Are people with autism borderline sociopaths?

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NTs are indeed often sadistic, but psychopaths take it to a whole new level due to the lack of emotional empathy they inherently possess.

I disagree. Psychopaths, lacking empathy, have no reason to be sadistic. This fits my experience. NTs are sadistic because their version of empathy is a religious belief in enforcing the social hierarchy. The psychopaths I've known went to great lengths to be liked, which meant being as nice as possible. Nice is good.

Perhaps, as I suggested, this is the difference between sociopaths and psychopaths. I don't think I've known anyone who was conditioned to be cruel.

You do not need to be a sadist to be a sociopath, just a lack of honesty, ethics, & empathy, while being able to fake all three..
Mixing sadism with this though..
I believe results in Serial killers. Just a hypothesis, mind you..

Sincerely,
Matthew

Thing is, though all sociopaths aren't sadistic, they're perfectly set up for it. Their natural lack of empathy combined with their deception abilities can certainly make them seem nice, but they're well known for messing with people for sport.

I don't lack empathy. I just don't always understand empathy. They really need to change that wording. And some things make me cry while others. Imo, though. I don't think as an autistic that I was ever the bad person. I was bullied for people's what? I don't know, so they could feel better about themselves. So that way they could boost their confidence. Imo, that abusive kind of behavior from people whom could have been clearly NT for all I knew is more socipathic than an autistic lacking the understanding of their empathy. Torturing another student for no other than your own amusement, sadistic and cruel. I still feel emotion, but generally for the non human species of this world. I have been backstabbed and betrayed long enough to know that people cannot be trusted. It isn't that I don't lack empathy, I just don't feel empathy for those whom have hurt me before. And when I say backstabbed and betrayed I don't just mean high school and middle school, I also mean as an adult in my recent years. To me regular people are more sociopathic than me with aspergers.

Surely, like Pandora and probably everyone else here, you've had worse experiences with NTs than with sociopaths. When someone needs to be sadistic to support their reality structure rather than as a choice for entertainment, you can really feel the difference. It's not fun any more.

I know people who fit all the traits and they're a lot worse than standard NTs.

What did they do to you?

They've tried to do all sorts of things. Since most of my time with these people was in secondary school, they mostly just spent time trying to make me their friends, finding out things about me, then using those things to turn others against me. It's something they were known for doing, though, and I'm not exactly a trusting person at the best of times, so it didn't really work and I got back at them using their own methods. Out sociopathing the sociopaths is fun

Of course some of these people end up doing a lot more serious things as they grow up, I've done a bunch of research into the subject and I'd certainly never trust anyone who I saw those traits in.

This is a very salient summing up of the psychopathic personality. I think popular culture just like it has done with autism in entertainment has made this diagnosis (psychopath personality) as exotic as ASD in that it is a cognitive/affective empathy difference that allows for quirky/atypical situations in a drama or what have you, and instead of coming off as slow-witted they are often portrayed as sociopathic killers. I still think that it can be considered a disability

WHoever said from earlier above me that neurotypicals can be just as if not more sadistic when it comes to reinforcing the social hierarchy - have to agree with you! Look at what happened to Lt. Private Manning for an example or Guantanamo Bay, or any other overseas 'rendering' facility. So many notable examples..

People who are on the fringe of society interact towards the center of society so if psychopaths can come off as parasitic and autistics as dependent upon said system, it is because they play by a different set of rules. Cognitive/affective empathy when not balanced it would seem radically changes your perceptions of the world NT or not. Whether that world seems a cruel mistress or one's personal oyster..

The charm of the psychopath to make up for a lack of felt emotion can be likened to an autistic individual putting on a persona/mimic, learning to use social niceties/politeness/formality to cope with a given situation. The mind's first priority is self-preservation.

If I fell in love/had a friendship with a psychopath it would be because we share the same interests, like doing the same things, help each other do things, etc. I think the loyalty comes from the benefit you provide that individual - so truly its a contract type of relationship, tit-for-tat. Honestly, in many ways I think a sociopath as a friend would be a great benefit, knowing their strengths, you can downplay their obvious void of affective empathy, and it can work in your favour. If I lived in an anarchic society I'd rather be with a sociopath. If the world went to s**t we know who'd be winning.

I don't think it would be like that. I've always liked psychopaths because they don't give off neurotic vibes, they feel empty and safe. Also they've always been very smart and funny like me. But they don't have friends, they have property. They certainly wouldn't care about you. But personally I prefer someone who is compelled to act nice on top of emotional nothingness, than a 'genuinely nice' person who is too scared or not smart enough to overcome their neuroses. Those are very typical options. It's rare you get strong, sane people.

Let me be concise as to these two SEPERATE conditions:

Sociopath= Lacks empathy (and guilt too)
ASD= Trouble expressing/understanding empathy. Usually ( if HF) has some kind of moral code.

Sincerely,
Matthew

It's a code. "Lacks empathy" translates to "is not an instinct-driven animal that communicates through snarling, scowling and other facial distortions. Prefers to communicate through language, the thing that makes us human, and expects others to do the same".

And while I'm at it, "lacks imagination" actually means "doesn't make wild assumptions or believe in romanticized BS and instead prefers to research the facts".

Good point.

However, cats use body language as their primary form of communication.

I think this blog post and the following commentary have some points you were all bringing up here on this topic:
http://www.sociopathworld.com/2008/09/a ... eeper.html

I found this one more interesting: http://www.sociopathworld.com/2008/09/i ... -hate.html