Very few people are incapable of communication. Mutism is neither exclusively nor inherently autistic, and there are many other communication options available beyond voice (though they'd have to be made available to the child – that includes tools, where necessary, and training). Real-time spoken language is a complicated skill, and we shouldn't require that people master it before their needs are respected.
Punching yourself in the face is a sign of unmet needs. Sadly, the usual response to something like that is to (1) restrain the person, then (2) not try to figure out those needs, much less address them. I don't make a habit of blaming caregivers, but if an autistic kid's punching themself in the face enough for it to count as a character trait, there have been significant failures at multiple levels.
I'll repeat that. Punching yourself in the face is not an autistic trait. It's a caged lion trait. Put an allistic kid in the right (wrong) situation, and they'll do the same.
Punching yourself in the face is a sign of unmet needs. Sadly, the usual response to something like that is to (1) restrain the person, then (2) not try to figure out those needs, much less address them. I don't make a habit of blaming caregivers, but if an autistic kid's punching themself in the face enough for it to count as a character trait, there have been significant failures at multiple levels.
I'll repeat that. Punching yourself in the face is not an autistic trait. It's a caged lion trait. Put an allistic kid in the right (wrong) situation, and they'll do the same.