Autism doesn’t cause bad behavior. It causes AUTISTIC behavior.
I want to talk more about why autism doesn't cause "bad" behavior.
Because I think this is the most harmful misconception there is about autism.
Autism doesn't cause bad behavior.
It causes AUTISTIC behavior.
If you're not sure what that means I'll summarize how the DSM defines autistic behavior, because it lays it out clearly and explicitly.
- It's missing social cues.
- It's uneven social reciprocity in conversation.
- It's having "unusual" nonverbal social demeanor.
- It's having restricted interests.
- It's having rigid routines.
- It's having repetitive physical movements (e.g. fidgeting/stimming).
- It's being extremely literal and sometimes rigid.
- It's having sensory issues.
Where are the "bad behaviors," exactly?
Nowhere.
Because autism doesn't cause bad behavior.
It causes AUTISTIC behavior.
To be perfectly clear, "bad" behavior is...
- Intentionally harming others
- Any type of abusive behavior (mental, emotional, psychological, physical) that causes trauma to others—EVEN IF the behavior is rooted in trauma itself
Can an autistic person behave badly? ABSOLUTELY.
But when this happens, it is not BECAUSE of their autism.
Ever.
By definition of how autism is diagnosed.
ALL humans have the capacity for bad behavior.
And autistic people are NOT more likely to behave badly than nonautistic people.
The research on this could not be clearer...
Autistic people are more likely to be VICTIMS of abuse than abusers themselves.
(Reference in comments)
HOWEVER...
Bad behavior CAN be the result of trauma. "Hurt people hurt people," as the saying goes.
And I want to talk more about this, because I think this is where most of the misconception that autism causes bad behavior stems from.
When bad behavior is rooted in trauma (this goes for all people) it originates as a reactive coping mechanism.
A maladaptive, harmful one... but still a coping mechanism.
One that's triggered by the nervous system with one and only goal. Survival.
To be perfectly clear, this does NOT make it acceptable. But it is an extremely important aspect of this to understand.
And a crucial part of the equation when discussing autistic people behaving badly, specifically.
When autistic people do not have support and their needs go unmet for extended periods of time (in many cases, years)... their nervous systems resort to *self-accessible* coping responses.
This is, to the letter, how autism is defined.
To be diagnosed with autism, a person must "require support" to get their needs met. (This is written in the DSM as part of the diagnostic criteria.)
So, no support = resorting to whatever coping responses they can access on their own...
Which in most cases, are maladaptive. Meaning, harmful to them and/or others.
These maladaptive coping responses often include things like meltdowns, substance use, and even self-harm. But sometimes move into the realm of abusive behaviors towards others.
Now, let's say a very young autistic child is being raised in an environment where the adults around them exclusively resort to maladaptive coping responses when under extreme stress.
This is how the child will learn to cope. Because it's the only version of coping they are being exposed to.
And when the coping responses they are seeing and learning are abusive, the responses often become intergenerational.
Parents abuse their children, who learn that this is how to behave, and become adults who abuse their children, and so on.
None of this excuses the bad behavior. And none of this is meant to suggest the behavior is anything but UNacceptable.
But the only way to break these cycles is by identifying the root cause first and then addressing it.
And in the case of autism, specifically... the societal-level solution is clear.
If we do a better job of supporting autistic people... if we implement structural changes to society so autistic people are better supported...
(Like what we did when ramps for wheelchairs became required for all public buildings)...
Autistic people will not have to rely solely on self-accessible, maladaptive and harmful coping responses to survive.
And we will begin to see those behaviors diminish in the context of autism.
But that's a solution that will take decades to implement. IF it's implemented at all.
In the meantime... we need to stop conflating AUTISTIC behavior with BAD behavior.
Because they are NOT the same thing.
Autistic behavior is AUTISTIC behavior.
Bad behavior is bad behavior.
Autistic people are not more likely to behave badly any more than nonautistic people. (Again, the research is clear on this.)
Autistic people are, factually speaking, more likely to be VICTIMS of bad behavior than perpetrators. (Which is also in the research... reference below)
THAT'S what we need to be talking about.
THAT'S the problem we need to be solving.
And we can do this now. Immediately.
IF enough people join in and spread awareness about this.
Because all it takes is a mentality shift, thankfully.
Not structural changes that take decades to implement.
Who's with me?
Research citation:
Here's a link to a study that found no significant difference between autistic and nonautistic groups when it came to perpetration of abuse, but found autistic people to experience increased victimization as compared to the nonautistic group.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00203/full
Note that while I'm only sharing one study to provide a clear and accessible reference for this post, its findings are consistent with decades of research.