A software engineer with autism reflects on how his neurological wiring — specifically heightened justice sensitivity — shaped his career, caused severe burnout when asked to commit fraud during the pandemic, and informs his fears about the tech industry's trajectory. Drawing on peer-reviewed research on autistic moral reasoning, neuroplasticity, and autistic burnout, he argues that neurodivergent engineers are disproportionately harmed by an industry that has shifted from building honest, useful systems to extracting value from users. He shares personal acts of refusal — building a family dashboard on a Raspberry Pi, teaching his autistic son to build a thermostat — as small but meaningful alternatives to passive consumption of exploitative technology.
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