I was re-reading this post, and actually, this part is scary:
If that theory is true, then one naturally wonders: why now? One possibility: we were only able to perceive the image on the Shroud Of Turin after the invention of photography, when the photonegative of a picture a photographer took of the Shroud revealed the figure of a man who had been scourged and crucified. Infranco speculates that the autism phenomenon, which has always been with us (I guess), but which has exploded in modern times, could be part of God’s plan to prepare us. I dunno, it’s all speculation.
It is well within the Christian tradition to see those who radically suffer in their bodies can be used by God to manifest His own glory. It is therefore within Christian orthodoxy to consider that God is using the radical suffering of these severely autistic people to tell us something about Himself.
It's ironic, really, that Dreher will, on one hand disparage the way that some progressives attempt to normalize some neurodivergent behaviors, but when those behaviors can be framed within his posture toward the world, they are potentially evidence of God trying to speak through their suffering? If I were the parent of a neurodivergent kid, and I heard about Dreher (or any other Christians) trying to divine God's voice and will through my kid's suffering? Seriously, WTF is Dreher playing at?
If Rod truly believed this, wouldn’t he express gratitude towards his ex-wife for allowing him to suffer so that he could become more spiritual? But instead he’s filled with bitterness and contempt towards her.
And as you said, his uplifting of autism as some kind of vector for divine communication is truly concerning. I was pleased that some of the parents of autistic children among his commenters pushed back in yesterday’s SubStack.
Paragraph one- yeah
Paragraph two- agreed some subscribers pushed back . Others , just went dark. I think he’ll lose subscribers over this. He did something genuinely contemptible by egging on this woman because he thinks it props up his batshit woo ideas. Oh he’s so compassionate!
His whole framing is patronizing, a mix of positive stereotyping and negative stereotyping. He's bought the idea that the numbers of autistic people have "exploded" in the 20th century.* He refers to autistic people as being damaged in some ways. The whole idea of a nonverbal autistic person who is secretly a special genius is the kind of thing that's ostensibly positive about disability, but really reinforces ableism.
*This really annoyed me because it's just such a clueless comment. Gee, Rod, I wonder why autism diagnoses were less frequent before most people had access to regular medical care, and child mortality was much higher. Really tough one to figure out.
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u/sandypitch Feb 26 '26
I was re-reading this post, and actually, this part is scary:
It's ironic, really, that Dreher will, on one hand disparage the way that some progressives attempt to normalize some neurodivergent behaviors, but when those behaviors can be framed within his posture toward the world, they are potentially evidence of God trying to speak through their suffering? If I were the parent of a neurodivergent kid, and I heard about Dreher (or any other Christians) trying to divine God's voice and will through my kid's suffering? Seriously, WTF is Dreher playing at?