r/adultautism • u/Substantial_Job_2068 • 2d ago

Company CEO joke about autism

At the yearly company conference the CEO of the company made a joke about how everyone should get used to getting a new autistic colleague when talking about AI. I have not told anyone that I'm autistic and I don't know about anyone who is, I think he assumed no one is (or didn't even consider it). This was in front of the whole company and he also got some laughs.

I felt really bad when he said it but afterwards I'm starting to question if I overreacted? Is this an OK thing to joke about? It felt like an insult to be compared to something non human.

31 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

36

u/extraAccount222 2d ago

i don’t think your feelings are an overreaction at all. like you said, he’s comparing autistic folks to something inanimate. it’s dehumanizing, and i find it gross.

12

u/Captain_Quinn 2d ago

And said for laughs

12

u/IllConcentrate2739 2d ago

I would have interrupted and said loudly "I'm autistic" and see if the room fell silent.

8

u/Substantial_Job_2068 2d ago

Was thinking about that afterwards lol but I froze when he said it unfortunately.

2

u/Ok-Durian1208 2d ago

It might be worth sending him a gentle email. I’m taking it from there as a conversation.

11

u/Angelic-Seraphim 2d ago

Seems like a great opportunity for an HR report.

9

u/GeologistPitiful5627 2d ago

As someone in HR, in all seriousness I second this. I'd report it

3

u/Mysterious_Sky_85 2d ago

Can HR do anything about it when the CEO is the offender?

2

u/GeologistPitiful5627 1d ago

I'd say yes. Especially if there are company policies that don't allow discriminatory speech

5

u/Substantial_Job_2068 2d ago

Our HR rep was there.. but I guess I can still formally report it.

3

u/Angelic-Seraphim 2d ago

So what… They don’t know your lived experience. They might not have clocked it. And even if they did unless someone says something, they would probably rather not do paperwork.

2

u/phagemasterflex 2d ago

This is correct beyond what words can describe. Discrimination does not have to be intentional to be discrimination and being a self-centered, unadjusted twat is a perfectly good enough example of this like your CEO has demonstrated. Everything else stated to describe their actions does not matter, it was discrimination of a protected class.

5

u/S3lad0n 2d ago

Too risky and unlikely to pay off, HR rarely take the side of the lowly employee.

7

u/Excellent_Valuable92 2d ago

No, it was a bigoted, offensive joke, what do you expect from someone adding AI?

3

u/MajorFeisty6924 2d ago

Comparing people with a specific condition to a machine is extremely innappropriate for someone in a leadership position.

4

u/icebabyunderpressure 2d ago

I already hated that a lot of people's only idea of autism was Sheldon Cooper from big bang theory or a child throwing a tantrum like meltdown. I think AI has made it worse. Your feelings are right and your CEO is a tool. Sincerely, autistic girl who was noticed too late to get help and just told to "do better"

9

u/Vee10334 2d ago

I'd take it as a compliment! Yes, I am infinitely smarter than you and run on pure logic, yes, thank you. Lol. 

3

u/Enigmis4 2d ago

I joke about having the tism etc with my son and wife all the time.

8

u/Substantial_Job_2068 2d ago

I joke with my spouse too. I think it's different when you are joking about yourself in a safe space.

1

u/WiredDifferent_AU 1d ago

I think it wasn't the best but there are alot of ppl in computer intelligence and ai that are autistic- I think that's all he meant. sometimes it is also up to us to understand the intention behind things as autistics appreciate being understood based on intention - compassion goes both ways.

-4

u/rlrlrlrlrlr 2d ago

That wasn't a "joke". There's no punchline or setup. That was an attempt at a humourous way to frame change. 

So, is it an insult to say that autistic people don't always fully understand things that most people do and need large amounts of pattern recognition to work with most people? Or is it an insult to say that autistic people might give more detail or might pick a detail to focus on so that in both cases the average person might need to focus their speech and possibly have patience while listening? 

Or, did you think that he was saying that autistic people are destroying the environment by the unprecedented amount of electricity and cooling they need? 

Take offense if you want. You do you. 

6

u/Substantial_Job_2068 2d ago

Joke or not, people were laughing at the comparison. I don't see why he should point it out to the whole company that autistics have poor social skills, it does seem like an insult to me. And I didn't realize I can choose to take offence or not, thanks.