> Can we please stop excusing bad behavior with some form of "oh because autism"? It's an insult to the many, many neuro-atypical people who don't say shitty, stupid things online.
No it's not an insult to anyone. It's an attemoted explanation of why some neuro-atypical people behave in atypical fashion.
Are you, or the parent, a mental health professional? If not, then I'd suggest you aren't qualified to tell if he's even autistic at all, or, if he is, that his autism is what's causing the problems here, not terrible beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. In that light, using autism as an excuse for Stallman's behavior is just an unfounded theory by an armchair psychiatrist with no business making diagnoses.
The wisdom of attempting to diagnose someone without a formal diagnosis is an entirely different issue, and I agree it is unwise.
The original claim was that saying that someone's anti-social behaviour was due to being neurological atypical, was an insult to everyone who is neurological atypical. This is clearly nonsense.
OK. Let's take an analogy. Do you believe that saying that a history of parental violence contributed to the boy to be violent in his own turn is an insult to everyone who was beaten up by their father?
No it's not an insult to anyone. It's an attemoted explanation of why some neuro-atypical people behave in atypical fashion.