Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Vulcans

Before the Time of Awakening, the Vulcans were a mostly savage, warmongering race, ruled by their emotions. With atomic bombs and psionic resonators, they nearly destroyed themselves. Then, along came Surak to drop his own bomb of logic to calm the Vulcan mind.

A schism occurred between those who began to follow his teachings and those who "marched beneath the Raptor's wings". To quote the Starfleet officer lying on the sickbay floor of the USS Prometheus: "Rrr…om…u…lans" (and the Debrune). This 'divergence' during and after the Time of Awakening was both literal and spiritual, therefore, but 'divergence' has another meaning that can equally be applied to the Vulcans.

Many people with autism, like this writer who was only formerly diagnosed in 2019, have come to identify with the Vulcans over the years. From the very beginning, with Spock, Vulcans have represented an 'Otherness' that is deeply familiar to the neurodivergent.

The perceptions of Vulcans by non-Vulcans can offer a mirror to the perceptions of people with autism by people without. Much like our logical on-screen counterparts, people with autism may sometimes appear rude/blunt, awkward, or just plain different; in actuality, we have difficulties with social interaction, and may be hypersensitive to certain noises, smells, tastes, and textures, amongst other struggles and strengths.

It's certainly also a common misconception that being autistic means that you're as emotionless as a pre-chip Soong-type android. In fact, we must battle to regulate our feelings in a neurotypical world. In that sense, the Vulcans' mastery of mind over emotion is highly appealing — this writer can certainly testify to wanting to 'be more Vulcan' at times.