Is autism an excuse for bad behaviour?

I think that sometimes people who are narcissistic or sociopathic claim to be autistic and blame their behaviour on it. Or maybe they're just neurotypical and don't want to take blame for something they have done (the old "we're all a bit autistic" trope)

In my experience of conversing with autistic adults on here and the autistic people I've seen in TV documentaries, autistic people have a strong moral code and try to do what is right. If other people or environments cause them stress and they melt down or shut down, that's not bad behaviour - it's just a reaction to stimuli.

Lotus said:

autistic people have a strong moral code and try to do what is right.

This very much depends on how you define "right", much as "bad" earlier in the conversation.

Consider a poster who strongy advocates for the reintroduction of a dictatorship in the UK and draconian religious laws from early last century because that was their sense of "right".

It can be very subjective so needs to be clearly defined before expecting others to follow your moral code.

It can be a slippery blighter when you try to pin down the definition of these terms despite us thinking they are obvious.

Consider also hw much better off we were when we did live under "draconian religious laws from early last century"... 

And we DO live under a dictatorship, it's just referred to as the "rules based order" and it dictates all aspects of your life, what you can say, what you can do. Hell you need to fill in a form, pay a registration fee and pass an exam just to fly a bloody drone in thsi country.

And try starting a business! (if you are a native) UK citizen) they have you wrapped up in dictats amnd fees and disbursements before you even get out of the gate.

If you are religious you can get arrested for simply praying in the street nowadays. 

If you complain on social media about policy that you don't agee with, then it's off to jail!

I'm not even saying that is a bad thing, you do need rules or at least generally held agreements to have a functioning society in which you can build a thing and not have it torn down for someone else to use as resources next day.

And how do you liek your rules prepared and presented? Made up on a whim by some cocaine fuellled politician, or other exalted and pamapered "elite" or carefully crafted over centruries by specialist philosophers living ascetic lives dedicated to getting the rules to be fair and just? Or perhaps even if you are confused adn a little bit morally deficient like me, then simply pick the exemplar of teh life of Jesus Christ and teh two simple rules he gave us to live by.  

It's not at all HARD to live a decent and harmless life, the rules really aren't that difficult to discern, but as humans we don't like the restrictions that following natural moral and mortal laws places upon our behaviour. 

Consider also hw much better off we were when we did live under "draconian religious laws from early last century"... 

And we DO live under a dictatorship, it's just referred to as the "rules based order" and it dictates all aspects of your life, what you can say, what you can do. Hell you need to fill in a form, pay a registration fee and pass an exam just to fly a bloody drone in thsi country.

And try starting a business! (if you are a native) UK citizen) they have you wrapped up in dictats amnd fees and disbursements before you even get out of the gate.

If you are religious you can get arrested for simply praying in the street nowadays. 

If you complain on social media about policy that you don't agee with, then it's off to jail!

I'm not even saying that is a bad thing, you do need rules or at least generally held agreements to have a functioning society in which you can build a thing and not have it torn down for someone else to use as resources next day.

And how do you liek your rules prepared and presented? Made up on a whim by some cocaine fuellled politician, or other exalted and pamapered "elite" or carefully crafted over centruries by specialist philosophers living ascetic lives dedicated to getting the rules to be fair and just? Or perhaps even if you are confused adn a little bit morally deficient like me, then simply pick the exemplar of teh life of Jesus Christ and teh two simple rules he gave us to live by.  

It's not at all HARD to live a decent and harmless life, the rules really aren't that difficult to discern, but as humans we don't like the restrictions that following natural moral and mortal laws places upon our behaviour.