When Autism Becomes a Shield: Alex Klein and the Misuse of Neurodivergence in Classical Music
- Katie A. Berglof
- Oct 23
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 23
This week, Harpsichords & Hot Sauce shares a post from Steve Vettese, a Toronto-based tuba player and advocate for neurodivergent musicians. In this piece, Steve addresses a concerning behavior involving Alex Klein, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic, who sought and announced an autism diagnosis only after being terminated from his Calgary post.
Alex posted the commentary above on October 20th, 2025 in reference to the Geoff A. Edger's Washington Post Article published the prior day on Katherine Needleman. The article briefly covers Alex's termination from the Calgary Phil, which is only the tip of the iceberg....the rest of the iceberg can be found: here.
While a diagnosis of autism deserves understanding, using it as a shield against credible accusations and clear documentation of misogyny and professional misconduct distorts what neurodivergence actually means. Steve writes from within the autistic community itself, calling out how this kind of self-serving narrative endangers autistic advocacy, undermines accountability, and manipulates the language of inclusion to evade responsibility.
Here is Steve’s full piece—a necessary reminder that being autistic does not excuse cruelty, bias, or the abuse of power.
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Alex Klein, former principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Calgary Philharmonic, has declared he is autistic. While neurodivergent pride is normally something I would celebrate, being autistic myself, I am concerned about how this will affect the autistic community. In particular, I don’t like that he is weaponizing autism to shield against credible accusations of misconduct. Insulting and defaming people acting in the interest of fairness and justice is wrong no matter one’s neurotype (i.e. one’s brain type, including autism). In fact, autistic people have a tendency to eagerly pursue fairness and justice that often makes us unpopular and causes us to lose out on career opportunities, etc. Likewise, attempting to excuse poor behaviour with a diagnosis is not reflective of the autistic community as a whole.
Alex’s comments in the post regarding his past behaviour do not line up with documented evidence of what he actually said and did. For those unfamiliar with this story, here is Katie Berglof’s superbly written article on Klein which includes their full correspondence:
I take particular issue with this excerpt:
“Last year, my position with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra was challenged and remains in a grievance. The allegations cited against me relied on private correspondence, which was interpreted through a neurotypical perspective that did not account for the context of autistic distress or a learned appreciation of neurodiversity. I acknowledge that the words were poorly chosen and regret them, yet they were never intended for public view, and were made in the expectation of trust in someone I believed could understand my grief, disorientation, and emotional overload. I was wrong. However, let me be clear: I have never engaged in public misconduct. No person with a disability should have their privacy violated or their life’s work reduced to a single, vulnerable moment. What has unfolded reflects a profound misunderstanding of an autistic episode, which has since been used to shape a narrative of misconduct that does not reflect the full context.”
Let’s explore this “full context” then.
The first problem with his comment is that the issue at hand was not his being neurodivergent (nowhere in his correspondence with Katherine Needleman or Katie Berglof does he even mention being autistic). It is the blatantly misogynistic comments about Needleman – insinuating that she slept with her teacher to acquire her positions as principal oboe of the Baltimore Symphony and being an oboe professor at no less an institution than Curtis, and referring to said position in the oboe world as “small. Anyone who has heard her play would agree that she clearly has the talent and ability to obtain these positions without any such “help”, despite the extra obstacles women face in doing so. For reference, here is a video of her playing Ruth Gipps’ Oboe Concerto demonstrating her prowess:
There is also the matter of his correspondence with Slavko Popovic and Brent Hages in a group chat on FB Messenger, which ultimately led to the dismissal of Klein and Popovic from the Calgary Philharmonic. According to the WaPo article by Geoff A. Edger referenced by Klein in his post:
“Klein, already grappling with the symphony’s investigation of sexual harassment claims and a dispute with another orchestra member, was pressed by the symphony CEO to explain his Needleman diss. Instead, he wrote to Needleman sharing a private exchange he had with Calgary’s principal clarinetist, Slavko Popovic, in which the other musician referred to Needleman with a sexual slur.”
For reference, here is the WaPo article on Katherine Needleman referencing the Alex Klein remarks (archived):
Interestingly, the article says that Klein did not respond to WaPo’s requests for comment. All comments from his and his family’s perspective come from his wife.
For those unfamiliar with the group chat on Facebook Messenger leading to Klein and Popovic’s dismissal from the Calgary Philharmonic, here is a link to screenshots of the chat on Katherine Needleman’s Substack:
As we can see, it was Klein himself who decided to share the screenshots of this chat – ostensibly to clarify his earlier remarks about Needleman – to someone who is well known for calling out such misogyny in the classical music world, so I’m not sure why he expected her to keep it private. Even if Klein never actually said anything in the chat (which he evidently did, seeing as one of the screenshots shows that he unsent at least one message), he also did not call out their crude remarks, nor did he report their behaviour to the Calgary Philharmonic administration.
In Katie Berglof’s excellent article, you can also see that his misogynistic behaviour extends to far more than “a single, vulnerable moment.” There have been multiple accounts of him expressing approval of sleeping with female students, which makes his comments about Katherine Needleman sleeping her way into her position rather ironic. It also shows that he is well aware of the power imbalance between female students and teachers in the classical music sphere and chooses to exploit it rather than make any effort to rectify it. Students are very often dependent on their teachers for references and gig opportunities that could advance their careers. When the teachers are men, the imbalance becomes even greater. Consequently, when a student is female, she is often shut out of opportunities that are regularly offered to male students, and often can only get them by acquiescing to her teacher’s sexual advances. Katherine Needleman has shared many such harrowing accounts by female students and former students on her page.
Furthermore, Berglof [stated],"I was privately contacted by some Calgary Philharmonic musicians who urged me to help. They indicated that Alex had already previously been the subject of internal formal complaints for racist and inappropriate comments, including sexual remarks made to at least one female colleague, and that he had undergone disciplinary training in the past.”
The main diagnostic hallmark of autism with regard to social deficits is trouble with reading social cues, such as tone of voice and body language. There are significant flaws in the diagnostic criteria for ASD in the DSM 5-TR which is used to diagnose psychiatric conditions and neurotypes. However, I wholeheartedly agree with the APA’s decision not to include:
1. Inability to identify arbitrary acts of sexism, racism or ableism
2. Inability to refrain from conducting such acts
3. Inability to recognize that actions have consequences
4. Inability to experience and exercise empathy (for context, look up the Double Empathy Problem)
5. Inability to engage in introspection.
Indeed, one would think that being part of a marginalized group would alert someone to similarities to the experiences of other marginalized groups. It goes to show that he has learned nothing from, and shows no remorse for, his actions.
(c) 2025, Steve Vettese