Conditions like autism?

You can't be 'a little autistic' and unless either he tells you or you are an ASD trained psychologist then you can't tell whether or not he's autistic. Whether autistic or not that's not a reason to cut him any slack if he's saying things that are inappropriate or acting inappropriately, it's also not okay to tell a victim of any sort of harassment to let the other person get away with it. I'd also question you telling her to go straight to management rather than having a word with the person first, if he knew he was doing something wrong he might stop where as taking it to management may get him fired. You're not doing anyone any favours here.

Being socially awkward can be part of autism. It is a complex condition with a great variety of people with unusual traits. He quite probably DOES fit in the autism spectrum but this does not mean that he should never be corrected. If uncorrected he will never learn what is right/wrong; acceptable/unacceptable etc.

Dyspraxia is similar to autism and many of the sufferers are long and lanky and unco-ordinated. They trip up a lot, bump into things as if they haven't seen them. Some of these people don't socialise as well as others would yet some of them have no problems in that direction; all of which makes it difficult to really be sure if they have a specific problem or are just clumsy and unsociable.

I'd suggest that, with this young man, you do let him know when he has done or said something wrong AND explain why it was wrong (as this might be what he does not understand). If something really serious happened he would have to be reported because it would be unfair on other employees but, if you really do think that he might have a problem, the senior staff where you work should also be told of that concern so that, if something deserves being reported to them, they would also be a little more understanding in how it is handled.

No-one in any place of employment should be given preferential treatment unless there is a really good reason for that happening.

I'm pleased you are concerned about him though and that you are concerned about how this affects other people. With good handling of these kinds of situations there is a good possibility that all can work together harmoniously.

Unless he tells you is is autistic (you aren't just a little autistic),you don't need to nor will he benefit by you cutting him slack. How is he supposed to know what he is doing isn't right if he does have autism. And if he doesn't, he has probably figured out he's got a scam going and running with it.

In either case - stop.

Autism covers many things and the most common is mixing with others. However if he behaves badly then he does need to be told otherwise he will not learn. There are ways to do this, when he is rude then correct him, but do not raise your voice because he will not understand. Just talk to him and tell him that it is not acceptable.

He may just have a personality disorder, but again patience is needed but someone should correct this behaviour when it gets out of hand.

It is hard to judge when to keep quiet and when to correct, but if your coworker is upset then management need to address the situation. We all need to have empathy and I speak with experience as my grandson has autism, but we still correct any bad behaviour and reward only the good. So far it works and he is learning to communicate but as he is only 5 hopefully he will know when older how to act socially with others.

Whether he is autistic or not you shouldn't be allowing to say or do anything inappropriate. When he does that take him aside and tell him what was inappropriate and why and that it isn't acceptable and that you expect him to take better care in what he verbalizes and does.

Being autistic isn't a license to get away with things. How is he to know if he isn't told?

People should not be getting any special treatment/accommodations unless they specifically ask.need them. I don't know what's going on with that guy, but unless he says so he should not be allowed to treat others like crap. making a female uncomfortable? Like sexual harassment? She needs to file a report.