Aspie Supremacy, Eugenics, and the Lies of High-Functioning Autism
How White Supremacy, Capitalism, and Ableism Still Shape Neurodiversity Narratives and Why True Inclusion Must Begin with Dismantling Them
Aspie Supremacy and the Fight for True Autism Advocacy
Neurodiversity is not a Western concept. It is a natural, global reality - the inherent diversity of human brains, ways of thinking, learning, and being. Yet for centuries, white supremacy has resisted this truth, pathologizing difference as defect and enforcing rigid norms of intelligence, behavior, and communication.
As a Black autistic woman, I have lived the consequences of systems built to misunderstand and marginalize those who do not fit colonial templates.
When your way of processing the world falls outside neurotypical, whitenormative expectations, you are labeled as "difficult," "broken," or "less than"-regardless of your actual abilities or contributions.
This essay traces how eugenics shaped our diagnoses, how whiteness and capitalism distorted our definitions of intelligence, and why real inclusion demands rejecting Aspie Supremacy-not quietly accommodating it.
(As a published author, my writings are copyrighted and tracked. You may cite me, Lovette Jallow©, but any use of my words without explicit permission is strictly prohibited.)
First let's clarify key terms often confused:
Neurodiversity refers to the fact that variation in brain function and behavior is a normal and valuable part of human diversity - like biodiversity values variation across species.
Neurodivergent describes individuals whose cognitive styles fall outside of dominant norms - including autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic, ASPD, NPD, Epilepsy, Downs Syndrome and other neurotypes.
Today, neurodiversity is often celebrated as a recognition of cognitive difference. But if we stop at celebration without confronting the systems that distorted how difference is treated, we risk mistaking survival under oppression for true inclusion.
The treatment of autistic identities-and neurodivergence more broadly-was never neutral.
It was shaped by colonial, capitalist, and supremacist frameworks that demanded conformity, punished difference, and weaponized labels to control, erase, and diminish cognitive diversity.
Understanding this history is essential. Because without it, the hierarchies we internalize today-including Aspie Supremacy-cannot be fully dismantled.
At the roots of Western autism discourse lies Hans Asperger, a man deeply complicit in Nazi eugenics programs. He selected which autistic children were deemed "valuable" based on proximity to productivity, verbal ability, and usefulness to the state-while condemning others to death.
His so-called "discoveries" were never acts of liberation. They were acts of sorting: preservation for some, erasure for the rest.
The consequences of this framework still echo into the present.
The language of "high-functioning" autism, the myth of "mildness," and the phenomenon called Aspie Supremacy-the belief that verbally gifted, academically successful, or white-passing autistics are "better representatives"-are all direct legacies of these eugenic foundations.
Aspie Supremacy is not pride in survival. It is a survival strategy shaped by proximity to whiteness, neurotypicality, and capitalist norms of acceptability-at the cost of those who cannot, or will not, mask their difference.
If we are serious about reclaiming autism-and neurodivergence more broadly-as full expressions of human diversity, not colonial pathology, we must dismantle both external ableism and the internalized hierarchies it left behind.
Real inclusion does not sort the "acceptable" from the "inconvenient."
It demands that we reject the very systems that taught us survival required proximity to power.
Hans Asperger and the Eugenic Roots of Aspie Supremac
To understand how white supremacy shaped the narrative around autism-and how Aspie supremacy emerged from it-we have to confront an uncomfortable truth:
Hans Asperger, the man whose name once defined a “high-functioning” autism diagnosis, was deeply complicit in the Nazi regime’s eugenics programs.
In today's clinical language, what Sweden calls "Level One Autism" describes individuals seen as able to "perform" close enough to neurotypical standards to need less-or appear to need less-support.
But the roots of that framework are poisoned.
Asperger personally selected which autistic children were deemed "valuable" to the state-and sent those who weren't to their deaths. His so-called "discoveries" were never neutral. They were intertwined with a brutal sorting system built to eliminate those deemed unworthy of life.
This history isn't a footnote. It's the foundation.
It explains why:
Autistic individuals who can perform according to dominant systems are tolerated-but only conditionally.
Those who process, communicate, or move differently are pathologized, sidelined, or harmed.
Society still rewards masking, punishes authenticity, and labels human diversity as "disorder."
My own western diagnosis sits inside this history.
"Level One," they said - but what does it mean when "support needs" are assessed based on how much harm you're willing to endure quietly?
The very concept of "special interests," so often linked with autistic excellence, also emerged from Asperger's framing of usefulness and productivity. Yet even that framing-of worthiness tied to output-remains entangled with dangerous ideas about who deserves survival and dignity.
This sorting logic lives on today inside what we now call Aspie Supremacy:
the belief that verbal, academically successful, or white-passing autistics are "better representatives" of autism.
Aspie Supremacy is not simply about pride in strengths.
It is a survival strategy born from eugenic roots, proximity to whiteness, and the false safety of performing acceptability under ableist and capitalist systems.
It is not liberation. It is proximity to power-at the cost of those who cannot, or will not, mask their difference.
When workplaces today talk about "accommodating" autistic talent without interrogating these histories, they unknowingly replicate the same hierarchies:
You are valuable only if you produce.
You are safe only if you conform.
We cannot separate today's "high-functioning" narratives-or the erasure of nonspeaking, Black, multiply disabled autistics-from the historical violence that first sorted who could be preserved and who could be discarded.
Aspie Supremacy is supremacy thinking in autistic clothing-
and if we are serious about building real neurodivergent liberation, we must dismantle it, too.
Autistic lives are not worthy because of what we contribute to capitalism.
Autistic lives are worthy because we exist-full stop.
Understanding Hans Asperger's legacy isn't about "dwelling on history."
It's about refusing to build a future that repeats old cruelties under new, polished branding.
We were never meant to thrive under systems built to erase us.
Yet here we are because we have always existed Autism is genetic coded in our DNA.
The Birth of Aspie Supremacy and the Illusion of Liberation
After World War II, Western psychiatry raced to sanitize its associations with eugenics. In doing so, it did not dismantle the hierarchies-it simply rebranded them.
Hans Asperger's framework was preserved and popularized, particularly in English-speaking countries, as the idea of "high-functioning autism."
Later, when the term "Asperger's Syndrome" was introduced into diagnostic manuals, it reinforced a two-tiered system:
Those who could perform close to neurotypical expectations were seen as "aspirational" examples.
Those who could not mask, speak fluently, or conform were marginalized-even inside the neurodivergent community itself.
Aspie supremacy emerged inside this divide.
Aspie supremacy is the belief-often unspoken but deeply ingrained-that certain autistics (usually verbal, academically gifted, white, and/or socially passing) are "better," "more evolved," or "more legitimate" than others.
It rewards proximity to whiteness, to verbal fluency, to capitalist productivity.
It punishes nonspeaking autistics, autistic people of color, multiply disabled autistics, and anyone whose difference cannot be hidden or softened for the comfort of dominant systems.
It internalizes eugenic hierarchies rather than dismantling them.
It is important to name that many autistic people clinging to this hierarchy are not acting from malice. They are acting from survival strategies conditioned by decades of societal violence.
When you are told your worth is conditional-that you must prove yourself constantly to survive-grasping at proximity to privilege can feel like protection. But survival is not the same as liberation.
True liberation for autistic people and for all neurodivergent individuals-requires that we reject these internalized hierarchies, even when they once made us feel safe.
Because if our survival depends on distancing ourselves from those deemed "less worthy," then we have not dismantled the system
How Aspie Supremacy Shapes Advocacy, Workplaces, and Representation
Aspie supremacy is not a relic of the past. It operates quietly but powerfully, shaping who is seen as "representative," who is platformed, and who remains invisible.
It appears in autistic advocacy spaces that prioritize verbal, white, cisgender faces-while sidelining nonspeaking autistics, autistic people of color, queer autistics, and those with higher support needs whose existence challenges simplified narratives.
It appears in workplace diversity initiatives that celebrate autistic "innovation" and "focus"-yet quietly penalize those who struggle with executive dysfunction, sensory regulation, or the demand to socialize on neurotypical terms.
It appears in media portrayals that reward "quirky genius" stereotypes, while erasing the daily realities of masking, burnout, and the need for systemic support.
Aspie supremacy rewards those whose differences can be packaged as "quirky," "savvy," or "marketable"-
while silencing those whose needs disrupt corporate, educational, or public expectations of comfort.
It replicates eugenic sorting mechanisms by deciding which autistic lives are seen as valuable-and which are quietly erased.
This dynamic leaves the most marginalized without advocacy, without access, and without institutional support.
It is no coincidence that:
Black autistics are underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and systemically underserved.
Nonspeaking autistics face discrimination across education, healthcare, and employment.
Autistics with co-occurring intellectual disabilities are erased from mainstream narratives about success and inclusion.
When survival is tethered to proximity to whiteness, verbal ability, or capitalist productivity, those furthest from these standards are abandoned first.
Aspie supremacy is not pride in being autistic.
It is pride in being the "acceptable kind" of autistic-a distinction rooted not in liberation, but in systems of violence and exclusion.
Until this dynamic is fully named and dismantled, efforts at "inclusion" will continue to replicate the same hierarchies they claim to resist.
Real inclusion demands more than aesthetic diversity.
It requires confronting which autistic lives are being centered-and which are still missing from our institutions, our workplaces, and our policies.
The High-Functioning and Low-Functioning Lie in Autism
The idea that autistic people can be neatly divided into "high-functioning" and "low-functioning" categories is a lie - a lie built for the comfort of systems, not for the dignity of autistic lives.
This binary was never designed to support us. It was designed to sort, rank, and justify who is deemed worthy of investment:
"High-functioning" means you are useful enough to tolerate, so we invest the bare minimum - until you burn out.
"Low-functioning" means you are written off as incapable, burdensome, or disposable before your strengths are even understood.
Neither label tells the truth about what we need - or who we are.
Both are rooted in the same legacy: eugenics, white supremacy, and capitalist logics of productivity. They sort human beings based on how well we conform, produce, and mask discomfort for others.
This binary is dangerous because it:
Prioritizes neurotypical, whitenormative comfort over actual support.
Forces neurodivergent people to minimize or hide their needs to be seen as "competent."
Pathologizes natural variations in communication, regulation, and learning.
Punishes those whose disabilities are visible while extracting unpaid labor from those who can mask theirs.
And the consequences are deadly.
Research consistently shows that highly masked autistics - those labeled "high-functioning" - face elevated rates of depression, burnout, and suicide. Survival under masking is not thriving. It is survival extracted at enormous cost.
You are not "high-functioning" because you survive without visible support.
You are surviving because you are forced to carry invisible burdens in a society that refuses to meet your needs.
You are not "low-functioning" because you require help with speech, regulation, or daily living. You are navigating a world that weaponizes competence standards built on exclusion.
The high/low-functioning labels were never about care.
They were about maintaining a sorting system that decides who is worth accommodating - and who is not.
This is also why Aspie Supremacy fits so neatly into the binary:
It upholds the lie that some autistic lives are proof of meritocracy, while others are treated as failures - both judged by supremacist standards of speech, productivity, and proximity to whiteness.
If we are serious about dismantling white supremacy, we must be just as serious about dismantling the frameworks that treat some neurodivergent lives as exceptional and others as expendable.
Autism is not the problem. The problem is a society obsessed with sorting human worth.
Dismantling Aspie Supremacy and Reclaiming Neurodiversity
If white supremacy taught the world that only certain bodies, minds, and ways of being deserved survival, then Aspie supremacy learned to survive by clinging to the edges of that value system - trying to be "just close enough" to be spared. It is a survival response.
But it is also a betrayal - a betrayal of the full, messy, brilliant humanity of all neurodivergent people. A betrayal of every autistic child, adult, and elder whose value cannot - and should not - be measured by proximity to whiteness, speech fluency, academic performance, or capitalist productivity.
True neurodiversity work cannot simply celebrate the "palatable" parts of autism. It must reject the systems that ever made survival conditional in the first place. We cannot build a liberated future by sorting ourselves into hierarchies of "good" autistics and "bad" autistics, "valuable" and "burdensome," "articulate" and "inconvenient." That is eugenic thinking - polished, branded, and sold back to us under the false banner of "representation."
What real reclamation looks like is valuing nonspeaking autistic people equally alongside speaking ones. Recognizing that needing more support does not mean living less fully. Understanding that masking to survive is not "success" - it is unpaid labor extracted at enormous cost. Defending the humanity of every neurodivergent individual, regardless of how comfortable or uncomfortable their difference makes dominant systems feel.
Aspie supremacy must be named and dismantled. Because the real measure of inclusion is not how well the most "marketable" among us survive - it is how fiercely we fight for those whom systems would rather forget.
If we allow ourselves to replicate the same sorting mechanisms that once targeted us - if we mistake proximity to power for true safety - then we have learned nothing from the history that tried to erase us. We were never meant to survive by conformity. We were meant to survive by community - by holding space for every expression of autistic life, every strength, every need, every difference - without shame, without sorting, and without abandoning each other to supremacy's demands.
Building True Inclusion Beyond Aspie Supremacy
True inclusion does not ask, "Who is the most convenient to accommodate?"
It asks, "How do we build systems where every person - regardless of how they communicate, move, think, or need - is treated as fully human from the start?"
We cannot dismantle eugenic thinking by polishing its tools.
We dismantle it by refusing to let survival depend on performance, proximity, or palatability.
Autistic lives are not worthy because they fit a mold.
Autistic lives are worthy because they exist.
No more hierarchies.
No more sorting.
No more bargains with supremacy.
We build better futures by standing with each other - every voice, every mind, every body, every time.
And for goodness sake, stop calling autism "Asperger's" ("ass burgers"). You're not more legitimate because of a name tied to a man who decided who deserved life and who didn't. Hans Asperger wouldn't have seen your survival as proof of excellence. He might have applauded you - or exterminated you.
Stop acting like an Aspie pick-me.
Work With Me: Building Real Neurodivergent Inclusion
If your organization is serious about moving beyond surface-level diversity initiatives, my work offers education, consulting, and training grounded in lived experience, structural analysis, and actionable strategies.
I collaborate with institutions ready to build environments where neurodivergent individuals—especially those historically marginalized—are included not through performance, but through true systemic change.
You can book me for:
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Explore More from The Lovette Jallow Perspective
You can find more of my essays exploring:
Neurodivergence, autism, and navigating public life as a Black woman
Building true inclusion beyond checkbox diversity
Reclaiming voice and agency across personal, political, and historical landscapes
Racism in Sweden and systemic injustice
Each essay connects real-world experience with structural analysis—equipping individuals and institutions to think deeper, act smarter, and build sustainable change.
Who is Lovette Jallow?
Lovette Jallow is one of Scandinavia's most influential voices on systemic racism, intersectional justice, and human rights. She is a nine-time award-winning author, keynote speaker, lecturer, and humanitarian specializing in:
Neurodiversity and workplace inclusion
Structural policy reform
Anti-racism education and systemic change
As one of the few Black, queer, autistic, ADHD, and Muslim women working at the intersection of human rights, structural accountability, and corporate transformation, Lovette offers a uniquely authoritative perspective rooted in lived experience and professional expertise.
Her work bridges theory, research, and action-guiding institutions to move beyond performative diversity efforts and toward sustainable structural change.
Lovette has worked across Sweden, The Gambia, Libya, and Lebanon-tackling institutional racism, legal discrimination, and refugee protection. Her expertise has been sought by outlets like The New York Times and by leading humanitarian organizations addressing racial justice, policy reform, and intersectional equity.
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“The problem is a society obsessed with human worth” is what I would love to see on giant billboards everywhere. So we could start to see and dismantle all the micro ways this is upheld in every aspect of our lives. All the ways we rank and compare and participate in this destructive logic of supremacy that is both holding up and tearing apart the world. Just thank you. 🙏
screaming this essay from the rooftops. i was just thinking last night about "aspie"'s cousin, "highly sensitive people" and how it's basically just symptoms of autism wrapped into a "not like other autistics" veneer that reeks of the same supremacy (white, cisgender, but more often directed towards women) then i saw you post the title card and went to bed so i could see what you had to say when i woke up. i'm glad i waited 🌟