[distract8901]

I think you're looking at it backwards. The problem is people with authority who think that it makes them better than you. The autistic person rejects that idea completely.

You seem to be arguing that autistic people also reject the idea that some people have authority because they are better than you in some context. This isn't the case.

At the airport, the staff has authority because they are following a higher ethical directive to protect everyone. The pilot has authority because they're responsible for dozens or hundreds of lives. The pilot is more important than you, they are a better person in this context, and thus have authority.

As a counterpoint, America is having a crisis about the authority of the police. People are rejecting the authority of the police because they assume authority makes them better, and therefore entitles them to whatever they want. Whereas police who do follow the directive to protect everyone tend to be respected and have authority because of that.

I think that most neurotypical people also reject the idea that authority makes you better. But they tend to play along with it, for some reason. The discussion here is about the autistic people who don't play along and just flatly reject the idea.

To answer your question, these types of autistic people tend to have a very strong idea of right and wrong and a rich code of ethics. Something wrong shouldn't be tolerated and should be set right. But I think most people in general feel that way.

Where autism comes into play is that an autistic person's notion of what is intolerable is often quite different. An autistic person is also more likely to lack or not care about the social inhibition against challenging or rejecting something that they feel is wrong.

[JohnBooty]

Certainly, people on power trips are odious and we should all reject that behavior. Let's set that aside because I think it's uncontroversial and we all agree.

    The problem is people with authority who think 
    that it makes them better than you.

To summarize: we've got people who (by definition) have a hard time understanding the motives of others, and they have made some pretty assertive decisions about the motives of those in authority ("they must think they're better than me!") and have decided that they don't like those motives that they, the people who are bad at ascribing others' motives, have ascribed to others.

That is not great or accurate thinking in my opinion. I'm saying this as somebody likely on the spectrum to some extent himself, for whatever that's worth.

    I think that most neurotypical people also reject the 
    idea that authority makes you better. But they tend to 
    play along with it, for some reason.

I don't think this "some reason" should be very mysterious. What are some of the defining traits of autism? A lack of awareness/valuation of social intangibles such as peer or societal pressure. Another typical one is a discomfort with change from one's desired routines. Another typical one is sensory overload. Three common things off the top of my head that can make it tough to jive with authority.

Neurotypicals therefore don't typically have these barriers to successful interactions with authority. I realize that this is difficult or even impossible for those on the spectrum to intuit, but when seemingly intelligent people on the spectrum who seem very well versed on how autism relates to neurotypicalism declare this to be some super mystery, and proclaim that neurotypicals seemingly just looooooooove themselves some authority, my eyes roll so hard that I'm afraid they're about to fall out of my skull. It's insulting, and just incorrect, and just not very good thinking. And again, I'm not even particularly neurotypical myself.

    Where autism comes into play is that an autistic person's 
    notion of what is intolerable is often quite different. An 
    autistic person is also more likely to lack or not care about 
    the social inhibition against challenging or rejecting something 
    that they feel is wrong. 

I think you nailed this, hard. More succinctly than me, and certainly better than the linked author. Amen.