Don Burke has been universally slammed for blaming his misogynistic bullying on undiagnosed Asperger's, but he is not the only man to cite autism as an excuse after being publicly outed for such appalling behaviour.

Before Burke's interview with A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw on Monday night, in which he attempted to explain away public accusations of indecent assault and sexual harassment by claiming – as "an Asperger's person" (he has not been diagnosed with the condition) – that he struggles to interpret body language, there was James Damore, the former Google employee who was terminated after circulating the opinion that men are simply more suited to working with technology than women, claiming in retrospect that he "see[s] things differently" as an autistic man.

Put bluntly, these excuses are outrageous and completely unacceptable. Grown, professional men using claims of disability to frame themselves as haplessly clueless about the impact of their actions need to step up and take responsibility for themselves.

The vast majority of autistic people manage to live their lives without engaging in raging misogyny and sexual harassment (autistic women in particular are remarkably capable of this) and the last thing they need is to be thrown under the bus by men accused of engaging in sexism and abuse.