I hadn't considered Rust as an autistic character but that's a great read. It makes so much sense that his unusual politics/philosophy/life choices stem more from having lived a different kind of life, rather than - say - just being a badass (which isn't realistic).

[now I'm sort of musing on whether anyone has ever done a study of The Autistic Detective archetype - there's some portrayals of Sherlock Holmes (with the BBC one implying 'total asshole' is a diagnosis) and there's also Hannibal (Will Graham is canonically autistic but also has unreality experiences which make him scary/scared/potentially dangerous/extremely vulnerable, in ways which trouble the tendency of fiction to portray us as perma-children). It makes sense that the outsiderliness of being autistic is a popular trait for detective fiction, which usually features an outsider to a situation or someone who can see in different ways]