I know they mentioned for a few seconds on "The Killer's Brain" episode of Most Evil, that even though Autistics don't understand empathy they aren't prone to being violent.

I think there should've been more said towards why Autistics aren't violent. There has been a long history of people assuming the worst of people who are neurodiverse, based on statements like "Autistics are not empathetic".

This says Autistic people can not care for others, this simply isn't true, and is a very harmful statement to make. I'd be more satisfied if it was said Autistics don't understand empathy in the same way most people do.

Also the mentioning of a lack of mirroring recognition in the mind being the same between Autistics and serial killers. Wrong thing to say. Autistics are people who are more child like, that's not the same as someone who intends to harm others.

There was a movie on Chiller channels' Dare to Direct contest called Fascination Cadaverous, which showed an Autistic person killing someone based on a delusion. Despite the channel's refusal to acknowledge this as a harmful and prejudiced view of Autistics, I found it disgusting. The view in that film is the kind of attitude that once had Autistic people locked away in a mental institution.

I don't think it's appropriate at all to mention Autistics and killers in the same manner. There are people out there who might belive it, and go to harm innocent Autistics who may not know how to defend themselves.

I can understand your concern with people misunderstanding this research, but I think the point of it was to show the role that mirror neurons play in the brain. This study was featured on a previous episode and I think it shows a potential PIECE of a bigger puzzle (the puzzle being "what drives a person to kill).

The lack of activation in mirror neurons does not make an autistic person unfeeling, it just means that they have difficulty recognizing and imitating others' expressions of emotion. Keep in mind, also, that autism is a spectrum disorder so mirror neurons may not be affected in the same way in every case.

I think this is an important component of what makes is possible for people to kill, but there are an entire array of other factors that contribute. Another factor explored on this show has been mental illness -- schizophrenia and delusions in particular. I was glad to see that the show made the point that only a small percentage of schizophrenics kill. Schizophrenia is something that contributes to the nature of the crime and can be a factor in one's propensity to kill, but just because a person is schizophrenic does not make them a killer. My point is that there are a myriad of factors in what makes a killer and mirror neurons and mental illness are just a couple that may contribute.

I understand what you're saying. What I'm trying to convey to you, is that most people when they hear someone doesn't understand empathy or has empathy, they do feel that person is uncaring. Combine that with it being a show about serial killers, it's putting 2 and 2 together.

I saw a short film from Chiller's Dare2Direct contest, where there was a killer who happened to be Autistic. They showed someone beating up on the Austistic man who killed a woman based on what a corpse supposedly told him to do.

Aside from the many faulty stereotypes this short played into, the key one is that they appeared to have no empathy. I don't want other people to think they can get away with assuming Autistics are unfeeling monsters. There should be more said than simply, Autistics aren't violent. They should be recognized as people who have feelings just as anyone else, just not the same ability to communicate it. That's a far cry from not having any compassion at all.