To the glee of die-hard climate change advocates, Greta Thunberg angrily addressed world leaders at the United Nations.

Let’s ignore how inappropriate it is for a child to speak to any adult in such a manner, let alone world leaders and get to the meat of the story.

Greta states she has aspergers, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and selective mutism.

Aspergers is a high-functioning form of autism. It impacts social skills and world outlook.

Aspergers signs its name in the form of failed social skills, irrational fears and easy manipulation.

OCD is an anxiety disorder driving a person to do something repetitively to relieve or prevent an unsubstantiated fear.

Someone with selective mutism only speaks in an environment in which she is comfortable and controls.

Any of these conditions alone is debilitating. The degree of impact of combining them could be catastrophic.

Some people claim her speech was coached or fake. I disagree.

She likely believes the world is on the verge of distinction.

Asperger kids focus on a single obsession. They make excellent scientists, doctors or other professionals because they focus so intently on what they love.

Opposite of that, the aspergers brain takes a basic fear and ramps it up to the highest degree.

Without sufficient help, the fear will grow until it’s paralyzing. For example, it took years to convince my son the glass bridge at the aquarium wouldn’t collapse. All the logic and evidence in the world didn’t matter. I had to take his hand and drag him across.

After about 12 years, he understood.

Which is what disturbs me most about Greta. There is no one helping her navigate her unmitigated fear of imminent mass extinction.

But, there are plenty hailing her as the princess of climate change without respect to her medical condition.

This is not about climate change. This is about adults manipulating her passion for an ill-perceived obsession stemming from a medical condition. It is unconscionable and depraved.

The following is a quote from her Twitter page: “Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder. All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning, in a world that sometimes seems shallow and meaningless to so many people.”

I fully support special needs kids living their lives in a manner inconsistent with medical expectations. However, it is a minefield we navigate with care.

Asperger kids take rejection of their ideas as a rejection of them.

Her tweet makes clear she tied her self-worth to the eco-warrior title. Her time in the spotlight will fade, it always does. Remember the Parkland Shooting kids protesting gun violence? They inspired Greta but where are they now? The media and politicians exalted them, drained them, then disposed of them before moving on to the next big thing.

The chip in our brain that warns us we’re being used is absent from the Asperger brain.

Greta’s intent is honest. She doesn’t understand manipulation or expiration dates on fame.

The fade of her spotlight may catapult her to a world darker than the one she sought escape. Why? Because adults who know better used a naive special needs child to further their agenda.

And that is far worse than the erosion of the planet. It’s the erosion of the human heart.

Joan Graves is a mother to five boys and an advocate and activist for children with special needs and their families. For more, go to www.thejoanzone.com.