If I had a nickel for every time someone says "this person's being a huge jerk to me but I think they might be neurodivergent"
Regular reminder that being an asshole is not a symptom of any form of neurodivergence. (You can replace “neurodivergent” with depressed, anxious, bipolar, etc. and the diagram works equally well)
ETA: social faux pas, awkwardness, and genuine symptoms of neurodivergence don’t make you an asshole. I shouldn’t have to say this? An “asshole” is someone who enacts a pattern of abusive, controlling, harassing, and/or harmful behavior with no remorse or concern for how other people are affected.
I'm direct and highly value honesty, but I've learned that's no excuse for lacking tact. Being a minimal degree of kind and polite to neurotypical people isn't particularly difficult, it's just learning to interface with someone whose emotional drivers you may not completely share. It's easier than learning to interface with a nonverbal species like a cat or a parrot.
How did you learn? I'm asking because that's not something I'm seeing discussed here.
I don't even think most of the commenters here have given it any thought.
It's kind of important to the topic because at least part of the problem is that education is lacking both in NT and ND people as far as how we both developed healthy boundaries to mitigate "being an asshole".
If nobody tells you your behavior is not acceptable in a way you can comprehend then it's a communication issue and and education issue. If it's that then we should discuss that.