Judgement

 " The clients in my program come to know one another very well. They attend classess and groups together, they are paired as roommates at staff discretion, and they socialize together. Although they cherish these friendships, relationships that have eluded them all their lives, most of them do not hesistate to say terribly mean things to and about one another. They will tell one another that they smell bad, that they are fat, or ugly, or don't like the right music. But if a staff member intervenes and asks whether that was the right thing to do, most of our clients know, on reflection, that the comments were rude or insensitive or mean. They just aren't able to monitor themselves continuously, which would be required to prevent the hurtful and rude behaviors. Only our clients who are autistic or have Asperger's Syndrome are genuinely puzzled by our questions about the appropriateness of interpersonal behaviors. That group of clients defend their behavior on the grounds that the remark was "true," therefore always the acceptable thing to say. "

- "Adults on the Autism Spectrum: Leave the Nest, Achieving Supported Independence" by Nancy Perry