Autistic politicians - coming to a parliament near you, soon

By Helen Said, Autistic advocate

Neurodivergent Labor, an organisation which I co-founded in 2017, inputs into Labor Party policy and aims to mentor neurodivergent party members who aspire to one day become election candidates.

It's not a matter of whether Autistics will be represented in parliament by one of our own, it's a matter of when. There is already a precedent for Autistic parliamentary representation, with 3 Autistic law makers recently elected to office in the United States, and one self diagnosed Autistic who served as Australia's Deputy Prime Minister from 1996-1999.

Autistic election candidates, like any other election candidates, will definitely be aware of how they come across to others as they will represent the party and a government, they will seek to be pre-selected and re-elected and they will need to show they can do the job. Being able to do the job means winning people’s minds and hearts and winning votes. Far from being an act of masking, learning to use political processes will open doors to using our innate leadership capabilities and help advance Autistics' position in society. 

The rules of debate are just that – rules. And if anyone is good at learning and following rules it’s Autistics. Within the rules of debate are the building blocks of framing our case for change with respect and civility, the changes we need to see in society to achieve equity and empowerment.

I have faith in Autistic Labor election candidates doing a great job on the campaign trail and in local, state or federal government. I also have faith in those Autistics pre-selected by the Greens to carry forward their own party's policy and carry out the duties of the cross bench. The rules of civil debate are not hard to learn, in fact I believe many Autistics excel in political discourse as outlined in my presentation to Reframing Autism's 2021 online symposium "Flourishing in the Community" and the Reframing Autism tip sheet I co-authored which is based on this presentation.

https://reframingautism.org.au/flourishing-in-the-community/

Within the Autistic activist’s mind is everything the world is crying out for – a social conscience, honesty, determination, self-sacrifice. Learning the rules of effectively communicating these aspirations to others is not a mindless exercise in masking; it is a step along the way to becoming more authentically ourselves – confidently and successfully counterposing our down-to-earth values to the exploitation and superficialness we see all around us.

The late former deputy prime minister, Tim Fischer MP (National Party), spoke about his son's Autism diagnosis and his own Autism self-diagnosis on ABC Radio in 1999, after he stepped down from his position as Deputy Prime Minister to help care for his Autistic son. After disclosing his Autism self diagnosis, Tim Fischer continued serving in Australia's federal parliament until his retirement from politics in 2001.

Tim Fischer was well liked by all his parliamentary colleagues across the political spectrum. Although John Howard's government gets the credit for our gun control laws, it was actually Tim Fischer who went around the country convincing people, often conservative people from regional and remote areas, to participate in the Howard government’s gun buyback scheme. His positive ways of dealing with people helped win people away from their guns, something that still hasn't been achieved in the US. Now here is an example of how a successful Autistic politician combined his Autistic social conscience and attention to detail with some social understanding to fully utilise his abilities, achieve his goals and make a huge positive difference to society.

("Tim Fischer tells of life with autism". AM (Interview). Interviewed by Kieran McLeonard. Australia: ABC Radio National.)

 

In recent years, three Autistic legislators have been elected to public office in the United States: Yuh-Line Niou (Democrat) to the New York State Assembly, Pennsylvania state Rep Jessica Benham (Democrat) and Texas state Rep Briscoe Cain (Republican). Briscoe Cain is, disappointingly, the architect of Texas' anti-abortion "Heartbeat Bill". While strongly disagreeing with his views, he as an Autistic is clearly a capable politician.

Briscoe Cain stated in Texas' Legislature on April 25th 2019, "For some, life with this condition is measurably difficult if not seemingly impossible. Yet for others, being on the spectrum is not necessarily a barrier to leading a productive and successful life. In fact, being on the autism spectrum can be a valuable part of our identity. I say 'our identity' because I too am one of the millions of Americans on the autism spectrum."

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/state-rep-briscoe-cain-opens-up-about-being-on-the-autism-spectrum/269-bc913b8a-9d20-48c5-9e59-db80b3937745 

What sort of personal qualities have helped the two Autistic Democrat women succeed in politics?

According to Yuh-Line Niou, in her interview with Autistic journalist Sara Luterman dated August 10^th 2022, “Real empathy is understanding that there are a lot of different perspectives. When you’re talking about policy, it’s really good to have the ability to see how somebody else is thinking or feeling. I think in some ways, [autism] is my superpower. I look at things like cause and effect. It helps me to think about all of these different perspectives when I am making policy. Everybody is right from their own lens. I see other people’s perspectives differently, in ways a non-autistic person might miss.”

https://19thnews.org/2022/08/yuh-line-niou-new-york-openly-autistic-congress/

Jessica Benham relied heavily on her campaign training, including press relations and field marketing, to win her election, as she explained in this interview with Khouri Lassiter of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute on April 30^th 2021:

“VI: In 2019 you participated in Victory Institute’s Candidate and Campaign Training. How did the training prepare you to run for office?    

“JB: The training was incredibly thorough which I really appreciated. I had been around campaigns before but I had never worked on one, so to really get a deep understanding of how campaigns work from press relations to field to marketing, etc.,  was really cool! My team won the campaign presentation at the end, so I felt very good about that. I technically feel like my election was the second campaign I won. The training prepared me for what each piece of campaigning would look like and that was really helpful. I then created a campaign plan for my campaign that I took to stakeholders to help them understand why it was important to invest early. There were several unions and stakeholders that were willing to invest early in my race, in part because I showed that I was prepared to use that investment wisely, that I had a plan. I knew how to make that plan because of Victory’s Candidate and Campaign training.”

https://victoryinstitute.org/autism-out-of-the-closet-a-conversation-with-rep-jessica-benham/

Australia’s former deputy prime minister and self-diagnosed Autistic Tim Fischer MP, Autistic American Democrat women Yuh-Line Niou and Jessica Benham had what it takes to win elections and participate in governments  – being liked across the political spectrum, influencing even the most conservative people to accept change, understanding different perspectives and co-operating with campaign plans.

Autistic parliamentary representation in Australia - who is ready for it?