I *do* think it’s horrible that men keep using autism to get out of horrible things they’ve done but I do also think most of them are in fact autistic. autistic people can be horrible people. autistic men can be abusive. we have to have open discussions about that. - ThreadSky

charliclement.bsky.social • 19 days ago

I *do* think it’s horrible that men keep using autism to get out of horrible things they’ve done but I do also think most of them are in fact autistic.

autistic people can be horrible people. autistic men can be abusive. we have to have open discussions about that.

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oldautisticwoman.bsky.social•18 days ago

Also another problem is NTs with autistic kids, who paint us as being angels who are incapable of lying - the same inverted ableism as the idea that Down Syndrome makes people loving to everyone.

oldautisticwoman.bsky.social•18 days ago

Always it is about privilege - whether it's about these nazis or Temple Grandin. https://intheloopaboutneurodiversity.wordpress.com/2019/07/21/why-temple-grandin-is-not-my-hero/

divthreads.bsky.social•18 days ago

Autistic people can be incredibly harmful, but it’s not because they are autistic. They are traumatized but what they do with their trauma is a choice. My mother was autistic and she was abusive. It’s also about white supremacy and the power dynamics and how people try to use their positioning.

divthreads.bsky.social•18 days ago

To be clear: no group is inherently harmful or a saint. Plenty of NT people are harmful, too. Each person is responsible both for their healing, and their responsibility to others. No getting out of it.

charliclement.bsky.social•19 days ago

they’re generally not abusive inherently *because* they’re autistic, and they shouldn’t be allowed to claim it as an excuse at all. but we also can’t pretend autistic people are infallible or angelic.

charliclement.bsky.social•19 days ago

when people try to say these people aren’t autistic at all - the implication is that the autistic community is only good people. but many of us have been abused, harassed, had bad experiences inside the autistic community, and frankly, we don’t talk about it enough.

boxofpenguin.bsky.social•17 days ago

Thank you, I keep saying this

donutosaurus.bsky.social•18 days ago

i’m autistic and have several family members and friends who are, too. some of them are terrible people. some of them are absolute angels but a good amount are awful. and people using autism as an excuse for their terrible behavior just makes them a worse person imo

astonedanarchist.bsky.social•18 days ago

Autism can explain a persons behaviour but not excuse it.

oldautisticwoman.bsky.social•18 days ago

What does that mean? If I have a meltdown and shout uncontrollably, does that need to be "excused"?

astonedanarchist.bsky.social•18 days ago

If, during your meltdown, you were to shout racist slurs, then autism can explain the meltdown but not the racist language—because racism isn't a trait of autism.
We don't get a free pass for breaking laws just because we're autistic; which was the point of the original post.

twentyone13.bsky.social•18 days ago

Both of the asshats ruining our country right now are likely on the spectrum, I don’t think people are even remotely ready for that convo.

genxdems.bsky.social•13 days ago

I’ve been saying that for years. Trump reminds me of a couple of older autistic men I know. They have other issues too, but are def autistic.

sophieblackthorn.bsky.social•18 days ago

Autistic people can be horrible, agreed. Something I struggle to accept is that people with a highly supremacist attitude are Autistic, because non-hierarchical thinking, right? Are they just so warped by capitalism and so masked that they're driven to compete and seek superiority over others?

cloakedcard.bsky.social•19 days ago

People need to finish the phrase when they're discussing this, I hear "well that can't be because autistics have a rigid sense of justice"

It's a rigid sense of *perceived* justice.

We aren't some magical moral barometer, it's possible for our idea of justice to be wildly incorrect.

thefilthy.bsky.social•19 days ago

legit like I've had very strong moral opinions that later turned out to be completely wrong, autism doesn't make you immune to being a prick

cloakedcard.bsky.social•19 days ago

15 years ago I would've told you I was a libertarian (but like, the really dumb American kind) if you asked me... I could fill a book with the shit I've had to unlearn.

And a lot of these guys never had anyone willing to say "Hey, uh, no." I fortunately did.

boxofpenguin.bsky.social•17 days ago

I'm so tired of hearing people use the justice line as though fascism doesn't try to masquerade as justice

alexlovelessartist.bsky.social•19 days ago

There is also a conversation here about autism and (white male) privilege, the fact that many autistics ooze empathy because of long term trauma due to lack of privilege and the associated societal abuse, and the overlap between autism and psychopathy.

charliclement.bsky.social•19 days ago

oh absolutely - the privilege conversation is also something that I struggle to get people to recognise commonly

limitbreakingcat.bsky.social•18 days ago

There is a weird undercurrent in society right now that says "people with characteristics that are widely discriminated against are immune from criticism" and it's been abused over and over. It's sad, but a lot of people buy into that rhetoric. It is also wrong.

oldautisticwoman.bsky.social•18 days ago

Tell that to schizophrenic people.

iridesce.xyz•18 days ago

Yeah the recent men who say they're autistic and have recently been in the spotlight for being horrible people absolutely seem autistic to me (although I don't go out of my way to watch videos of them). I don't think they're lying about that. However, it makes them no less shitty of a person.

snoopsqueak.com•18 days ago

I've had anger issues my whole life. To me, "autism" is a word someone came up with to obscure and reduce a complicated set of circumstances.

I was abused. I think most people are. It has been normalized. Healthy, natural behavior has been demonized instead.

It's an excuse to continue abusing us.

lothsper.bsky.social•18 days ago

I love this too this right here is equality autistic people have the capability of being pieces of s*** too that is true. And as an autistic man who's done some questionable things in the past but never not once have I ever blamed it on my autism. It is not a disability, And Not an excuse

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