At this time of the year many people, especially children, are asking is Santa real.
However, for the past year or so I have been asking myself “is Santa Autistic”?
To the best of my knowledge and after due diligence, I can neither confirm or deny that Santa Claus has ever been officially diagnosed as Autistic, However, after years of observation of his behaviors and comparison with the criteria for a Autism diagnosis according to the dSM-V, I can say with some great certainty I could defund Santa if he was to self-identify as Autistic for the following 5 reasons:
- Santa lines up and names his reindeer repeatedly
Like many Autistics, when Santa lines up and names his reindeer repeatedly, Santa is exhibiting repetitive and restricted behaviors (RRBs) often observed in people on the Autism spectrum.
- You are either “naughty” or “nice” – there is no in-between
Just like many of us on the spectrum, When he either sees us as naughty or nice, Santa is demonstrating “black-and-white thinking,” also known as rigid or dichotomous thinking.
- He avoids social interaction and does all his work at night when everyone is sleeping
This indicates to me that he experiences social anxiety.
- Santa checks his list over and over again.
This behavior can be attributed to many Autistic traits including repetitive behaviors and routines, a need for predictability, or hyperfocus or an attention to detail.
- Santa does things that amaze people and has everyone wondering how the heck he did it.
Santa’s ability to do things that amaze us and cause us to wonder how he does it may be attributed to unique cognitive abilities which is one Autistic trait.
