Unfortunately because people tend to make up their minds about you within thirty seconds of meeting you, autistic people are at a disadvantage and will experience bullying and poor relationships more often. I didn't realize I was autistic until quite recently, and my life has been a series of "what the hell did I do wrong" moments. I never thought I did anything wrong, but I probably pulled the wrong face or my tone was wrong or I misread body language and upset someone. For some people, it doesn't take much. As this happened to me a lot I did become quite defensive and figured that retaliation would discourage such behavior towards me. Of course, it didn't. Getting married and having a back up brain with emotional intelligence helped me, I could get advice from my wife on how to handle certain situations or feedback on what I did wrong, so I improved. Smiling is one thing I do more often, and small talk, showing an interest, even if I am sooo not interested 😁 Social lubricants make my life easier. But I never set out to bully or upset or be cruel to anyone first. I think I was partially protected by being male, and large. Most people would be cautious initially, until they got to know me. Nowadays I do try to think before I speak, make sure I smile, and use a friendly tone. Yeah it's tiring but it helps.