Stop Dragging SZA For Revealing Her Autism Diagnosis

SZA is the latest celebrity to get candid with fans by sharing a deeply personal update about her health. But instead of being met with empathy, her revelation has been greeted with skepticism from corners of the internet determined to play diagnosis detective. However, the backlash ignores a simple reality: for many Black women, an autism diagnosis doesn’t come until much later in life.

For context, the “Snooze” singer recently shared that she’d been officially diagnosed with “high-functioning autism” and Asperger’s syndrome, posting a screenshot of what appeared to be a doctor’s note summarizing their findings and test results. According to the Cleveland Clinic, Asperger’s syndrome (an outdated term, by the way) is “a diagnosis healthcare providers used before 2013. It described what providers viewed as a different type of autism. Now, both Asperger’s and autism fall under the broader umbrella of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).”

The Clinic also said that people who undergo evaluations nowadays and receive an Asperger’s diagnosis are now typically categorized as having “autism spectrum disorder, level one,” which means “that they need a low level of support.”

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“Aspergers/high functioning autism/smarter than u niggas so stop playing in my face cause pattern recognition told me and I WILL get to the bottom of it thanks,” SZA captioned in her since-deleted post to Instagram.

However, instead of her finding community or support from fans, more than a handful of people online began criticizing her over what she shared, expressing skepticism, calling her a liar, or sharing outright disbelief.

But here’s why those naysayers ought to keep their mouths shut. Studies have shown that Black children often receive an autism diagnosis three years later than white children. When it comes to Black girls and women specifically, the National Library of Medicine notes that they, too, are given a diagnosis much later in life.

By the time it comes, the likelihood that they’ll have more severe developmental challenges or intellectual disabilities increases. They also found that Black girls aren’t usually included in autism related studies, which makes it hard to give out proper programs, treatments, and services as the studies aren’t done with them in mind.

So before rushing to accuse SZA of lying or chasing attention, it might be worth asking why so many people are convinced they can spot autism just by looking at someone. Her diagnosis isn’t the problem—our outdated understanding of what autism can look like in Black women is. Instead of questioning her lived experience, we should be questioning the systems that have made stories like hers so common in the first place.