I am going to explain Elmo’s behavior a little bit. Since this idiot shares a spectrum with me there are certain behaviors I notice that are common. Note, however, that his narcissism takes what a want to explain to an 11.
There is a behavior called masking. It’s fairly common among people on the spectrum. I will explain myself first and my experiences. I have found that looking back on my life that I always attempted to just fit into a group and mask the behaviors I had that were different. In my life I have hung out with people and in places that others would not go to for whatever reason. I can fit into just about any group of people. In another life I might’ve enjoyed working for the government because of this. Natural skills with people do not come easily to me, BUT what I can do is figure out how to mimic the way a group acts and it allows me to be part of said group. It’s mentally exhausting, but I have the routine of how to fit in down. It’s easier than trying to explain to everyone the differences I have and I am mostly okay with that.
Elmo masks himself as well, BUT, and this is a big detour from normal autistic behavior, he will fit into a group and pour his focus into it and want to then be the focus of the group. This is where the narcissism comes in. Is there childhood trauma with his dad? Yes. Is there childhood trauma from being made fun of? Yes. Did he take these slights, put them in his back pocket and remember them so he could one day get back at all his imagined enemies? Yes. He’s doing that now while getting the adulation of millions of people here in the US and now in other countries. The narcissism puts all of his impulsive and selfish behavior way over the top.
Autism can manifest itself in giving you a really narrow focus. My narrow focus used to lead me into making some real bad decisions. It took learning who I was and understanding that being different is okay. That was not an easy road, but the journey has been rewarding. Elmo skipped that day of school and really never has gotten in touch with who he is so we get this monster. He takes being different as a slight and he is still stuck in his mental development in his teenage years. He could be using his influence to narrowly focus on bettering mankind. Instead he chose money, attention and hate instead. For me I can see and understand his behaviors clear as day. I have no empathy for him because he chose to follow the hate. He’ll never find any real happiness. His internal emotional state is a never-ending void. That is a dark place to be at and it’s not good for the rest of us.