who is “ignorant, maniacal and is being mercilessly manipulated by adult climate bedwetters funded by Putin”.

In response to Ms Thunberg’s social media posts about Asperger’s, Mr Milloy wrote yesterday (Sunday): “No 16-year-old non-native English speaker tweets like this. These are the adult child exploiters/abusers behind Greta the Climate Puppet.”

The Times